10/11/07 Irvine World News

Unified As One

Couple invite other young neighbors to their nuptials to build community By Deepa Bharath/The Orange County Register

Jennifer Berault wanted to build a sense of community in her neighborhood. So she didn't start a non-profit. She didn't form a club or association. Invite neighbors to a house party? Not quite.

What the 31-year old Woodbury resident did may boggle minds, but to her it was a no-brainer. In May, Berault (formerly Taylor) sent out about 500 letters inviting all her neighbors to come to her wedding reception at The Commons at Woodbury Clubhouse on Saturday evening. Not only did nearly 100 neighbors RSVP, but many offered to help her with what she has appropriately named "The Woodbury Wedding".

"I wanted this to be a positive experience for this wonderful community and that's what it turned out to be," she said. "This is a young community. We're all new to one another: This was a great chance for us to get to know one another better.

For starters Michelle Buckley, her neighbor, offered to coordinate the wedding. They met almost as soon as Berault, an assistant to a financial planner; and her then-fiance, Michael, a mortgage broker, moved to Woodbury in June 2006. "Our garage remotes would open each other's garage doors, so we had to meet sooner or later," Buckley said with a laugh.

When the letters got out, neighbors started responding with offers to help Berault at no charge. Summer Komor, a florist, offered to do the flower arrangements for the reception. Gian Carlo, who heads a band called the Freeway Singer, said he would provide live entertainment... Another neighbor donated votive candles she used to decorate her own wedding reception...

A local dance instructor [Jillian Forbath] taught the couple their first dance, and the husband of the florist and another one of his friends offered to bartend during the cocktail hour.

In return for their favors, Berault says, they get to meet and network with other neighbors who are attending the reception, which will hopefully help develop their respective small businesses... In the future, Berault hopes to organize community events along with the people she has gotten to know thanks to the wedding...