Monolina was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, a country in South Asia. She grew up with her younger brother (Nabil), mom (Lina) and dad (Tuhin). She moved to the US in pursuit of higher education in 2010 and eventually settled in New York. She is currently a molecular biologist specializing in next generation sequencing.

Ciaran was born and raised in Aldershot, UK. He has an older sister (Roisin), mom (Norma) and dad (Michael) who are still based in UK. He has been working in New York since 2014 as a software engineer.

The two met through a dating app in 2020. Yes, you heard that right - much to their surprise, this dating app thing actually worked (go figure).

Ciaran impressed Monolina with his expansive knowledge of Bangladesh and South Asian history. They both share a love for history, traveling, and science. They love exploring different neighborhoods in New York city almost every weekend, and recently enjoying studying the special exhibits at the MET museum and occasionally love going on hikes in the East Coast Mountains. Their love of history takes them to different historical cities/towns around the world.

Monolina loves singing and dancing. She is currently training in Kathaak, hip-hop and contemporary ballet dance styles. Her music interests and training are in aria singing (in different languages), Bangla folk music and some contemporary pop/rock music.

Ciaran is an avid cyclist and is part of a cycling group. He is also amazing at cooking Bangladeshi cuisine! He visited Bangladesh for the first time in November 2023 with Monolina and met family members (and of course got to enjoy the famous Bangladeshi hospitality). Ciaran basically tried every manner of food there and got along well with the locals. He had a ton of fun riding rickshaw and tuk-tuk/baby-taxis everywhere. He is learning Bangla now.

Above all, they care about each other and both can count on each other to build a future together. Ciaran and Monolina are looking forward to celebrating their special day with you!