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When two total strangers married in a bizarre ceremony at a shopping mall, everyone assumed it would never last.

David and Elizabeth Weinlick had met for less than five seconds before they turned up at the altar in a stunt whipped up by a TV station.

Amazingly, 11 years and four children later, the couple, now both 39, are still married - and madly in love.

"We live a charmed existence. He's a splendid man to be married to," says Elizabeth, who was chosen as David's ideal bride by a 55-strong selection committee of his friends and family.

"We've never regretted it. It sounds like a crazy thing to do but there was instant chemistry - and we did our dating after we married."

Spend any time with the couple and it's plain how suited they are. They finish each other's sentences, laugh nonstop and, when asked, can find very little they don't like about the other.

David, then a pony-tailed anthropology student, set a countdown for his wedding day when he announced he intended to get married, aged 28, on June 13, 1998.

But after a series of disastrous relationships his friends decided to choose a bride for him - then more than 300 women applied when the story made big news on a local TV station.

Elizabeth, now a nurse, ran into David handing out "bride wanted" flyers and, after talking to him for less than five seconds, decided to apply.

She filled in a questionnaire about her likes and dislikes before going in front of the selection committee at 10am that Saturday.

By 3pm, David's friends had whittled the 36 main contenders down to three. Then on the final vote, Elizabeth won hands down. She said her first formal hello to David at 4pm and an hour later was in a white dress saying "I do" at the shopping centre in Minneapolis, America.

The reception was a barbecue at a friend's house and afterwards the newly-weds went back to Elizabeth's apartment.

Ask what happened next, the pair giggle. But they claim they consummated the marriage "within a day or two".

Their daughter Emily was born seven years ago, quickly followed by son Charlie, now six, and three-year-old Zoe. Baby Zed Henry arrived in March.

The couple are now planning to renew their wedding vows. David, who works for the Democratic Party, says: "It will show everyone who thought our wedding was just a publicity stunt we fell in love for real."