When Shira Claudel Catlin and Morgan Joan Keith got together, they didn’t waste much time becoming an official couple. About a month to the day after they connected via Tinder, they became exclusive.
The two matched on Tinder on December 20, 2017, and their first date was eight days later at Boston’s now-closed Anthem Kitchen & Bar.
Throughout the dinner, Lady Catlin said, “I was so excited. I’ve dated so many men before that I felt I couldn’t be more authentically myself.” Lady Keith was the second woman Catelynn had ever dated. “In my first year of teaching, I switched my Tinder profile to women,” she said.
After dinner, the two walked to the Faneuil Hall Marketplace and sat in the dining hall until closing. “We were kicked out because it was too late,” said Ms. Keith. Then they walked to Blink TreeAnd Holiday tree display. “Morgan danced to the music and I sat smitten,” said Mrs. Catlin.
After that night, the two start seeing each other more often. And less than three weeks later, on January 19, 2018, they officially became friends.
“I invited Shira over to my place, and asked her if she wanted to be exclusive,” said Ms. Keith. “I asked if that meant if we were girlfriends, and we both nodded yes.”
The two started traveling and adventuring together. They went camping, hiking, and completed the National Park Service’s Junior Ranger programs at eight parks, including Big Cypress in Florida, Acadia National Park in Maine, and Women’s Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls, New York.
“Everything we do — holidays, weekends, everything — is an adventure,” said Ms. Keith, adding that she “couldn’t see myself living without Shera,” or Catelynn’s rescue dogs, Sophie and Tucker.
When the pandemic struck, Ms. Keith moved into Ms. Catlin’s apartment in Waltham, Massachusetts, and after two more apartments, the couple bought a home in Hudson in March 2022.
Ms. Catlin, 30, is a physical education teacher at Weston Public Schools. She has a BA 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. I grew up in western Massachusetts.
Ms. Keith, who is 30, primarily grew up in Middlebury, Connecticut. She is a Certified Public Accountant and Senior Accountant at Paytronix Systems, a software company in Newton. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Central Connecticut State University.
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When it came to proposal ideas, Ms Keith said, “It was definitely a discussion, because I don’t like surprises.” Lady Catlin did not share her distaste.
On April 19, 2021, the two went hiking in Acadia National Park. “At the top of Pemetic Mountain, Morgan set up a tripod and we went out to the ledge,” said Ms. Catlin. “As soon as she got down on one knee, the tripod with her phone fell off.” The brides were too busy celebrating to immediately notice that the dropped phone had triggered a 911 call diverted to the park’s search and rescue operation. “They triple-checked we were okay,” said Ms. Catlin. “I was very apologetic.”
Lady Catlin later comes up with a way to propose, with Lady Keith’s permission. She knew that although Mrs. Keith didn’t want a surprise, she did want her family there.
Mrs. Keith said at that point, “My family didn’t know we were actually engaged and that I already knew about the plan.”
Ms. Catlin invited several family and friends to a private class she had arranged to teach at the YMCA in West Newton on May 2, 2021. “Everyone rode the bike for a full 30 minutes before I started presenting the suggested songs,” Ms. Catlin said. “Halfway through Bruno Mars’ ‘Marry You’, I jumped off the bicycle I was riding and fell to one knee.” Then the two reveal that they are actually engaged.
The couple were legally married on June 27 at Worcester City Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts to Charlotte Lillman, a mutual friend who had been given a one-day marriage appointment through the state of Massachusetts for the occasion. The only guest was their photographer.
They chose to have a legal ceremony in Massachusetts because the couple wanted to choose an entirely new last name that would be legally binding after the wedding, which the state of Massachusetts allows. Both women are tired of being confused by their current last name, which sounds like first names.
Ms. Lellman will lead their second concert, which will take place on July 15 in Wolfeboro, NH, at the Barn at Moody Mountain Farm.
The couple invited friends and family to suggest family names with the following criteria: being inspired by nature, without the R (as Mrs. Keith has trouble pronouncing it), and obviously a last name. “We’ll come out to be presented at the reception with college jackets with our last name on the back and the front, and our new last name will be revealed in a banner hanging behind us,” said Ms. Catlin. “Pasture.”