Chicago Couple Saves Their First Kiss For the Altar

I’ve heard a lot of bridal buzz, but this is certainly a first, ladies. Remember our recent story about how Mariah Carey and hubby Nick Cannon waited until they were married to have sex? Well, if you thought that was interesting get a load of this news bite out of Chicago. Over the weekend two abstinence advocates made local news when they kissed for the first time at their wedding! (Talk about practicing what you preach.) It was the kiss heard ‘round the city for locals, and the cutest wedding story we’ve heard in years!

Claudaniel "CD" Fabien, 30, and Melody LaLuz Fabien, 28, are abstinence educators who met in 2006 on a mission trip in Uganda. Melody had made a vow not to date until June 2007, so after the trip they talked on the phone and visited one another until CD moved from Tucson to Chicago in November of 2007. CD proposed in July writing "WYMM" in the sand on a Miami beach. The ceremony was held at the Maranatha World Revival Ministries on the Northwest Side and the guests hollered and cheered when the couple’s lips finally met.

"It was surreal," said CD, after the ceremony. "It was like, my other self came out and said, 'Look dude, you're kissing her!' "

The groom wasn’t the only one overwhelmed by the wow-factor of that moment. Local news stations and paper covered the couple’s big kiss and it was one of the most talked about local weddings in recent months.

"It feels like such a gift," said the new bride. "When you value a kiss, it becomes something of worth."   

photos : John J. Kim/Sun-Times