Patrick Porter and Thomas Zerone are both thankful for their decision to go to U Bar one Friday night in 2013.
“I looked across the bar and saw him, and there was just some kind of spark there,” Zerone said. “That’s where it all started.”
“Luckily for me, he came over started talking to me,” Porter said. “And now we’re getting married in three months!”
The couple is getting married in June at Physick House. They got engaged while on vacation in St. Bart’s last summer.
“We were beginning the process of moving in together and I said to myself, If he’s moving in, I must love him enough to want to spend the rest of my life with him. I came to that conclusion about three days before we were leaving for vacation, so I went out and got a ring,” Porter said.
He said he was nervous the entire week, until finally pushing himself to propose on the beach.
Zerone joked they began planning as soon as they got back.
“He said, ‘I know we haven’t been together all that long, but you’re the one I want to spend the rest of my life with, so you decide when you’re ready to get married.’ And two days, we’re getting calls back from wedding venues he had called,” he laughed. “I said, ‘Uh huh, giving me time?’”
But Zerone said he didn’t need any more time to decide.
“We haven’t been together as long as some other couples, but you know when it’s a fit. There’s a foundation of respect that’s vitally, vitally important. A lot of young couples don’t get that,” he said. “We’re very different but we’re both always willing to come back to the table and figure out a middle ground.”
The South Jersey natives now live in Center City. Zerone works in administration at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Porter is an interior designer.
“He has a sense of detail like no other person I’ve ever met. I sometimes feel like a straight man next to him,” laughed Zerone. “But he’s one of the most kind-hearted people I’ve ever met; he has an innate generosity and desire to help people. And a very quick sense of humor.”
Porter said the authenticity he most admires about Zerone shone through the first night they met.
“I realized quickly what an incredibly special person he is,” Porter said. “There are not a lot of people out there who are as sincere and kind as he is.”
Communication, Porter added, has been key in their success.
“That’s the most important thing: good, honest communication,” he said. “It’s definitely not always easy, but if it’s worth it, you have to put in the effort.”
Zerone, a cabaret singer, often sings about love and relationships. He used to tell audiences, “when I find my one true love, I’ll be singing this song to him.”
“I’m so happy to finally have that special person who is there to receive the emotions expressed through my singing.”