Rachel Leiner and Jurgen Peeters marry in Brussels after meeting in Lisbon

Rachel Leiner and Jurgen Peeters were married on Dec. 22 at the Ixelles City Hall in Brussels before 13 guests, in a ceremony officiated by civil registrar Gautier Calomne. The couple first met in July 2022 at the now-shuttered corner cafe Ginja de Alfama in Lisbon, when Ms. Leiner was invited to join a group of strangers that included Mr.

Peeters. They spent much of the week together, dancing at Loucura Bar & Club and sharing a kiss outside her hotel; Mr. Peeters, 26, is a customer success representative at LIZY from Wemmel, Belgium, with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in philosophy from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and Ms.

Leiner, 27, is a self-employed wedding photographer from Merrick, N.Y., who holds a bachelor’s degree in advertising from Boston University and lives in Brooklyn. After a brief period apart they met again in Amsterdam, used the set of personal prompts known as "The 36 Questions That Lead to Love," and then kept in touch with weekly WhatsApp texts they called "modern-day love letters." In November 2022 they met up in Amsterdam, traveled to Bruges and said "I love you" for the first time; the couple then made a long-distance relationship work for three years, aided by Mr.

Peeters’s vacation time and Ms. Leiner’s job flexibility. They decided to marry in May, with the proposal coming after wedding paperwork for Brussels was underway. To tell Ms.

Key Topics

Culture, Rachel Leiner, Jurgen Peeters, Ixelles City Hall, Ginja De Alfama, Lisbon