Weddings: Marcella Strittmatter and Michael McCullough

Just one smoke was all Marcy needed.

When Ardent Credit Union moved into its new building at 1500 Spring Garden, she resolved to leave cigarettes behind. But for the love of all that's holy, this super-stressful spring day in May 2013 required a reprieve.

Marcy, executive administrator for the CEO and community outreach coordinator, walked out back to the small parking lot the smokers claimed. And there was this cute and animated guy she didn't know.

"Hi, I'm Mike," he said. Nearly everything he said after that was hilarious.

"My stressful day was totally turned around, and it had nothing to do with the cigarette," Marcy said.

Mike worked for Yoh Services staffing company, another business in the same building. "I would chitter-chatter with a lot of people, but I was struck right away by Marcy's beauty and her elegance, her grace," he said.

Days later, one of her coworkers noticed Marcy trekking outside to Smokers' Lot. "I thought you quit?" he asked. "Can't quit now," she said. "I met a boy."

That boy was looking for her, too, and sometimes their timing was lucky. After three weeks of five-minute snippets about their lives, people in common, and weekend plans, Mike invited Marcy to happy hour. She practically danced back to her desk, then recruited a coworker and her sister as wingwomen.

The group had fun at St. Stephen's Green in Fairmount. Then, one by one, everyone left except Mike and Marcy.

"She has this joie de vivre - joy of life - and it is so much fun to be around her," Mike said. "I wanted to be around her every time I could from that point on." That started immediately with dinner at the now-defunct Route 6.

"I thought he was really cute, really nice, and smart," Marcy said.

She had been doing some online dating, but Mike took her focus off everyone else. Within a month, she deleted her profile.

In late September, the couple were in Fishtown, having drinks at Frankford Hall, a place Mike knew much better than Marcy. "Do you know where the bathroom is?" she asked. Walking in the direction he specified, Marcy looked over her shoulder and blurted out: "I love you!"

Her pure terror lasted only half a second. "I love you, too," Mike said.

Mike began planning in fall 2014, getting the blessing of Marcy's mom, Liz, and sisters Sue and Kathy. He found the ring. At Christmas, Mike gave Marcy a trip to New York he planned with advice from his sister Kristen, including a hotel with a view and tickets for You Can't Take It With You starring James Earl Jones. The magic would happen Valentine's Day weekend.

On departure day, Mike seemed off to Marcy from the moment they arrived at 30th Street Station. For one thing, he was quiet. "Are you feeling OK?" she asked. He swore he was.

At their hotel, the couple immediately walked onto the balcony, and the view of the Empire State Building made Marcy forget to worry about Mike for a moment. "Look at this view!" she said. "You did such a good job!"

Marcy turned toward Mike. He held out a ring. "Will you marry me?" he asked.

"Oh, my God, yes!" she said.

They kissed, and Mike immediately reverted to his happy, chatty self.

Soon after, Marcy sold her Wynnefield Heights condo and joined Mike at his house in his beloved Olde Richmond, where he serves as vice president of the Olde Richmond Civic Association. The couple share their home with a Sheltie named Fozzy Bear.

Mike, now 35 and program manager for staffing company Staff Management, grew up in the Brookhaven section of Northeast Philadelphia. The couple wed nearby at All Saints' Episcopal Church. He and Marcy, who is 33 and grew up in Roxborough, chose a short and simple ceremony with one Bible reading and one poem: Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Love's Philosophy."

Marcy's bouquet stems were wrapped with a blue handkerchief adorned with her two late grandfathers' initials, borrowed from her sister. Mike's late father, Francis, was remembered in the wedding program.

The reception for 125 was held at Spring Mill Country Club in Ivyland. To honor Mike's love of reading, Marcy's sister Kathy fashioned paper flowers for bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres from petals Marcy punched out of book pages. (Assurance to other bibliophiles: No extraordinary books were harmed in the making of these flowers). The couple saved their craft beer and wine bottles and Marcy made them into centerpieces.

Mike braced himself for shenanigans when his brother, Matt, began his toast. What he wasn't prepared for: His brother's touching words and the lump in his throat.

Mike and his mom, Karen, danced to one of her favorites: Frank Sinatra's version of "Summer Wind."

Since she was in high school, Marcy, her sisters, and their mom have mostly been on their own. Chumbawamba's "Tubthumping" - the song one with the lyric, "I get knocked down, but I get up again. You're never gonna keep me down," was Liz's theme back then. She'd jack up the volume and car dance while driving Marcy and her friends anywhere.

Back then, it made Marcy want to hide. But at the wedding, she encouraged Liz to rock out with her as the song played for their Mother-Daughter dance. Marcy had asked her sisters to join them. Her sisters secretly taught others the dance moves they'd practiced. "Something like 30 guests joined us," Marcy said. "I was so overwhelmed by how fantastic it was."

Marcy's a 95-percent-kidding-about-it doomsday prepper who is completely ready for the next power outage. Every guest received a "Bug Out Bag" favor with bottles of water, bags of chips, matches, a Mylar blanket, and candies that share the couple's initials - M&Ms.

Mike, his brother the best man, and his groomsmen took the 66 trolley to the ceremony, and Mike was a mess of nerves the entire time. "I felt like I had had 30 cups of coffee," he said. Once at the church, "I was surrounded by the best people in my life. And then Marcy walks in. And then I was good. It was 'All right, game's on, let's go!' "

He couldn't take his eyes off her, and she couldn't take her eyes off him. "He was that calming presence at the end of the altar. I just had to get to Mike," Marcy said. "After we were pronounced husband and wife, and we kissed, I leaned in and hugged him. This is my best friend, so I had to hug him."

A bargain: The sister-made flowers.

The splurge: A mashed potato bar, with russets and cheese and such, and sweet potatoes and marshmallows and such. Alas, neither bride nor groom got to eat any. (Dear friends and family of Mike and Marcy: Hint, hint!)

A cruise to Bermuda and 18 holes of golf at Port Royal, a PGA Championship course.