When Shira Claudelle Catlin and Morgan Joan Keith met, they didn’t waste much time becoming an official couple. Almost one month to the day after connecting on Tinder, they became exclusive.
The two matched on Tinder on Dec. 20, 2017, and had their first date eight days later at the now-closed Anthem Kitchen & Bar in Boston.
Throughout dinner, Ms. Catlin said, “I was really excited. I had dated a lot of guys before and felt I could never authentically be myself.” Ms. Keith was only the second woman Ms. Catlin had ever dated. “In my first year of teaching, I switched my Tinder profile to women,” she said.
After dinner, the two walked to Faneuil Hall Marketplace and sat in the food court until closing. “We got kicked out because it was so late,” Ms. Keith said. They then walked to Blink Tree, a holiday tree display. “Morgan danced to the music and I sat smitten,” Ms. Catlin said.
After that night, the two began seeing each other a lot. And less than three weeks later, on Jan. 19, 2018, they officially became girlfriends.
“I invited Shira over to my place, and I asked her if she wanted to be exclusive,” Ms. Keith said. “She asked if that meant if we were girlfriends, and we both nodded yes.”
The two began traveling and adventuring together. They went camping and hiking and completed the National Park Service’s Junior Ranger programs in eight parks, including Big Cypress in Florida, Acadia National Park in Maine, and Women’s Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls, N.Y.
“Everything we do — vacations, weekends, everything — is adventurous,” Ms. Keith said, adding that she “couldn’t see myself living without Shira,” or Ms. Catlin’s rescue dogs, Sophie and Tucker.
When the pandemic hit, Ms. Keith moved into Ms. Catlin’s apartment in Waltham, Mass. After two more apartments, the couple bought a house in Hudson in March 2022.
Ms. Catlin, 30, is a physical education teacher in the Weston Public Schools. She has a bachelor’s degree in human ecology from College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine, and a master’s degree in physical education and coaching from Boston University. She grew up in Western Massachusetts.
Ms. Keith, also 30, grew up primarily in Middlebury, Conn. She is a C.P.A. and a senior accountant at Paytronix Systems, a software company in Newton. She has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Central Connecticut State University.
[Click here to binge read this week’s featured couples.]
When it came to proposal ideas, Ms. Keith said, “It was definitely a discussion, because I don’t like surprises.” Ms. Catlin didn’t share her aversion.
On April 19, 2021, the two went hiking in Acadia National Park. “On the top of the Pemetic Mountain, Morgan setup a tripod and we walked out to the edge,” Ms. Catlin said. “Just as she was getting to one knee, the tripod with her phone fell over.” The brides were too busy celebrating to immediately notice that the fallen phone had triggered a 911 call that was transferred to the park’s search and rescue operation. “They triple-checked that we were OK,” Ms. Catlin said. “I was profusely apologetic.”
Ms. Catlin later came up with a way to propose, with Ms. Keith’s permission. She knew that although Ms. Keith didn’t want a surprise, she would want her family there.
At that point, “My family didn’t know we were already engaged and that I already knew about the plan,” Ms. Keith said.
Ms. Catlin invited several family members and friends to a private spin class she arranged to teach at the Y.M.C.A. in West Newton on May 2, 2021. “Everyone biked a full 30 minutes before I started leading into proposal songs,” Ms. Catlin said. “Halfway through Bruno Mars’s “Marry You,” I jumped off the spin bike I was on and dropped to one knee.” The two then revealed that they were already engaged.
The couple were legally wed June 27 at Worcester City Hall in Worcester, Mass. Charlotte Lellman, a mutual friend who obtained a one-day marriage designation through the State of Massachusetts for the occasion, officiated. The only guest was their photographer.
They opted for a legal ceremony in Massachusetts because the couple wanted to choose a brand-new last name that would be legally binding after the wedding, which Massachusetts allows. Both women were tired of the confusion their current last names, which sound like first names, cause.
Ms. Lellman is to lead their second ceremony, which is to be held on July 15 in Wolfeboro, N.H., at the Barn at Moody Mountain Farm.
The couple had invited friends and family to suggest last names with the following criteria: that they be nature inspired, without R’s (as Ms. Keith has difficulty pronouncing them), and clearly a last name. “We will be walking out to be introduced at the reception with varsity jackets with our last name on the back and front and our new last name will be revealed in a banner hanging behind us,” Ms. Catlin said. “Meadows.”
