Love: Erica Dubin & Justin Leonard

Every session of eighth-grade social studies at Newtown Junior High was another chance for Justin, whose family had moved from Lower Moreland to Richboro the previous year, and Erica, who had lived in Newtown all her life, to talk. But after school, his most important friendships remained those he'd made in Lower Moreland.

When they met up again as sophomores in English at Council Rock High School North, their friendship began stretching beyond school hours, largely through AOL Instant Messenger. Senior year, her group of girls and his group of guys became one big group of friends. "We became best friends through that," Erica said.

Not everyone gets her sarcastic sense of humor, but Justin has the very same kind. "He's a really good, genuine person. He always made me smile and laugh."

"I could talk to her. I could complain to her, and she listened," Justin said.

Justin was on-again-off-again with a girl from his old school district. They were together enough that Erica never pondered anything beyond their great friendship.

During the off-again times, Justin pondered. He was single the middle of senior year and asked Erica out.

She wasn't interested at first. "Then he started dating that same girlfriend again over winter break, and that was when I realized I liked him, of course." Erica nursed her regret privately.

Around their 2006 graduation, Justin broke up with his girlfriend for good. The large group of friends headed to Ocean City.

One night, like most since they'd become friends, Justin and Erica were up talking. The conversation topic was new: Should they be more than friends?

"It felt like it was kind of waiting to happen for a long time," Erica said.

"That whole summer was amazing," said Justin.

Later that summer, Erica, her mom, and Erica's friend Alexis found a class picture of 2-year-old Erica and her Mommy & Me classmates. Alexis pointed to the little boy next to Erica. "That looks like Justin!"

It was!

"Jewish people have this word, b'shert," said Erica. "It means, meant to be."

B'shert or no, Justin would soon leave for broadcast journalism studies at Syracuse University, and Erica for speech pathology at Temple. Come August, they made no promises, but continued to talk daily.

In September, Erica visited. They were getting ready to go to a party when he noticed the time. "It's 11:11. Make a wish," he said, keeping a little tradition that began in late-night instant-messaging sessions. "My wish is, would you be my girlfriend?"

After graduation, Justin moved to Philadelphia for a job with a local production company working for the Food Network. Erica moved back to Newtown to work with special-needs children through Progressions Inc.

Erica earned her master's in applied psychology at Rider University and now works with high school students with special needs at the Y.A.L.E. School in Cherry Hill.

In March 2012, Justin started talent-management agency JBL Media. He is also director of operations for celebrity chef Robert Irvine.

Every January, the couple, now both 27, head to New York, book a room at the Ritz-Carlton at Central Park, and spend the weekend enjoying the city and visiting Justin's brother and some friends.

In January 2014, Justin said his work was too busy. How about Valentine's weekend?

Valentine's night, they had a special dinner at one of Justin's client's restaurants with Justin's brother and his girlfriend, and Justin gave Erica a certificate for a mani/pedi at their hotel's spa.

Erica went for pampering the next morning.

"He said we had no plans," she said. "I figured, why should I rush? I was drinking champagne. I had a warming cloth around my neck."

In their room, Justin was pacing. Finally, the spa called. Erica was on her way.

She walked in to a trail of rose petals leading to a framed sign telling her to look through a telescope facing Central Park.

She wondered where Justin was, but looked through the eye piece and saw a hotel employee on a park bench, holding a sign: "Turn around."

Their song, James Taylor's "Smiling Face," began to play, and Justin appeared from the bathroom.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!" Erica said. She cried, shook, and had butterflies in her stomach.

Justin walked over to her, knelt, and held out a ring.

The next morning, Erica's parents, Debbie and Rich, and Justin's mom, Robyn; stepdad, Todd; and other family members drove from Pennsylvania to New York. They met the couple and more family for a celebratory brunch.

The couple's save-the-dates featured the photo of their 2-year-old selves at Mommy & Me.

At the Ballroom at the Ben, immediate family members and friends who were witnesses joined them for the signing of the ketubah, the Jewish marriage contract. Then the rest of the ceremony began beneath a chuppah - a canopylike structure that symbolizes the home - decorated with flowers.

The cocktail hour featured vast amounts of delicious food, which, along with the architecture, was the reason the couple chose this venue. As a producer, Justin geeked out watching staff quickly set up tables, linens, chairs, and many, many blush and ivory flowers to turn the ceremony space into an elegant reception room for 260 guests.

Their elaborately ruffly, four-tier red velvet cake was made by Justin's client, chef Elizabeth Falkner.

The couple now live in Washington Square.

Photos were taken before the ceremony. "I had a lot of expectations, thinking of what my wife would look like when I first saw her on our wedding day," Justin said, "But I don't think I could have prepared myself. It was like an out-of-body experience. And then when she started walking down the stairs at the Ballroom, I started to tear up. I couldn't even control it. It was the power of the moment."

The couple's first dance was to "You Are the Best Thing" by Ray LaMontagne. Their guests formed a circle to watch them, but "my eyes were focused on him, and his on me," Erica said. "We were soaking up that moment as the new Mr. and Mrs."

A bargain: The couple didn't want a highly produced wedding video. They wanted a documentary. Valley Creek Productions wasn't the cheapest option they considered, but their middle-of-the- pack price was the best for the video style Erica and Justin wanted.

The splurge: The Ballroom at the Ben is so beautiful that "you don't have to dress it up," Erica said. But they did. "It was the flowers and what Petal Lane did with everything that really brought my vision and dream for my wedding to life," she said. "It was breathtaking, and I wouldn't change a single thing."

Three days in Istanbul, and nine split between Crete, Santorini, and Athens.

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Officiant: Rabbi Elliot Strom of Shir Ami, Newtown

Venue: Ballroom at the Ben, Philadelphia

Catering: Finley Catering, Philadelphia

Photography: Philip Gabriel Photography, Philadelphia

Videography: Valley Creek Productions, West Chester

Flowers: Petals Lane, Philadelphia

Dress: Pronovias from Elizabeth Johns in Ardmore

Groom's attire: Ivory tux jacket

with black lapel, black tux pants from the Mens & Boys Store, Huntingdon Valley

Music: EBE Dreamtime, Philadelphia

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