Hello there
One evening late in the summer of 2004, Mike, then a medical student at Drexel University, was on a date at McGillin's Olde Ale House in Center City. It was not going well. In fact, it was painful.
He looked up, and there at the bar was the woman who had been catching his eye for the last two years. Like Mike, Kathryn was a regular at this popular med student hangout, so a sighting wasn't that unusual. Mike had never had the nerve to talk to her before, but something about seeing her while he was having a lousy time with someone else made him brave. Well, kind of brave.
Four or five of Mike's buddies also were at McGillin's, and while his date wasn't paying attention, he sent a few of them over to ask the woman at the bar if she would be interested in playing on their coed flag football team.
All Kathryn knew was that there was a group of tall men heading her way, and none of them were in her medical classes at Thomas Jefferson University.
"You look athletic," one of the guys said to her. "We have this flag football team, and you should come play. Have you ever played flag football?"
She hadn't. But Kathryn was intrigued by the idea of hanging out with people who were not in her medical program. Also, Kathryn, who is 6 feet tall, couldn't help but notice the stature of Mike's front men and the possibility of a date.
That night at McGillin's, the potential payoff seemed worth a little lie. "Yeah, I know how to play flag football," she said.
When Kathryn told them she would need a ride to the games in Manayunk, the gang told her they were certain someone would be happy to give her a lift. She gave them her phone number, which they slipped to Mike.
The September day of their first football game, Mike drove from his place in Fairmount to pick Kathryn up in Center City - with another teammate in the car. Every week, the entire team socialized together after the game.
Kathryn eventually grew very fond of Mike. She especially liked how this 6-foot-4, very muscular former football player destroyed the meathead stereotype whenever he spoke. "I was always blown away by how smart he is, how witty he is," she said.
After a few months of getting to know Kathryn, Mike was finally ready to do something about his attraction to her. His invitation to watch football at a bar with him and a small group of friends sounded casual. But Kathryn was keenly aware that Mike was asking her on a date.
Mike had waited a little too long. Kathryn had recently started dating someone else.
Mike was disappointed, but it was his response that would start a series of events that ended with him getting the girl.
"That's cool," he said. "Do you still want to come?" Kathryn did, and began joining Mike on other group outings. They were now officially friends as well as teammates.
One day, Kathryn's friend Erin pointed out that whenever Kathryn talked about Mike, she got excited and happy. "You like this guy."
Soon after that conversation, Kathryn broke up with her still newish boyfriend.
Mike was at the very last Phillies game at Veterans Stadium when his cell phone showed Kathryn was calling. He took the call.
"I'd really like to go out to dinner with you," said Kathryn, who had never asked a man out before. "You bring the wine, and I'll pick up dinner."
How does forever sound?
It was Thanksgiving 2009, and Kathryn was waiting for Mike at the Jenkintown home of her parents, Susan and Robert. From there, everyone was heading to Aunt Sondra and Uncle Bill's, where Mike would meet Kathryn's extended family for the first time.
Even though Mike was coming from the Blackwood, N.J., home of his parents, Melanie and David, he showed up an hour early. He called Kathryn from his cell. "Come meet me outside," he told said. But Kathryn still had hot rollers in her hair. "Why are you so early? Come in and hang out with my dad."
After Kathryn finished her hair, everyone chatted right until it was time to leave. Getting in their cars, Kathryn's older brother, Robert Jr., came bounding over. "I'm coming with you guys," he said, and climbed into Mike's truck.
Mike gave Kathryn a look that puzzled her. Then, deciding no perfect moment was coming, Mike handed Kathryn a card. "I forgot to give you one of your birthday cards," he said.
When she pulled it out of the envelope, a string with a ring on the end of it dropped into sight.
Brother Robert had recently proposed to a woman he hadn't known as long as Mike and Kathryn had dated, and Kathryn was not above using this fact to needle her man. At Robert's engagement party, she introduced Mike as her "boyfriend of five years."
In the card, Mike had written that she didn't have to call him her boyfriend anymore. Mike said, "I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
Kathryn shouted "Yes!" and put the ring on her finger.
Robert emerged from the truck and said, "I guess I really should have gone in the other car, huh?"
It was so them
Mike, now 32, is an orthopedist at Drexel. Kathryn, now 30, is an ophthalmologist who recently began a glaucoma fellowship at Wills Eye Hospital. But she did her residency in New York City. Considering that she would be living in another city right up until their wedding day, Kathryn suggested they elope. But that idea made both Mike and Kathryn's mom, Susan, sad. So they devised a system: Susan searched for vendors and narrowed down the options, then the vendors would call Kathryn to describe things over the phone, and she would give final approval.
Kathryn admits that, since her residency ended only days before the wedding, she wasn't always paying that much attention. So she was really blown away by what she saw and experienced at the Cathedral Basilica and the Franklin Institute.
The ceremony was steeped in Catholic tradition. And then the couple walked across the street to the Institute. "The whole room was lit dimly, and the domed ceiling had twinkling stars," Kathryn said. "It was a magical feeling and it made me want to dance."
This didn't happen at rehearsal
When the couple left the church, the first thing they heard was a bagpiper. "Wouldn't it be cool if he was calling us to the reception?" Kathryn heard one of her guests say. They found the piper soon enough. He was playing on the steps of the Franklin Institute. "I'm here for your wedding," he told Kathryn. Her mother had hired him as a surprise for the couple.
Awestruck
"The best moment of the day was when we went up to the roof of the Franklin at sunset," Kathryn said. The photographer wanted to snap some shots up there. "It was after everyone was inside and downstairs, eating. We were just there, with each other, and really happy to be married. It was the first time we were able to focus on each other."
Discretionary spending
The splurge that was a bargain: Initially, Mike and Kathryn had decided to hire a DJ to save money. But then the month before their wedding, they attended a friend's reception and the R&B and soul sounds would not get out of their heads. Kathryn decided she'd call the band, assuming there was no way they'd be available on a June Saturday with such little notice. But they were available, and really wanted to fill the blank space in their calendar. The couple got the Mustangs at more than 30 percent off the band's usual rate.
The getaway
The couple, who live in Fairmount, will spend two weeks in Hawaii in the new year.
Behind the Scenes
Officiant
Rev. Edward P. Burke of Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul, Philadelphia
Venue
Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul; the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia
Catering
Frog Commissary Catering, Philadelphia
Music
The Mustangs, Washington, D.C.
Dress
Nicole Bridal & Formal Shoppe, Jenkintown
Flowers
Elite Florals, Roslyn
Photography
Sarah Miller Photography, Philadelphia
Invitations
Pine Hill Printing, Pine Hill, N.J.EndText