Guests may have thought they were seeing double at the December 2011 wedding of North Bethesda Middle School teachers Monica Hepburn and Christopher Lun. That’s because both Hepburn and Lun are identical twins and their siblings served as the matron of honor and best man for their ceremony.
Bride and groom
Hepburn is an instrumental music director at North Bethesda Middle School and is originally from Hancock, Md. Lun is a sixth-grade math teacher at the school and is from Germantown, where the couple now lives.
The wedding
Dec. 17, 2011, at the Bethesda Country Club
How they met
The couple met while teaching at North Bethesda. They kept their relationship and engagement secret from their students, but it’s hard to put something over on kids: Picking up on the couple’s chemistry, the students urged the two teachers to date, not knowing they already were doing so.
First date
An Elton John-Billy Joel concert at Nationals Park in the summer of 2009
The proposal
Lun asked Hepburn to marry him while they were gazing over a balcony at the JW Marriott Orlando Grande Lakes in Florida. This was minutes before they planned to watch a football game between Penn State and Michigan on TV. Hepburn had figured out earlier during dinner that Lun planned to propose. But she also figured it wouldn’t happen that night if Lun, a Penn State alum, didn’t ask before the game began.
What she loves most about him
“I can count on him for anything. I admire his strong work ethic and his constant positive attitude.”
What he loves most about her
“She is a caring person, and she has all the qualities of being a responsible, loving mom.”
Wedding theme
Classic elegance
Number of people who attended
120
What made it special
Basketball is important to the couple (Lun is the boys’ varsity coach at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda and runs a summer youth basketball camp there), so the bridal party was introduced at the reception the same way that professional basketball players are announced at games. The reception featured comfort-food stations, including gourmet pizza, pasta and mini-sliders and french fries.
Favorite moment of the day
Seeing each other in their wedding attire for the first time when they met to take pictures. Lun says he “really enjoyed spending time, just the two of us, before the big crowd showed up.” And Hepburn “loved that I got to spend a few quiet moments with my husband-to-be before we said our vows.”
What made them cry
Hepburn’s mother died three years earlier after a 10-year battle with breast cancer. “We decided to honor her on our special day by leaving her chair empty,” Hepburn says, “and placing yellow roses (her favorite) on her chair. …There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.”
Gown
Anne Barge and Modern Trousseau from Hitched in Georgetown
Photographer
Kristine Pringle Photography
Cake
Georgetown Cupcake
The honeymoon
Aruba
Wedding planning and rentals
Bethesda Country Club
Flowers
Holly Chapple
Invitations
Maura Leo Paperie
Hair
Salon Red Kentlands
Makeup
Stacy Furgeson
Music
Ceremony music by Sage String Quartet with Chris Gekker on trumpet; reception music by DJ Bill Izer
