Arielle Catron and Mary McMullen’s first date to meet up for drinks ended up lasting for more than six hours.
“Within the first five minutes, I knew she was someone I wanted to be around for a long time,” McMullen said.
The pair met at Sisters in 2012, after first talking online.
“From her profile, I could tell she was definitely goofy and smart and fun and she lived up to all of that when we met,” Catron said. “She was really easy to talk to, just a really kind and fun person.”
They talked for hours and played Quizzo; since Sisters closed, they’ve carried on their love of the trivia games at other Gayborhood locales like Tabu.
Despite their shared passion for the game, Catron said they have a fair number of differences.
“It’s pretty much opposites attract,” she said. “But we complement each other.”
Catron, 28, is a native of Collingswood, N.J., who moved to Philadelphia to attend Temple University. She earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in social work and currently works as the admissions coordinator at Widener University’s master of social work program. McMullen was born in San Francisco, and lived in South Jersey before coming to Philadelphia. She previously worked in University of Pennsylvania’s neuroscience research lab and is now pursuing a carpenter apprenticeship.
The couple lives in Point Breeze.
Instead of a formal proposal, they said they decided to take the next step and get married after careful consideration.
“We were very lesbian about it,” Catron laughed. “We talked about it, analyzed where we wanted the relationship to go and eventually just decided this is the right time. We’re so happy to be together and wanted to get married.”
In the last four years, McMullen said she’s come to appreciate the support she and Catron provide for one another.
“It’s really about being your partner’s biggest champion,” she said about the key to the couple’s success. “You have to support them even if they don’t believe in themselves. Whenever I’m feeling down, Arielle’s there to pick me up and show me not to take things too seriously.”
That teamwork has helped through the wedding-planning process, which the couple said has been stressful but fun. Having a hand from wedding planner Ashley Coleman of bASH Events — who was coincidentally bartending at Sisters when the couple met — has also been valuable.
“Having Ashley as our wedding planner has been so helpful,” Catron said. “She’s made everything a lot of fun.”
The couple plans to wed Oct. 2 at Awbury Arboretum.
McMullen said she’s eager for the meaning the word “wife” conveys.
“We already have built a life together — we live together and have three pets — but being able to introduce her as my wife instead of my girlfriend or my fiancée, I’m really excited about that.”