REAL-WEDDINGS

Real Columbus Wedding: Kathryn and Patrick McHugh

Silly details and meaningful personal touches punctuated this couple’s big day.

Columbus Monthly

Kathryn and Patrick McHugh married on July 9, 2022, at Vue Columbus.

July 9, 2022 | Current and former medical students out there, and those close to them, know how hectic residency can be—which is why Kathryn (Anderson) and Patrick McHugh’s “how we met” story is so funny.

“When Katy was in her first year of residency, she decided it was time to meet the love of her life,” wrote Patrick on the couple’s wedding website. “With the help of mutual friends (thanks Katie McHugh-Castle and Kelley Worstell for working together!), I finally decided to make time from my busy schedule to go on a date with Katy—who had all the free time in the world as a first-year resident in medicine.”

In fact, that first date in the summer of 2019 nearly didn’t happen. Katy planned to cancel, as she had an ICU shift the following morning. Then she learned that Patrick had driven from an out-of-state wedding—through a severe thunderstorm, no less—to make back in time, and she decided she “should probably follow through on the date,” she says. She did, and over the following months, the two quickly fell in love.

In March of 2020, Patrick—who was living with his parents at the time—took a trip to Germany. He was mid-flight over the Atlantic Ocean when the travel ban was announced, so after waiting in the Munich airport for a few hours, he flew back home.

“My parents, seizing this opportunity to kick me out of the house, informed me I was not allowed to come home after being in Europe (for 2.5 hours!), which resulted in me being homeless,” Patrick jokes, noting that his mother may provide “alternate facts” to that tale.

Whatever the case may be, the result was that Patrick moved in with Katy. “We know that if we could survive moving in together during a pandemic, we could survive anything as a couple,” she says.

Patrick proposed in December of that year, luring her out of the house with a fancy dinner date so his sister could decorate the apartment with balloons, bubbly and chocolate-covered strawberries. “Pat is rarely a man of few words, but when it came down to the proposal, he completely forgot what to say,” Katy says. Luckily, she was able to read his mind, and said “yes.”

Their wedding day, a year and a half later, was intentionally filled with personal touches.

“We curated a very personalized wedding ceremony, which perfectly represented us,” Katy says. “The ceremony shared our love story, incorporated humor, emphasized the importance of true partnership through the personal vows we chose, and even included a reading from Parks & Recreation.”

That level of personal detail carried into the reception, which included a first dance to “Katy’s Song”—written by Pat soon after their relationship began and recorded by him on Katy’s mother’s guitar. That was immediately followed by a “first dance honorable mention” to Jimmy Buffet’s “Cheeseburgers in Paradise.”

“Growing up, Pat always believed that his parents’ first dance song was ‘Cheeseburgers in Paradise,’ Katy says. “It wasn’t until he was 30 years old that he learned this was not actually the case. In honor of this, I felt that ‘Cheeseburgers in Paradise’ would be an appropriate second dance song.”

Other noteworthy moments included the processional, which included a “flower dude” strolling down the aisle to an instrumental cover of Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball,” handing out long-stemmed roses and tossing petals from a small cooler. “He wore a hat with a mullet, which at least half of the guests thought was real,” Katy says. (It was not.)

The couple honeymooned in St. Lucia following their nuptials.