Couples walk fine line to make weddings legal

VOLUNTOWN, Conn. -- Couples with cold feet can back out of a wedding in one step at a Connecticut church.

The Church of Christ sits atop Ekonk Hill Road, straddling the town line for Voluntown and Sterling. It's also on the New London County-Windham County border.

Couples have to ensure they're standing on the correct side of the building during the wedding ceremony so that they're in the town that issued their marriage license. Otherwise the marriage is not legally binding, the Rev. Ron Fleet said.

The boundary is determined by the middle divider in the center pews, and for years, young lovers have obeyed.

When Arlene Berchem married Paul Sweet in 1979, the Norwich Bulletin published a photograph of Sweet motioning to his wife to step over so that their marriage would be proper.