PHOTO BY KRISTEN WYNN PHOTOGRAPHY

After connecting on online dating app Bumble in 2019, Nicole Luben and Jim Doman felt a spark instantly when they met in person for their first date. They ended up chatting over drinks and appetizers for three hours, feeling like it was meant to be.

As easy as it was to fall in love, planning their wedding was a little more complicated. Nicole, a member of the Pennslyvania Air National Guard, was deployed to Qatar for part of their engagement.

Fortunately, Jim was ready to step in with the planning, sending Nicole information on vendors then reserving things from home. They set their date for Oct. 14, 2023, with a ceremony at the Immaculate Conception Church in Washington County and a reception at Southpointe Golf Club in Canonsburg.

“It actually worked out well with COVID [closures], because it was hard getting the venues and whatnot, but, it worked out well because we were able to communicate at night,” Jim says. “We got a lot of it lined up before she left.” 

PHOTO BY KRISTEN WYNN PHOTOGRAPHY

Nicole has been a part of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard since 2010 and comes from a military family. This aspect was showcased in many ways in their wedding, starting with the engagement.  

Jim proposed at Batton Hollow Winery in West Virginia, with permission from the owners, who are Air Force veterans. 

For her dress, Nicole went to the Exquisite Bride in Gibsonia, which participates in Brides Across America, a program that helps military members and first responders get free wedding dresses. 

Boutiques across the country donate dresses and host pop-up events where brides can choose a wedding dress from three racks of discontinued dresses. Nicole brought her bridesmaids with her to find the perfect one.

“At first, when I saw there were only three racks, I was like, ‘It’s gonna be hard,’ but I tell you, the perfect dress was there after two dresses…” says Nicole. “I barely had the dress halfway up and I was like, ‘This is the one.’” 

PHOTO BY KRISTEN WYNN PHOTOGRAPHY

Another way her military status and family were incorporated into her big day was her bouquet. She included Air Force wings from Jim’s grandma, an Air Force veteran, and dog tags from her grandfather, an Army veteran. 

Their favors were a donation to Tunnels to Towers Foundation, which helps military families and first responders in honor of firefighter Stephen Siller, who was killed on Sept. 11, 2001 in New York City.

Their families were essential to the planning of the wedding. Nicole and Jim’s mothers helped put together the flowers for the bouquet and the boutonniere. Nicole’s aunt helped the couple make place cards featuring different mountains, as they love to ski.

“They were extremely involved,” Nicole says of their families.

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The couple say they are grateful to their family and God for making their day a success. 

“The priest was a friend of ours, and he was able to take that family and friend aspect and God and put it into the wedding…” says Jim. “That’s one of the things we often look back at, kind of reminisce as well.” 

The couple also say being apart during the early days in their relationship — Nicole was deployed twice before Jim proposed — made them a stronger couple.

Her first deployment “was when I think we both realized we couldn’t live without each other,” Nicole says.

PHOTO BY KRISTEN WYNN PHOTOGRAPHY