Dr. Yoon proposed on Nov. 18, 2023, after a day filled with subtle references to highlights from their relationship: oysters at brunch, a Korean art exhibit, and a Broadway show. When they returned home, Dr. Doolan noticed something strange — Kiyoshi was wearing his collar indoors. “I thought we had been robbed!” he said, noting that he never leaves Kiyoshi with a collar on indoors. Then he spotted a diamond and platinum engagement ring clipped to the collar, and as he turned around, Dr. Yoon was already on one knee.
The couple wed on April 12 at the Ace Hotel Brooklyn. Dr. David Lin, Dr. Yoon’s close friend from medical school who received a one-day ordination from the New York City Marriage Bureau, officiated before 134 guests.
The celebration centered around a reimagined Korean paebaek, a traditional post-wedding ceremony typically reserved for family. “We queered the format,” Dr. Yoon said. “We wore custom hanboks in nontraditional colors and invited our guests to participate.” Dr. Doolan’s close friends, including two Korean friends, helped reset cushions and present symbolic elements, creating a bridge between cultural preservation and chosen family.
The couple also honored the Korean chestnut and jujube tossing tradition, symbolizing future fertility. “Both our parents threw them at once, and we caught all of them,” Dr. Yoon said. “We’re having 17 children, supposedly.”
Later that evening, a choreographed Bollywood-style dance took place on the dance floor. The newlyweds performed alongside Dr. Doolan’s former Northwestern dance team, Anubhav, where he was a co-captain of the dance team for two years.
“It was a room full of love,” Dr. Yoon said. “Our guests told us it was the most emotional and joyful wedding they’d ever been to. I have to give Yuri so much credit for that — he made it magic.”
Dr. Doolan added, “I just can’t say more about how affirming it was for my identity as a Korean American, for myself as a queer Korean man, for my relationship with my mom, with Jesse and his parents. It really felt like we were being accepted fully and completely for who we were — gay, Korean American — and that made the wedding so special.”
