Couples First Kiss Will Be On their Wedding Day

Here's a story from the Chicago Tribine about a couple that has openly practiced abstinence during their courtship. It's a great, wonderful and appropriate story but I have to wonder how we ever got to the point that this is a newsworthy item. I mean, shouldn't this be the norm instead of the abnorm?

Melody LaLuz kisses fiance Claudaniel Fabien, but only on the cheek, during their rehearsal dinner party Friday night in Elmwood Park. (Tribune photo by Charles Cherney / November 28, 2008)

When the officiant tells Claudaniel Fabien he can kiss his bride at the altar Saturday, no one will fault the couple for a little "should I tilt my head this way, or that way?" awkwardness.

It will be the couple's very first kiss.

And that night could be their very first ... uh, back to that kiss.

"I don't know how long it'll last, but it'll be great," says a confident Melody LaLuz, 28, who is marrying 30-year-old Fabien in Chicago after a yearlong courtship and two-year friendship.

The "no-kissing" rule came up as a way to prevent things from getting out of hand.

You see, Fabien and LaLuz both teach abstinence courses to Chicago Public Schools teens. And they say they practice what they preach.

To avoid temptation while dating, they made sure they were never alone with each other in a house. When they watched movies on the couch, they snuggled sitting straight up, never lying down.

"It really tested us and encouraged us to grow closer in our hearts and our minds, just expressing things verbally," Fabien said.

He found other ways to show LaLuz his passion—like by cleaning her car. And washing the dishes.

Despite abstaining, they have no anxieties about their upcoming Bahamas honeymoon.

Yes, they've heard "test drive the car before you buy," but LaLuz has her own analogy.

"You can't take the car out of the parking lot until you pay for it," she said.