Short Ride Leads to Lasting Relationship: University Couple Marries at the Dinky

Candace Braun

It was love at first Dinky.

Princeton University employees Sharyn Murray and Larry Frazer took their wedding vows at Princeton's Dinky station on Saturday, because the small train has a special significance for the couple: it was where they first met.

The couple met a year-and-a-half ago because Ms. Murray had lost her ticket for the Dinky and asked Mr. Frazer where to purchase a new one. In the conversation that followed they found out that they had many things in common, including where they worked.

Ms. Murray, 43, first came to Princeton two years ago from Montclair, and currently works in the University's development office. Her new husband, Mr. Frazer, 52, is the executive catering chef at the University's dining services, where he has worked for several years.

Both have been married before, and Mr. Frazer has two children from his previous marriage: Jordan, 20, and Margaux, 22.

But after years without a partner, they found each other on one October day during a five-minute train ride from Princeton Junction to the University.

Cooking was one of the first passions the couple discovered that they shared. After noticing Mr. Frazer's chef's uniform, Ms. Murray recalled a restaurant she had discovered while vacationing in Italy, and recommended it to Mr. Frazer, handing him her card.

"As it turns out he never travels for work," said Ms. Murray, laughing. "I had thought all chefs travelled."

In any case, it was the beginning of a new relationship, which began with a first date at La Mezzaluna, and became much more serious when Mr. Frazer proposed on the Dinky last summer.

"It was a pretty quick romance," said Ms. Murray, adding that she knew by the fourth date that she wanted to marry him.

Last Saturday, after taking the 12:57 p.m. train into the Dinky station, the couple made their marriage official.

At the wedding, the couple revealed another shared passion: music.

After noticing at their first meeting that Mr. Frazer wore a "G clef" earring, and that he also played the mandolin, Ms. Murray made him aware of her own love of music, and her program, "Animal-E-Alia," which teaches children about local wildlife. Ms. Murray gives programs at area schools and theaters, as well as at the Plainsboro Wildlife Preserve, where she has volunteered in the past.

At the wedding, Mr. Frazer sang his vows, and the couple sang together as part of the reception's "entertainment," said Ms. Murray.

"We've been rehearsing all week," she said in an interview just two days before the wedding.

A lot of planning was involved in order to have the ceremony at the Dinky station, said Ms. Murray. The couple had to get permission from the University to hold the ceremony on campus property, as well as from New Jersey Transit, since a group pass was needed for the wedding party to take a celebratory ride on the train following the ceremony.

The wedding reception was held at the University's Cap and Gown Club, which is managed by a mutual friend. Different rooms in the eating club were decorated to reflect the couple's interests, including the train, nature, music, and a France-themed room to reflect their first trip together.

"It was great. Everyone had a great time, and [the wedding] was flawless," said Mr. Frazer on Monday.

The couple is postponing their honeymoon until the weekend, however.

"I needed a week to recover," said Ms. Murray, adding that she and her husband will be travelling to a secluded island in the Bahamas.