A Grande Latte With a Double Shot of Love

Talk about a lovemark. Arthur Odle and Rebecca Lightfoot, both of Montgomery, Ala., were married in a Starbucks coffee shop last week. The two had met there every morning before work, and Arthur even proposed to Rebecca over coffee.

Brands are increasingly playing a role in traditionally personal spaces that they never have before. Not only are they becoming places we tie the knot, but places that we call home--witness Ian Schrager's apartments at the Gramercy Park Hotel and W Hotels' residences in Dallas. This goes beyond the brand cult--communities of Harley fanatics, MINI motorists, or Mac addicts--to people who are branding the highly personal spaces in their lives. It's certainly a testament to the power of Starbucks as a third space--there's our homes, our workplaces, and now, our coffee-shop-cum-nuptial-site--and to the relationship it has with its customers. But what's next? Pottery Barn branded subdivisions? Churches named after Rick Warren?