As anyone searching for love can attest, dating is not for the faint of heart. It takes a thick skin, a positive outlook, lots of luck and most of all plenty of patience.
Especially during a pandemic.
Fortunately, Michael Schreibstein is not a quitter. Finding his beshert took a decade spent on dating sites, taking cooking classes and dance classes, “doing anything I could to meet the right person,” says Michael, 39, a Columbia resident.
But it was all worth it when he and Sara Rubenstein, 34, met on Match.com in the spring of 2018.
“When I saw Sara’s profile, I liked it,” says Michael, who works for Offit Kurman, Attorneys at Law in Columbia. “I liked her screen name, ‘danceandwine,’ and I thought she was beautiful.”
Sara was intrigued by Michael’s profile and screen name as well. “It was ‘theatrelaw22,’” she says.
The couple’s first date was at Monster Mini Golf in Columbia.
“He was a perfect gentleman,” recalls Sara, a native of Gaithersburg who works at the Athelas Institute, an organization for individuals with disabilities in Columbia. “But the whole [mini golf] game took less than an hour. I said, ‘This is too short. We need to go to Starbucks or something after.’”
On the fourth date, Michael brought her flowers. On the fifth date, he wrote Sara a poem. “It was the cutest thing ever,” she says. “He’s just the absolute sweetest! After someone writes you a poem, you have to kiss them. So, I kissed him first.”
By the following summer, Michael and Sara had introduced each other to their parents. But their joy was tempered by the cancer diagnosis of Michael’s father, Richard B. Schreibstein. Michael, who worked in his father’s law office for 16 years, was extremely close to his father.
“He was my best friend. He was everything to me,” says Michael.
Michael proposed to Sara on Oct. 5, 2019. “He planned a family dinner at his parents’ house, which backs up to woods and Wilde Lake in Columbia,” recalls Sara. “When we got there, Michael said he wanted to take a walk to show me where he got stuck in the mud as a kid.”
The couple walked to the path behind Michael’s childhood home, where a photographer was waiting.
“He gave me a little box,” Sara says. When she opened it, there were five cards attached with a string that spelled out, “Sara-Will-You-Marry-Me,” one word at a time. Then, he got down on one knee and proposed.
Afterward, Sara and Michael walked back to the house and celebrated with their parents. “Michael had gotten flowers that he had our moms give me,” says Sara. “At the end of the night, we lit sparklers. It was perfect!”
Michael and Sara’s wedding was originally scheduled for Nov. 20, 2020, at Turf Valley Resort in Ellicott City. When it became clear that COVID-19 would be around for the foreseeable future, they considered postponing the wedding.
But Michael’s father was adamantly against that idea. “[Everyone] knew we waited longer than we wanted [to find each other] and he didn’t want us to put it off,” says Sara.
The couple also was unprepared for Richard Schreibstein’s illness to progress so quickly. Instead of postponing the wedding until after the pandemic was over, Michael and Sara decided to get married as soon as possible so Michael’s father would be able to attend. With the help of wedding planner, Sheri Gelvar of Sheri G Events, “we put together a front yard wedding in a week,” Sara says.
Yet, it soon became evident that Michael’s father would not make it to the wedding even with the accelerated schedule. He died six weeks before the original wedding date.
Sara and Michael were concerned about having their wedding while the family was still in mourning. But Rabbi Dena Shaffer, who officiated, put them at ease.
“She told us this story from the Talmud about a funeral procession and a wedding party that meet on a road that’s too narrow for both groups to pass through. The wedding party gets the right of way because a wedding is a celebration of joy and life,” says Sara. “That made us feel that we should go ahead, and that gave us peace.”
Sara and Michael were married on Nov. 20. The guest list, originally 175 people, was cut to 45 people who gathered in a room meant for 450. “Everything was COVID-19 safe,” says Sara. “Immediate family members were all tested, there were temperature checks, kippot were on the chairs, individually wrapped. We sat people by household, and everyone wore masks. We made table numbers and seating charts so everything was laid out for the guests.”
Friends and family who couldn’t attend the wedding in person left video messages through a livestream set up by Washington Talent Agency. “It was almost like they were there,” says Sara.
“I thought it couldn’t have turned out any better,” says Michael. “It was spectacular! And [Sara] was very, very beautiful.”
On the day of the wedding, Sara says, “I couldn’t really imagine having a big wedding. It was different than originally planned, but it was perfect! We had worked with [the wedding planner, photographer and other staff] for months, even before COVID. And they were all so positive. Every step of the way, they were with us. It was a big accomplishment for everyone who made it happen.”
After the wedding, Sara and Michael honeymooned at a beach house on the Outer Banks in North Carolina. “It was really remote and safe,” says Sara. “It was nice to relax and reflect.
“We’re very lucky we were able to move forward safely. We faced a lot of challenges, especially with Michael’s father’s illness and death. The wedding gave everyone a reason to celebrate.”
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