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Longtime friends tie the knot Hawaiian style

MacKenzie Fleeger, 10, and Kailee Anna Steele, 9, were flower girls at the wedding of their grandparents David Fitch and Bonnie Thomas.

Bonnie Thomas and David T. Fitch got married at a backyard luau.

FRED ADAMS PHOTOS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER

Bonnie Thomas and David T. Fitch of Dallas exchange vows in front of the Rev Ann Marie Webb.

Children and grandchildren with the bride and groom includgrandchild Kailee Anna Steele, daughters of the bride Richelle Steele and Amber Wesley, bride Bonnie Thomas, groom David Fitch, grandchild Cameron Fleeger, daughter of the groom Sommer Fitch, grandchild MacKenzie Fleeger and son of the groom David Fitch.

FRED ADAMS photos/FOR THE TIMES LEADER

Was a full moon gleaming above them that night? Or was it simply almost full? • Bonnie Thomas and David Fitch of Dallas argued the astronomical question nine years ago, on a getting-to-know-you-better first date. • “I think I knew he was the right one when we argued on our first date and could still get along,” said Bonnie, who became David’s wife last weekend during a luau in her brother-in-law’s backyard.

The last guest left around 3 a.m., and the bride and groom stayed up for the next two hours, talking about how much they’d enjoyed their casual wedding, where guests sported Hawaiian shirts, flip flops and leis.

“It’s kind of nice the second time around,” said the bride. “You don’t worry so much about the traditions.”

The Hawaiian-style event was a second wedding for both Bonnie, 48, and David, 60, whose families go way back.

“His brothers went to school with my parents; he with my aunt,” Bonnie explained. “My father tutored David through the Masons’ Blue Lodge in the ’70s, and David’s brother drove my wedding car in the ’80s.”

Fast forward a few decades, through a 20-year marriage for Bonnie and a 30-year marriage for David.

The two would run into each other now and then, maybe at Three Guys Pizza in Dallas or at the American Legion. “We’d catch up on family stuff,” Bonnie said, “and then go our separate ways.”

Then, one time, David casually asked: “You like The Poets, don’t you? I heard they’re going to be opening the Waterfront.”

After giving a noncommittal kind of answer, Bonnie remembered, she started to walk away. Then she had a second thought.

“I turned back around and said, ‘You weren’t asking me out, were you? I’m not really good at this dating thing.”

They did agree to attend the concert together but, he explained to her later, a date hadn’t been his intention — until she mentioned it. “When you asked me if I was asking you out,” he told her, “I wasn’t going to say no.”

That was the night they argued about whether or not the moon was full.

“Our friendship was built first, and our relationship started out very slowly,” Bonnie said, recalling the couple had been dating about six months when she observed that “You never really make any advances.”

“He said, ‘I’m a gentleman.’ I said, ‘I appreciate that, but could you stop being a gentleman?’ He said, ‘I had a feeling when you were ready, you’d let me know.’ ”

The couple merged their households four years ago and became engaged during a neighbor’s New Year’s Eve party at the stroke of midnight.

They would have gotten married two years ago, except David’s son, also named David, was getting married. Then they would have gotten married last year, but Bonnie’s daughter Richelle was getting married.

This year, it was Bonnie and David’s turn.

The couple exchanged vows before Bonnie’s friend, the Rev. Ann Marie Webb. Surrounding them were their loved ones, including Bonnie’s daughters Amber Wesley and Richelle Steele, Richelle’s husband Joe and their daughters Kailee Anna and Abigail. At David’s side were his son David with his wife, Jacky, and their daughter, Chloe; David’s daughter Sommer Fitch, her children, Mackenzie Fleeger and Cameron Fleeger, and her husband, Bruce Bauman.

And, if you check the calendar for Aug. 13 you will notice an undeniable fact. The moon was full on the day of the wedding.