Cyberlovers enjoy realtime LV wedding

Bob Shemeligian

Monday, Oct. 7, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

The honeymoon was in Las Vegas, but the marriage occurred in cyberspace.

In June, Internet surfers Eric Peterson, 43, and Carol Palmer, 35, first engaged in cyberspeak.

They were plugged into the Thirtysomething chat room -- he from his home in Calaveras County, Calif., and she from hers in Rochester, Minn.

After some friendly conversation, Carol asked: "Are you flirting with me?"

He replied yes.

"Oh, so you're the next guy who's going to break my heart," she responded.

"Why would I do that?" he replied.

And so, although they've been together only a few days in the last four months, the couple wed Saturday night at Cyber City Cafe, the first combination coffeehouse and computer center in Las Vegas.

"It was the first Internet wedding in Nevada," boasted cafe-owner Joe Kendall, who opened the business a year ago in southeast Las Vegas.

More than 100 guests attended the wedding Saturday night from as far away as New England, Florida and Canada. And although most of the guests have never actually met, they all know each other well.

"It was great," said Laura McDonald, who lives in San Bernardino, Calif., but spends four hours each day on the Internet. "I recognized people immediately."

"It was no problem breaking the ice, because most of us already know each other," said wedding guest Teresa Cavallo of Los Angeles.

After the wedding ceremony, some guests danced. Others sampled the hors d'oeuvres. Still more spent their time operating the personal computers lining the walls of the 3,000-square-foot cafe -- no doubt informing chat room guests throughout the nation about who was wearing the most provocative outfit and who was dancing with whom.

This week, Peterson and Palmer head back to their respective cities, while Peterson prepares to move to his bride's hometown in Minnesota.

Because Peterson owns and operates a business, it will be months before he settles in Rochester.

"Until then, we're going to be using our computers to talk to each other," Peterson said.