It’s true that a random match on a dating app brought accountant Nora Byrnes, 29, and cardiology fellow Eric Cantey, 32, together. But it was their shared backgrounds (they’re both Boston College alums) and a healthy obsession with MTV reality show “The Challenge” that kept them talking. Two years later, they moved in together and adopted their miniature goldendoodle, Nellie, who played a starring role in Cantey’s proposal to Byrnes by returning from a walk wearing a T-shirt that read, “Will You Marry My Daddy?”

Their Nov. 16 wedding day was full of sentimental moments from start to finish. The now-retired priest from Byrnes’s childhood parish, St. Francis Xavier in La Grange, married them at Old St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, which has a special place in Byrnes’s heart because of its connection to Horizons for Youth, for which she’s a longtime volunteer. Later at their reception at the JW Marriott (151 W. Adams), Cantey danced with his mother to “Satellite” by Dave Matthews Band, a favorite song they listened to while driving to college visits when he was in high school.

Photos by Kenny Kim Photography