“Both Elizabeth and Michael are really gracious, hospitable and friendly people, each with a wacky sense of humor,” Ms. Augustin said. “They are also very much grounded in their Christian faith, which is why I thought they would be perfect for each other. But as it turned out, the timing just wasn’t right for them as both were going through difficult times, so there was absolutely no spark.”

Ms. Cunningham, who grew up in Roosevelt, N.Y., received a bachelor’s degree in theater arts from N.Y.U. and a master’s degree in acting at Columbia before heading to Los Angeles in June 2004, in the hope of becoming an actress. Though she found some work, she abandoned her dream in September 2013 when she returned home to be the primary caretaker for her mother, Herma Cunningham, who had cancer.

“I thought Michael was a good-looking guy, but I was so distracted by my mother’s situation that when I got to the restaurant, I’m not even sure I shook his hand,” Ms. Cunningham said. “I don’t think there was a paragraph of sentences spoken between us that night.”

Mr. Harris, who is now 45, grew up in Detroit and graduated from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He went on to receive an M.B.A. from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. During his last semester at North Carolina, he completed a four-month graduate-level study-abroad program at the Stockholm School of Economics. Mr. Harris, who is also a chartered financial analyst, was single and working as a controller at a data center in Manhattan when he met Ms. Cunningham.