For 60 years Denny’s restaurants have been serving food to loyal customers, but on April 3, 2013, an Iowa State staff member and her fiance became the first couple to dine and dash to the altar at the new Denny’s Las Vegas wedding chapel.

Nancy Levandowski, director of ISU Dining, always knew that she wanted her wedding with her fiance, Steve Keller, to be fun.

In February, as Levandowski flipped through a copy of Food Network Magazine, an advertisement caught her attention.

It spoke of a contest that offered one winner the opportunity to partake in Denny’s history by getting married at their first-ever wedding chapel.

“I entered the contest in the beginning of February. I had to write an essay about why I thought we should be chosen to have the first wedding at Denny’s. By the end of the month, I had been notified that we were the winners,” Levandowski said.

With the couple both working in the food industry, it only made sense to get married at a restaurant.

“I wanted something different. It’s the second wedding for both of us, and I wanted it to be fun and to have real meaning,” Levandowski said.

For both Levandowski and Keller, Denny’s has been a big part of their lives. From late night study sessions to breakfast at midnight, Denny’s brought many fond memories for the couple.

Some of the restaurant’s most-loved menu items were served at the wedding, including a large stack of Pancake Puppies for the wedding cake.

“The really fun part about the wedding is that the center section of the restaurant is what becomes the aisle. Customers enjoying their own stacks of Pancake Puppies become part of your wedding too,” Levandowski said.

Although the couple’s wedding party was only 12 people, they included customers as well as Denny’s very own chief marketing officer, Frances Allen.

Guests of the couple received poker chips with the couple’s names on them as a thank you for helping them celebrate their union.

The couple planned to wear T-shirts that said, “we go together like bacon and eggs.”

“Denny’s is a part of a lot of people’s lives in many different ways, and now we’ll always remember it as the place we got married,” Levandowski said.