Weddings: Kyle Sweeney & Katarina Wilson
Hello there Finance degree from Pennsylvania State University and finance manager job at Johnson & Johnson in hand, Kat, a girl from the small town of DuBois, Clearfield County, moved to a Manayunk apartment. On a Friday in March 2012, she and two friends began a night out at the U.S. Hotel Bar & Grill.
Hello there
Finance degree from Pennsylvania State University and finance manager job at Johnson & Johnson in hand, Kat, a girl from the small town of DuBois, Clearfield County, moved to a Manayunk apartment. On a Friday in March 2012, she and two friends began a night out at the U.S. Hotel Bar & Grill.
Kyle was then earning his master's degree in athletic coaching education at West Virginia University, where he was also an assistant basketball coach. Home for the weekend, staying with his parents in Roxborough, Kyle and four friends thought the U.S. Hotel Bar was a fine place to watch March Madness. The group of women watching at the bar made their idea seem more brilliant.
Everyone talked to everyone, but there were major vibes between Kyle and Kat.
"It was so easy to talk to him," she remembered. He and his friends were so funny, she said, plus Kyle is tall and good-looking. She was pleased when her friend Kathleen invited the guys to join them at Kildare's Irish Pub, then alarmed when Kathleen dissed Kyle because he didn't know exactly where the pub was.
"Ugh! Out-of-towners!" Kathleen said in a good-natured but undeniably snarky way. This from a one-year transplant who grew up in Ohio!
"I grew up here. I went to school here," Kyle said. "And I go to church here, just a few blocks away."
Kat swept in for the rescue: "Oh, St. John's?" she asked, hopefully. "That's where I go, too."
The guys left first, with Kyle lagging behind to say goodbye and see you later to Kat.
"Dude, what are you doing?" one of the guys asked when Kyle joined them again. At their urging, Kyle went back to the bar. "In case we don't reconnect at Kildare's, here's my business card, and my cellphone is on there," he told Kat.
Kat never found him at the crowded pub. Walking home, she thought out loud about his business card: "If he were really interested, wouldn't he have just asked for my number? "Her friends agreed that was likely. Kat set Kyle's card on the kitchen counter, not knowing what to do with it.
The next day, Kat and friends took the train to Center City for dinner. At the East Falls station, Kathleen, who was facing the door, started to laugh. Kyle was boarding the same train.
"Hey, I met you girls last night!" he said, looking at Kat. But he kept walking. "Since she had not texted, I thought she wasn't interested," he said.
Seeing Kyle again on the train felt like fate. On Sunday, Kat picked up his business card and her phone.
Kyle returned to West Virginia. They texted regularly for the next week and a half, then had their first real date at Manayunk Brewing Co.
The couple, who are now both 28, have been together ever since. "She is a very caring person, and a very smart person, who likes to make people laugh," Kyle said. "It's better for me when I'm around her than when I'm not."
Kat was impressed with how hard Kyle worked at his assistant coaching job and on his degree. "And no matter how stressful or crazy work was at the time, he could always make me laugh, and make me realize everything would be OK." They are both close to their families, and within months, his embraced her.
That summer, after finishing his master's program, Kyle moved home and sought a career in sales. After a brief stint elsewhere, he landed his job at Gemalto, a digital security company. Kyle still coaches "for the love of it," volunteering with the high school-age kids of Team Philly.
How does forever sound?
By October 2014, the couple lived in Fairmount. "We should go to Manayunk and hang out on Saturday," Kyle suggested a week in advance.
He's a planner, but that seemed unusual. "I tried not to think too much about it," Kat said.
Saturday finally came. When they got to Manayunk, Kyle suggested they check out a construction project at St. John's.
At Pretzel Park, across the street from St. John's, Kyle said that because the church had helped get their relationship started, it seemed fitting they begin the next chapter of their lives together there. He knelt, and asked whether she'd marry him.
Kat, crying too hard to speak, nodded vigorously.
A few minutes later, she called her parents, David and Debbie, to share the good news. She couldn't wait to see them in person the next weekend, she said. Kat suggested to Kyle they change their plans and immediately go to Roxborough to tell his parents, Charles and Carol.
They'd get there, Kyle said. But wouldn't it be fun to have a drink at the U.S. Hotel Bar first?
When the couple walked in, all four parents were waiting and cheered.
It was so them
Ten days before the wedding, the couple closed on their Francisville home.
They married in a traditional Catholic ceremony at St. Francis Xavier the Oratory, the church Kyle's dad grew up in. The church honored Kyle's late grandmother Missy, whose funeral two decades ago was the last family event held there. The full Mass was a tribute to Kat's grandma Evie, who lives in a nursing home and couldn't attend. A rosary Evie gave to Kat for her first communion was woven into her bouquet, and the stems were covered with a handkerchief that had belonged to Kat's late grandmother Annie.
With Kat's Central Pennsylvania relatives coming to town for the wedding, she wanted to hold the reception for 175 at a heart-of-the-city location: The Curtis Center.
Most of all, Kyle and Kat wanted people to have fun. "We wanted them to eat as much food as they possibly could, and drink as much from the open bar as they possibly could," he said. "It seems like we did that."
More fun: The couple collected pennants from alma maters St. Joe's Prep, Penn State, the University of Maryland and West Virginia University, and their photographer took alumni group photos. Especially for the groom, the DJ played a block of music from the early 2000s, including Nelly and Ja Rule.
Awestruck
When the doors at the back of the church opened and Kat walked in, "I was so excited to go through with the wedding ceremony and get married and spend the rest of my life with her," Kyle said.
After the newlyweds were introduced at their reception, everyone joined them on the dance floor, and Kat could feel the love. "In that moment, everything was so real, and we were married," she said. "It was time to take a breath and enjoy where we were in our lives together, with all of our loved ones around us."
Budget crunch
A bargain: When Kat and her mom first saw the Curtis Center, gorgeous chandeliers hung from the ceiling. They cost extra. Kyle asked Kat to please consider the budget. Then Kat learned that Beautiful Blooms, which does the lighting at the Curtis Center, would give a big discount on the chandeliers if the couple also hired it for floral arrangements.
The splurge: "Having our wedding at our dream venue in the city where we live together with everyone there we wanted on a Saturday in wedding season," Kat said. "No bargains there."
The honeymoon
Ten nights in St. Lucia.
Love: BEHIND THE SCENES
StartText
Officiant: The Rev. Brian R. Gaffney, C.O.
Venue: St. Francis Xavier - the Oratory.
Reception Venue: The Atrium at the Curtis Center, Philadelphia.
Food: Cescaphe Event Group.
Photography: Jordan Brian Photography, Mount Laurel.
Videography: CinEmotion 4 U, Mount Laurel.
Flowers: Jackie Baik at Beautiful Blooms, Philadelphia.
Dress: Designer Matthew Christopher. Purchased at the Wedding Shoppe, Wayne.
Music: Ben Ostroff at EBE, Philadelphia.
Do you have the date? Email us - at least six weeks before your ceremony - why we should feature your love story: weddings@phillynews.com. Unfortunately, we can't respond individually to all submissions. If your story is chosen, you will be contacted.EndText