It was love at first swipe.
Angelica Malin, 31, decided to embrace her freedom as a single woman in her 30s and booked a solo trip from London to New York City earlier this year.
A fast love connection changed her itinerary.
Malin planned to explore the city in February and write a book but had to push her trip back to July after her father unexpectedly died.
When Malin finally made it across the pond, she decided to get on Hinge to meet some people during her travels — and that’s when she connected with Josh, 35, a lawyer living in Brooklyn.
“We matched on a dating app on a Sunday and by the Tuesday we were on our first date at a rooftop cocktail bar in Chinatown, ” Malin told Jam Press.
“Suddenly all the clichés were true about love at first sight.”
Malin thought that Josh was the best-looking man she’d ever seen, and he thought that he felt time slow down the second the pair locked eyes. “Honestly we both felt like we were in the movies,” she said.
“It was everything I’d hoped for when I was single. After our first date went so well, Josh walked me to the subway and we kissed on the busy street in Chinatown,” Malin recalled.
“Everything around us was so busy and honestly a bit smelly, but it was very New York and very romantic.”
After their first date, Malin and Josh planned to meet up later that week. On their second date at Soho House, Malin decided to address their chemistry — and brought up the prospect of marriage and family in their future.
“I was done playing small in the dating world. He was so exciting to me, I wanted to put my cards down on the table,” she said. “I told him: ‘I think there is something special here between us,’ and he agreed.”
Their third date was rained out, so they decided to order takeout and hang out at Josh’s home.
“Being in Josh’s apartment and sitting next to each other on the sofa felt like the most natural and comfortable thing in the world,” Malin remembered. “We realized we had completely fallen for each other.
“From that moment on, we started to talk about building a life together, including having babies and getting married,” she added. “It couldn’t come quick enough.”
That’s when Josh asked Malin a wild question.
“Josh says he felt really nervous but he didn’t show it. He just asked me: ‘Would you move here for me?’ And without a moment’s hesitation, I said, ‘Yes.’”
A few weeks later, Malin flew back to London to pack up her apartment and move to New York to be with Josh. Five months into dating, the two were married at City Hall this month and are now expecting their first child next June.
“With getting married, we just grabbed the first date we could. We didn’t mind when it was — we just really wanted to be husband and wife as soon as possible, to see in 2023 as a married couple,” Malin said.
For their big day, the new New Yorker bought a dress at Bloomingdale’s, wore shoes she already owned and even booked a sports photographer who only charged $100 to record the day.
“After our ceremony, we went home and all my friends were on a video chat ready to toast me with a drink,” Malin said.
“To us, it was the perfect day,” Malin said, adding that the newlyweds capped things off with sushi dinner in bed.
Before moving to New York, Malin had already written a book titled “Unattached” about the empowerment of being single, which helped inspire her to make the trip to the US.
“My friends were all getting married and busy having their babies, and I didn’t want to feel like I was missing out on a life-changing experience while hoping to meet the right man,” Malin explained. “When I told my best friend my plans, she laughed and told me that I would fall in love — and it turned out she was right.”
All of her friends and family have been supportive, although some are upset that she now lives so far away, forcing them to miss some major moments — like her wedding.
But their families will finally meet in January when Malin’s mom plans to visit.
Looking towards the future, Malin said the couple has plans to move to a bigger home to meet their needs as a new family of three, and then they might plan a wedding party in 2024 to bring their two families together to celebrate.
“We are so deliriously happy to be leaving 2022 married and with a baby on the way, when five months ago I was single,” Malin said.