Same Name Facebook Couple to Wed

(AP)  This October, Kelly Hildebrandt will vow to share her life with a man who already shares her name.

This is no joke. Kelly Katrina Hildebrandt, 20, and Kelly Carl Hildebrandt, 24, expect just over 100 guests at a ceremony at the Lighthouse Point Yacht & Racquet Club in South Florida, where they will become husband and wife.

"He is just everything that I've ever looked for," she said in an interview. "There's always been certain qualities that a guy has to have. And he has all the ones I could think of - and more."

Their modern romance was a match made in cyberspace. She was curious and bored one night last year, so she plugged her name into the popular social networking Web site Facebook just to see if anyone shared it.

At the time, Kelly Hildebrandt, of Lubbock, Texas, was the only match.

So she sent him a message.

"She said 'Hi. We had the same name. Thought it was cool,"'

Kelly Carl Hildebrandt said. "I thought she was pretty cute."

But there were also concerns.

"I thought, man, we've got to be related or something," he said.

For the next three months the two exchanged e-mails. Before he knew it, occasional phone calls turned into daily chats, sometimes lasting hours. He visited her in Florida after a few months and
"fell head over heels."

"I thought it was fun," he said of that first online encounter. "I had no idea that it would lead to this."

Months after Kelly Hildebrandt sent her first e-mail, she found a diamond engagement ring hidden in treasure box on a beach in December.

"I totally think that it's all God's timing," Kelly Katrina Hildebrandt said. "He planned it out just perfect."

She's a student at a local community college. He works in financial services. They plan to make their home in South Florida.

It hasn't been all smooth sailing. A trip on a cruise ship almost got canceled when the travel agent deleted one ticket from the system, thinking someone had plugged in the same information twice.

There was also some uncertainty about how to phrase their wedding invitations, so they decided to include their middle names.

But any confusion likely won't carry on past the husband and wife. Kelly Katrina Hildebrandt said there are no plans to pass along the name to future children.

"No," she said. "We're definitely not going to name our kids Kelly."

[mjvwsr]

and this is news because?

[PostalOneToo]

Sweet story! Nice to read a happy one for a change.

[jwyattbrown]

They might want to check their family trees.

[John_Merritt]

Bingo. Good call. I would want to know if any connections other than names can be assumed. Not saying anything and not assuming anything, they have strikingly similar facial structures donlt you think? There are a host of problems being married to 'you' if you know what I mean.

[gramto8]

What facial features are similar besides the fact that they each have two eyes, one nose, and one mouth? The shape of each of those features is nothing alike between the two people. You need to look a lot closer than you did. Hair color is not a reason to assume kinship.

[keyingdemon]

Wow! Cool! They won't have to change checks, licenses, et al. This is kind of cute and they look sweet togheter. Now, kids, DO NOT end up becoming another Jon and Kate!

[jcdugger1234]

Damn, I wish my name was Kelly Hilderbrant! That is one hot, HOT girl right there! Wow...very beautiful. That's one lucky guy, I must say.