They Knew From the Start (but the Dogs Needed Convincing)

Catriona Duncan and Sarah Gail Palmisano are certain that the NPR game 'Wait Wait... Don't tell Me!' is popular. It is well-deserved. They wouldn't know that their first date in August 2018 was a live recording of the show at Chicago's Millennium Park.

Ms. Duncan, an equity analyst at William Blair, asked Ms. Palmisano to meet her for a picnic on the show. They met about a week prior. Ms. Duncan asked Ms. Palmisano, an equity analyst with William Blair, to meet at the show and have a picnic. Ms. Palmisano liked the unconventional thinking of Ms. Duncan, director of Ulta's environmental, social, and governance program management. She said, 'In online dating, everyone wants to go out for drinks at a bar.' Cat wanted to do something outside.

It didn't matter that neither of them was a news junkie. 'Wait wait ...' tests contestants to see how well they know current events. They were in deep conversation when a sudden downpour caused picnickers scattered halfway through the recording. Ms. Duncan invited Ms. Palmisano along to Ramen Takeya in Chicago's Fulton Market District. They then went to Ms. Duncan’s apartment.

That evening, a first kiss of a kind neither expected happened. Ms. Palmisano stated that 'our dogs were a topic of conversation throughout the night'. She wanted to see Emmy, the miniature dachshund of Ms. Duncan. Ms. Duncan joked that Sarah's very first kiss happened with Emmy.

Ms. Palmisano was born in Grand Rapids. She graduated in 2009 with a Bachelor's Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies and Social Science from Michigan State University. In 2016, she moved to Chicago to study at the University of Chicago. She earned a Master's in Environmental Science and Policy in 2018. Ms. Duncan earned her M.B.A. from the University of Chicago in 2014. She grew up in Lake Forest in Illinois. She earned a Bachelor's Degree in Government and English from Harvard in 2008.

After kissing Emmy and saying goodnight to Ms. Palmisano Ms. Duncan picked up her phone. She said, 'I texted everyone to let them know that I had just returned from the most amazing first date of my life.' 'I knew immediately that this was the person I wanted to be with.

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Ms. Palmisano knew it too. She lived in Chicago's Lincoln Park area at the time. In the fall of 2018, both were together. They didn't get to spend much time together. Emmy was not a favorite of Ms. Palmisano’s mixed-breed dog Stella. Ms. Palmisano stated that Stella is selective in who she allows into her life. When I rescued Stella, they told her she needed to live in a household with only one animal.

When Ms. Palmisano first moved into Ms. Duncan’s apartment at the beginning of the pandemic the dogs reached an uneasy truce. The time saved by not having to commute was crucial.

Ms. Palmisano asked Ms. Duncan to marry her on a trip to Big Sur in December 2021. Ms. Palmisano knew that she wanted to ask. After Ms. Duncan accepted, she devised a plan for her own second proposal. They left their apartment in Chicago's West Town on Feb. 3, 2022 to return to Millennium Park to tape another episode of "Wait, Wait ...'

Palmisano stated that Cat had tickets for the nosebleeds in the same place we sat on our first date. They left again mid-way through to go for dinner at Ramen Takeya. Both had the opportunity to say "yes" to the possibility of spending the rest their lives together.

Ms. Palmisano married Ms. Duncan on March 24, in the Northfield (Ill.) backyard of Ms. Duncan’s grandparents, Mary Ann Judy and Paul Judy. Ms. Judy officiated, and she became a Universal Life Church Minister for the occasion. Ms. Duncan stated that they now call her "Reverend Granny". She's also qualified because 'they have been married for 69 years. The only guest was Mr. Judy, who served as the ring-bearer. The couple will host a formal second celebration on April 8, with 130 guests in Point Reyes (California). Both brides are planning to wear white dresses.

They plan to go back to the park to watch 'Wait, Wait ....' Still, they haven't heard an entire episode. This time they might pay attention. 'What Ms. Duncan and I have captured of the show was fantastic,' she said.