Couple wed at McDonald'sKen Sinchar wasn't expecting to pick up more than a Big Mac Extra Value Meal when he pulled through the McDonald's drive-thru in Norwin Towne Square.
He certainly couldn't have predicted he'd be in the same spot four years later, exchanging vows with the woman who filled that first order.
Sinchar, 41, ended his four-year pursuit of Lori Sherbondy on Monday night, leaning out the window of his white minivan.
She traded her striped uniform for a sparkly, strappy teal dress. The drive-thru window was decorated with white streamers and balloons; the car had a pink, handwritten "just married" message and hearts scrawled along the side.
White Oak District Judge Thomas Miller read the vows as the couple's hands stretched between the drive-thru and car windows.
"People might think that we're goofy and odd and all that, but it's really meant for us," Sherbondy said. "The transactions that we had through the window just meant a lot, so this means a lot."
Sherbondy, 42, worked the daytime drive-thru window shift for the eight years she worked at McDonald's.
McDonald's speedy service meant that Sinchar had to return day after day for a chance to get to know Sherbondy. Both live in North Huntingdon Township.
"It was just a 10-second talk, every day through that window," Sherbondy said. "I just thought he was gorgeous right off the bat. And then every day, he'd come at 12:15 -- same time -- and I'd look forward to him coming so bad."
The couple had been engaged for two years and considered marrying in Las Vegas. Sinchar couldn't spare the time off work, so instead they opted for a drive-thru wedding of another sort.
"I jokingly said, 'Why don't we get married at McDonald's drive-thru, because that's where we met,'" Sherbondy said. "So he agreed, and here we are."
Sherbondy contacted her former manager about a month ago with the request.
"When she called and asked me, I was for it right away," said McDonald's manager Mary Louise McIntyre, who then consulted the store's owner.
"At first he was a little hesitant, but I convinced him," she added.
McIntyre was there when the couple met and thought the wedding was "fantastic."
As the parents of the bride waited in the restaurant before the ceremony, they joined in her sentiments.
"We're excited and we're happy because she's happy," said Pat Moffat, the bride's mother. "It's so exciting but very unusual."
Relatives and friends -- in addition to McDonald's evening crew -- crowded around the drive-thru. Others looked on from cars parked in an adjacent lot.
"It's not all the glitz and glamour, but it's true love at its best," said Richard Hardwig, a friend of the groom.
This was the second marriage for both. The couple plans to honeymoon in Hawaii in October and will reside in North Huntington with the seven children they have from previous marriages.
The article forgot to mention if they'd be living in his trailer or hers.
Author
