Future Mrs. & Mrs. Castro

Crunch Gym in West Babylon is where it all began. Back in the day, Mary worked the front desk, and we’ll never forget the first time Katherine walked in and scanned her key card to work out. We locked eyes and instantly felt a connection. For a while, we’d work out near each other, unsure if the other was gay—until one day, we matched on the “Her” app (a dating app for queer ladies). Still, nothing happened at first because we were both too nervous to start a conversation—lol. Time passed, and we kept crushing on each other from a distance. We’d occasionally bump into each other in the bathroom, but again, we were too shy to speak. Eventually, Mary left Crunch to pursue other career opportunities, and around the same time, Katherine applied to work there as a personal trainer. As soon as Mary left, Katherine started working at Crunch—so we returned to silently crushing on each other while working out. At this point, you’d think we’d just be eternal gym crushes… until October 6th, 2018. Some Crunch friends invited us out to watch the Khabib vs. McGregor fight at a small bar called Mary Carroll’s in Babylon Village. That night, introverted Katherine turned to Mary and said, “Meet me in the bathroom”—and that’s where we shared our first kiss. On November 4th, 2018, we had our first official date. Then, on December 22nd, 2018, Mary took Katherine on a weekend hiking trip to the Lemon Squeeze trail at Mohonk Mountain in New Paltz to ask her to be her girlfriend. And the rest, as they say, is history. On January 8th, 2025, Katherine proposed to Mary at Tunnel View in Yosemite, California. On May 24th, 2025, Mary proposed to Katherine at Big Lagoon in El Nido, Philippines. Now, we’re getting married at Nuuk Taal in Taal Lake, Batangas, Philippines on January 8th, 2027! Side note: Neither of us works at Crunch anymore—but who knew that a gym and the people in it would come to hold such a special place in our hearts.