Love: Teresa Giuliana & Thomas Gehret

Terez, 52, and Tom, 59, met in November 2001 through love@aol.com. "He sent me an e-mail in all lowercase letters with no punctuation and no photo," she said. "I don't usually respond to things like that, but he said he could beat me at Scrabble. That was interesting."

After some e-mails and a few phone calls, Tom, a Philadelphia municipal court judge, suggested they meet in person - in his courtroom. Terez had never set foot in a courtroom before. "I walked in, and he's in the middle of the hearing," Terez said. "He knew what I looked like, because I sent him a photo. I figured he'd be the guy in the big chair wearing a black dress."

When Tom spotted Terez, he declared a 15-minute recess, she said. "He pointed his finger down at me, where I was sitting in the row, and he crooks it as if to say, 'You! Come here!' It was mortifying!' "

But Terez followed him into his chambers. He hugged her and said her eyes sparkled.

Terez, who grew up in West Philadelphia, had been divorced for about a decade when she met Tom. A Southwest Philly guy, Tom had never been married, but he had been engaged four times - twice to the same woman. "He was close to the runaway groom," Terez, an editor for a local pharmaceutical company, said a few weeks before the wedding, without a shred of worry. "I always told him, even if we never married, I would stay with him, because this is the best relationship of my life."

In March 2007, Tom invited her to Manhattan for a romantic weekend. They were in Central Park by the footbridge. Ducks swam by. They had a view of the skyline. She had expectations. He had the ring in his pocket. But there was no proposal.

The next week, Tom broke blood vessels in his eye, and Terez met him at the ER. Afterward, they went out for dinner. Tom looked worried. "I figured he was concerned about his eye. I wanted to allay his fears. I said, 'What are you thinking?' "

Tom said: "I've been thinking about trying to get engaged to you for a long time and I can't quite seem to do it." He took out the ring. "Will you marry me?"

Terez burst out laughing. "Now? You're asking me now?" She composed herself and said yes.

The couple is house-hunting in Philadelphia.

The couple were married in Courtroom 603 - Tom's courtroom - at the Criminal Justice Center. "It's like getting married at your cubicle at work," Terez joked, but it still felt right. Judge Craig Washington, who is also a Baptist deacon, performed the ceremony.

Terez walked down the aisle to the introductory notes of "A Whiter Shade of Pale." She thought it would be funny. As a surprise for her groom, Terez arranged for a tenor to sing "Love Changes Everything" by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The title is inscribed in Tom's ring.

One of Tom's friends had joked in the weeks before the wedding that after the vows, money would exchange hands because bets would have been made as to whether Tom would go through with it. The couple joked right back by posting a sign that said, "Please, no wagering."

After the ceremony, Terez and Tom hosted a luncheon at Maggiano's Little Italy restaurant for immediate family and a few friends. That night, they held an open-house reception for 150 at Terez's Lansdowne home.

The couple served their guests cake decorated with a miniature Scrabble board, complete with replicas of those little wooden racks and tiles. Tom told Terez at the beginning of their courtship that he could beat her, and they have played a lot of the game ever since. "We're evenly matched," Terez said.

When Terez entered the courtroom, Tom leaned over to kiss her hello, as usual. She scolded him: There's no kissy-kissy on the wedding day until the bride and groom are hitched. "He's officiated at 100 weddings," she said. "He knows better!"

"When he repeated after Judge Washington, it felt official. It was official. And he had never gone that far before."

A bargain: "When people who love you offer to do things for you, let them. Everything they do will make you happy." One friend made her dress. Another took the wedding photos. And another made many, many cupcakes.

The splurge: "I got Botox. That was my crazy money - $330. I only did it once, and I'll never do it again, but it was fun having it."

Nine days, starting in Southern California. The couple then drove through the Mojave to Las Vegas, where Tom played in the World Series of Poker.

Photography:

Cate Paxon, a friend

of Terez's who is a photographer, took the photos. She usually shoots for Upper Darby Summer Stage. It was the first wedding she's ever done.

Invitations:

One Stop Wedding Shoppe, in Horsham.

Flowers:

Bonnie's Wondergarden of Lansdowne.

Food:

Maggiano's for lunch.

Day By Day restaurant

of Philadelphia catered the open house.