Fellow Firefighters Find Love

What we’ll remember…
Wendy Dillon and Don Reese were married on Aug. 9, 2013 at the Wildwood Gables Yacht Club on Sunset Lake in Wildwood Crest. The after party took place at the Bayview Restaurant & Bar.
Wendy recalls…
It was Firemen’s Convention 2010. I was in Wildwood with my department and my soon-to-be husband, Don, was in town with his company. Low and behold, we found each other at the Firehouse Tavern with our respective companies, both from Mercer Country. It just so happened that my husband’s best friend of over 30 years who also wound up becoming chief, Mike, had been my fire school instructor 20 years earlier! Mike played cupid that fateful night. From then on, you name it, and Don and I were doing it together. Finally, in the spring of 2012, Don proposed to me. It completely surprised me, but not his best friend Mike; he saw how we were meant for each other.
Fast-forward to April 2013. Mike suddenly passed away. Don and I were completely lost. We muddled through each day but a spark was gone. After some really deep thought, Don and I decided to just go for it, get married once and for all.
Neither of us was one for big fussy weddings, so we eloped. We told only our Red Knights Pastor who we asked to come down to the Wildwood Gables Yacht Club and marry us. It was so humid that day and the sun was shining, but those late afternoon thunderstorms were looming.
We got married, right there on Sunset Lake. Then, we ran down to borough hall to register our marriage and headed to the Firehouse Tavern “to have one for Mike”. We made it to the Bayview, like we do every Friday all year long, for happy hour and to announce to all of our friends that we tied the knot!
The “reception” continued at the Yacht Club, with a backdrop of one of the most beautiful sunsets and rainbows. I think it was Mike’s way of showing us our “somewhere over the rainbow”! We certainly found our “pot of gold” that we know and love as Sunset Lake. When the band started to play, we said, “Okay, we will dance to the first song they play and that will be our song.” The very first song the band played was Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds”. Again, something completely not planned and yet perfect!
After the celebration, we stayed in Wildwood for a few days and then went to Outer banks to enjoy some more beach and fishing time. Though it’s not a story of extravagance, I think we pulled off a surprise elopement wedding better than most movie stars do!