Love | DIANE FRITSCH CULVER &MICHAEL TODD CULVER

Eloped

To Bermuda in May 1997.

Church wedding

May 26, 2007 at St. Joseph Parish Church in Spring City, with a reception for 40 guests at the Desmond Hotel in Malvern. Father Charles O'Hara presided at Mass.

They met

In September 1995, when Diane relocated to the Cranford, N.J., office of Kraft Foods after a sales-force merger. She and Michael landed on the same business team and became friends. She sought his advice on where to live and tips on their shared accounts. "He was so nice," Diane recalls. "A Wisconsin boy through and through."

In December, they went on a first date, to a Mexican restaurant near the office. During the Blizzard of '96, they hung out for three straight days, playing Parcheesi and sharing meals at her parents' home in West Chester.

He asked

Valentine's Day 1997. When Diane pulled into the garage of their Princeton home late that night, a sign hanging from the ceiling directed her to follow the yellow light. She opened the door and walked past flickering candles and a sprinkling of rose petals on the living room floor, where Michael was on one knee. The couple decided to elope a few months later.

Diane, previously divorced, had prior fertility issues and, at 36, wanted to start a family with Michael immediately. They decided not to have her Catholic marriage annulled, due to the lengthy process. After "horrible" fertility cycles, including a few miscarriages, Diane gave birth to Grace Elizabeth in August 2001. In May 2004, Andrea Makayla came along, and the couple began the annulment process. "It was time," Diane says. "They're going to be raised Catholic."

In January, 2006, her annulment was granted. Michael would finally get the church wedding and reception he had always dreamed of having.

9 to 5

Diane, 46, of Emmaus, is a stay-at-home mom. Michael, 40, of Fond du Lac, Wis., is a sales manager for Saputo Cheese.

Making a home

The Culvers live in Spring City.

First steps

"All I Ask of You," from The Phantom of the Opera.

Doing it

their way

Flower girls Grace, 5, and Andrea, 3, held hands and clutched flower baskets as they walked down the aisle in raw silk dresses finished with big ivory bows. Mom Diane followed in beaded white chiffon, carrying a cascading bouquet of white and ivory blooms. The ceremony, she says, was "very spiritual." Michael placed a white gold and diamond anniversary band on her finger - symbolic of their ten years together.

Grace and Andrea were whisked away so their parents could enjoy a child-free reception with a neutral color scheme and a chocolate mousse wedding cake. Hotel guests received welcome bags of local munchies: Snyder's pretzels, Tastykakes and Hershey bars.

Not a dry eye

"My brother Tom's toast," the bride says, "was very touching. He captured the spirit of what we were trying to do." Tom also walked his younger sister down the aisle.

Bloopers

You can always count on friends for comic relief. Diane and Michael rehearsed a choreographed dance routine to "All I Ask of You." That's when "naughty table No. 2" held up their number - a makeshift zero - scoring the couple's routine a la Dancing With the Stars.

Diane says

"Perhaps if we had chosen the alternative route, had the marriage annulled first, and had a traditional church wedding, we would not have our miracle daughters."

The honeymoon

No exotic getaway for these parents of preschoolers. They spent the night at the Desmond, then hosted a brunch the next day.

Tell us in a short e-mail - at least six weeks before your ceremony - why we should feature your love story. Send it to

weddings@phillynews.com

.

View wedding slide shows at http://

go.philly.com/nuptialsEndText