FLATLANDS — David Romain and Nicole Noel dated during COVID, but had to maintain social distancing, such as picnicking a few feet apart in a park.
Still, the couple — Romain from Brooklyn and Noel-Romain from Queens — managed to make their way to the wedding altar on Aug. 16 at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish. Witnessing the nuptials was Father Dwayne Davis, the pastor.
While they did not call him “Cupid,” Romain did allow that had it not been for this priest, the newlyweds might have never met.
More to the point, it was the Youth Leadership Ambassador Program, founded by Father Davis in 2009, that gave space for Romain and Noel-Romain, who attended different high schools and parishes, to meet and become friends.
So, while Cupid might sound trite, Romain suggested a different term. “I would call him the mastermind behind it,” Romain said. “Because without him starting the program, I wouldn’t be able to say Nicole’s my wife.”
The program is sponsored by the Vicariate Office of Black Catholic Concerns in the Diocese of Brooklyn.
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The vicarate also sponsors another leadership training opportunity, Kujenga, which was founded in Chicago in 1977 and was introduced to the Diocese of Brooklyn 12 years later.
Father Davis is a graduate of Kujenga, as are Romain and Noel-Romain.
“Both helped us with confidence and critical thinking when it came to decision-making regarding our faith, our personal relationships, and how we are affecting the world around us,” Romain said.
It has been an August of celebratory milestones for alums of the Youth Leadership Ambassador Program.
To start, Rajae Clarke became the first former ambassador to seek the priesthood by taking first vows for the Jesuits on Aug. 9 in Syracuse.
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Noel-Romain and Romain’s wedding was a week later.
Father Davis said other ambassadors have gone on to marriage, but Noel-Romain and Romain are the first couple who met in the program to tie the knot.
Romain described how the program taught him to work in groups of people and help lead them to common goals.
Noel-Romain described herself as shy upon entering the program, but it helped her overcome that, and she became “ambassador of the year.”
Romain went on to earn a degree in video journalism from SUNY Morrisville in upstate New York.
Noel-Romain got her degree in art from Temple University.
The groom found work in Atlanta while the bride tested South Carolina.
Eventually, they both returned to New York and started dating after reconnecting in 2019 over social media.
Romain now works as a media consultant, while Noel-Romain is employed at Costco as she pursues her art.
Meanwhile, Romain is co-chair of the ambassadors’ alumni association, Noel-Romain said. “We started getting back more into being around the ambassadors, like going to the alumni events,” she said. “We’re talking about how younger people are now and how we see our kids in the future — how we imagine our kids to be.”
The vicariate’s youth programs are definite possibilities, Noel-Romain said.
In his homily, Father Davis said that “to see them grow from where they were as teenagers to where they are now gives me great hope that they’re going to be a great couple.”
“I even jokingly said that one day their kids will become ambassadors,” he added. “If they continue to keep Christ in the center of their relationship, I think this could be a beautiful road ahead.”
