Mr. Whyte was raised in Miami until he moved to Amawalk, N.Y., at 13. He works remotely as a vice president at ConcertAI, a health care technology company based in Cambridge, Mass. He has a bachelor’s degree from Cornell and a doctorate from M.I.T., both in biology.
Ms. Rouse, who grew up in Englewood, is the founder and chief creative officer of Reel Well Media, an agency that produces social media content for personal brands. She has a bachelor’s in finance and global business and a master’s in business administration, both from Rider University in Lawrence Township, N.J.
On Christmas Day in 2022, Mr. Whyte proposed at Ms. Rouse’s family home. He had planned to pop the question when they opened gifts in the morning, but a late start caused the day’s plans to crumble. By the time they began opening presents late in the day, he had lost his nerve.
“I ended up confiding in Khaleeqa’s grandmother and mother, who started crying and agreed to help gather the family together to say a prayer and give me the opportunity to propose,” Mr. Whyte said.
But he froze again after the prayer. So Ms. Rouse’s mother forced everyone to come back together for a second prayer. “This time, she held my hand as she led the second prayer, and then squeezed my hand as a signal to take over,” Mr. Whyte said.
The couple married on Aug. 18 at Crabtree’s Kittle House Restaurant & Inn in Chappaqua, N.Y. The ceremony was officiated by Theodore N. Stephens II, who is the acting prosecutor for Essex County, N.J., and a Universal Life minister.
The wedding had 60 guests in attendance. It included a land acknowledgment to the Lenape people and the tradition of jumping the broom, which, Ms. Rouse said, “really meant something to us and really felt like we left a part of our lives in the past, and we’re moving into the future.”
