By Ashley Dunn
News Editor
WESLEY CHAPEL — Kimberly Taylor walked down the aisle to her soon-to-be husband, passing guests, pretty decorations and racks of women’s clothing.
Taylor and husband Owen Fullerton originally planned to get married on the beach at a Sandals resort. But they ended up trading sand and sun for polished floors and retail lighting when they tied the knot at Dillards on Nov. 8.
Taylor and Fullerton are both employed at the department store at The Shops at Wiregrass; Taylor is a manager in the makeup department and Fullerton works in the shoe department. After being together for five years, Fullerton proposed to Taylor over the store’s intercom on May 5. It was a unique idea that inspired Dillards store manager Kathy Appleby to approach the couple with her own unconventional plan.
Every Dillards store has a fall bridal event in which experts offer pre-wedding seminars and vendors showcase their products and services, Appleby explained.
“I thought, ‘If I’m going to do all the vendor stuff, I might as well just have a wedding,’” she said.
Appleby called Sheri Goldberg, executive director of the Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce, who connected her with Barbara Cruz, president and founder of Couture Wedding and Events Guild. Cruz acted as wedding planner, taking care of all the arrangements. Nearly all the items for the wedding were donated. Taylor and Fullerton only had to take care of their rings, marriage license and reception room.
“It has been a breeze,” said Taylor, of Land O’ Lakes, when asked what it was like to plan a wedding in a department store. “They have taken care of everything!”
An upstairs section of the store was roped off for the ceremony, and about 50 guests sat in white chairs with blue bows. Employees and a handful of shoppers stood between clothing racks to watch. The bride slowly strode down one of the main aisles in the women’s apparel department and met her groom on a stage near the gift-wrap section. After the couple said “I do,” exchanged rings and took part in a sand ceremony, their officiant pronounced them husband and wife. Three hours later, they moved the party to Mexican restaurant Cantina Laredo — also located at The Shops at Wiregrass — for the reception.
As for the couple’s honeymoon: “We don’t have any specific plans,” Taylor said. “We will have a main one next year after the retail busy season.”
“As far as we know, this is the first wedding there’s been at a Dillards,” said Appleby. “The store opened in 1938… It’s definitely the first in Florida.”
But it won’t be the last. Appleby said the store plans to have a bigger, better wedding ceremony at next year’s bridal event, which will take place on Sept. 12, 2010. Area couples will be able to apply for the opportunity, Appleby said, but those details are still being hammered out.
Taylor and Fullerton are now ready to begin their married life together. Taylor said she wasn’t looking for love when she met Fullerton, but she knew he was “The One” from the moment she saw him.
“We are each others soul mates,” she said, “and I didn’t think that existed!”
