When she connected with Devin Thomas McGinley, Lauren Patterson Birkhold had already been dating in New York for three years. Her philosophy before meeting him in person was simple: “I’m just going to be myself,” she said.
“I was wearing my glasses, I was wearing a big, boho dress, and I was just kind of like, ‘This is what it is,’” Birkhold said.
The two connected on OkCupid in April 2019 and had their first date at Black Rabbit, a bar in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. “It just felt instantly comfortable,” McGinley said.
McGinley and Birkhold bonded over shared politics and lifestyles, their affection for Stella, Birkhold’s German shepherd-husky mix, and a mutual affinity for entertaining. The couple, who moved in together in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood in February 2021, often host cookouts in their backyard.
“We love bringing people together, taking our disparate friend groups and making them into one,” McGinley said.
Birkhold, 36, grew up in Fairfax Station, Va., and graduated from the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va., in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in history. She moved to New York in 2016 and works as the senior human resources manager for the financial services company Saphyre.
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McGinley, also 36, grew up in Ridgewood, N.J. He graduated from Ramapo College of New Jersey with a bachelor’s degree in history and works as the lenders lead at the financial data platform Gain.
McGinley proposed to Birkhold on her birthday, April 17, 2025, in the backyard of Black Rabbit, where they had their first date. He had just recovered from a broken ankle. “She was briefly horrified when I got down on one knee,” McGinley said. After the proposal, they enjoyed a celebratory dinner at Oxomoco, a Mexican restaurant across the street.
For a couple of weeks, Birkhold kept her engagement a secret from her family in Virginia — she wanted to be able to inform in person. “It felt like longer because I was obviously dying to tell them,” she said. Birkhold eventually broke the news by presenting her oldest niece, now 3, with a special gift. “I got a doll, and I dressed it up in a fancy dress and made a little basket with rose petals,” she said, “and I got a card that said, ‘Will you be my flower girl?’”
Birkhold and McGinley wed on June 13 before 100 guests at Syndicated Bar Theater Kitchen, where they go to see movies at least once per month. Their friend Kate Napolitano served as officiant, having been ordained by the Universal Life Church for the event.
When it came time to select a wedding venue, staying local was a no-brainer for the couple. “We really love the life we’ve started building in Bushwick and the friends we have there, and we just really love our neighborhood,” McGinley said. “We wanted to bring people to some of our favorite places.” The couple held their rehearsal dinner at their favorite local bar, Phil’s, and served pizza from Fazio’s.
Originally, the couple had planned to play clips from famous romantic comedies on the screens of the Syndicated Bar Theater Kitchen throughout the wedding. But leading up to their ceremony, it became clear that they might need to allow their guests to tune into the Knicks, too — June 13 happened to be Game 5 of the N.B.A. Finals.
“We wanted to have a New York wedding, and how could we have a New York wedding on Saturday without the Knicks?” McGinley said.
While neither Birkhold nor McGinley is a big basketball fan, they understood the significance of the game. In the main reception area, the Knicks game played in without sound above the dance floor, and it was also shown in a theater, sometimes with sound off so that guests could enjoy karaoke.
“The last 20 seconds we turned the sound back on,” Birkhold said. “Everybody was losing their minds.”
When the team won, the karaoke operator began playing “New York, New York” by Frank Sinatra.
