I Do!: Lauren DiGioia and Beqir Brija

When Lauren DiGioia described to her new friend, Beqir Brija, what she was looking for in a mate, she said his response was, “What if everything you’re looking for in a partner is standing right in front of you, and you don’t even know it?”

Brija, 39, and DiGioia, 33, met as ICU nurses at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan in 2018. There was an instant connection, DiGioia said.

“We became good friends, enjoying weekend group outings, helping one another in the ICU and sharing conversations via text,” said DiGioia, who grew up in Plainview. They talked about their love of family, home cooking, their passions and the future.

But it took a push from a couple of mutual friends for Brija to ask DiGioia out. Six months after meeting, Brija, a Bronx native, said they went out for dinner the day before Christmas Eve, sparking their romantic relationship.

In 2021, the couple decided to go back to school to get their doctorates in anesthesia. During the application process they would often stroll through Glen Island Park in New Rochelle, marveling over the gorgeous venue — the Glen Island Harbour Club — on top of the hill.

Brija proposed at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden on Aug. 28, 2022. They married on July 4 of this year, choosing — where else? — the Glen Island Harbour Club to celebrate their special day. They had 215 guests and a serendipitous holiday fireworks display as a backdrop.

Mindful of their different cultures — Brija is an Albanian-Italian Muslim and DiGioia’s parents are Jewish and Italian — their reception included traditional dances like the Italian “tarantella” and the Albanian “valle.” Brija said the evening rounded out with the couple joining the 11-piece band on stage for Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer.”

Reflecting on the “twists and turns” of their relationship, including long nights of studying and many sleepless nights on-call, Brija said they always remembered to make each other a priority.

“We knew what we had, and we knew what the relationship was worth,” he said.