When Robert Burton Jr. proposed to Jaclyn Sawler, he had a wedding date in mind: March 14. He had a time in mind, too: 9:26 a.m. He had his reasons.

Ms. Sawler, 27, and Mr. Burton, 30, met eight years ago at a friend’s birthday party in Kearny, N.J. Ms. Sawler, who teaches pre-K and kindergarten classes at the Hamilton Park Montessori School in Jersey City, attended with someone who knew Mr. Burton and who also knew that he was an expert at speed-cubing, or unscrambling a Rubik’s Cube in less time than it takes to explain what a Rubik’s Cube is. Namely, a cube-shaped plastic puzzle that was popular in the 1980s and now has tremendous appeal among math and science types like Mr. Burton, a math teacher at Explorations Academy, a high school in the Bronx.

Mr. Burton, who averages an 18-second solve, demonstrated his skill for her at the party, but remembered little of the encounter later. “I had to be retold that part of the story” by other friends who were there, he said, because he had had a lot to drink that night.

Once his memory had been filled in, he looked her up on Facebook and sent her a message. They went on their first date about a month after the party to see “Pulse,” a horror film, and, before the evening ended, to meet his family. She said he also tried to unscramble a cube while blindfolded. “He was unsuccessful,” she said.