Al Roker and Deborah Roberts Recall Getting 'Silly' for Favorite Wedding Photo: We 'Enjoyed the Breather'

Harold Hechler

When Al Roker and Deborah Roberts reminisce about their 1995 wedding in New York City, the beloved Today show weatherman and his ABC News' senior national affairs correspondent wife always think of the same thing.

Speaking exclusively to PEOPLE about the momentous day, the couple recalls taking a picture that "captures a spontaneous moment during our wedding photos outside the Essex House after we were married."

"We stepped into the street and lunged into a wild dash towards the camera," the couple tells PEOPLE exclusively. "We call it running towards our future."

The couple, who first met in 1990 when Roberts joined NBC's Today as a correspondent, wed in front of family and famous friends at Manhattan's St. Thomas Episcopal Church in 1995. Barbara Walters and Katie Couric were among the guests.

Deborah Roberts Instagram

"It was a rare unguarded moment alone after a wedding, which included both of our large families, friends, a magnificent church ceremony with a beautiful choir and a reception with a fabulous band," adds the couple. "For just a couple of minutes, we got silly and enjoyed the breather!"

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Although they met two years earlier, Roker and Roberts didn't go on their first date until 1992. (Roker was previously married to his first wife, Alice Bell, from 1984 until they separated in 1992).

Roker previously explained on The Kelly Clarkson Show how he landed a date with Roberts, sharing that his now-wife had asked him to keep an eye on her apartment while she was in Barcelona covering the Summer Olympics for NBC.

Deborah Roberts Instagram

"A day before she got back from her trip, I stocked her pantry, I stocked her refrigerator and left some flowers on the table and a note, 'Welcome home,'" Roker said. "And then, I got my first date with her a week later."

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The couple welcomed daughter Leila Ruth on Nov. 17, 1998. Leila was Roberts' first child and the second for Roker, who has daughter Courtney from his previous marriage. They welcomed their second child, Nicholas, on July 18, 2002.

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Previously, the long-time pair opened up about their marriage and their 25th wedding anniversary for PEOPLE's first-ever Love Issue.

"He does things like he sprinkles little love notes, little cards throughout my life," Roberts said in Feb. 2021 of her husband's romantic gestures. "Sometimes there's a little card next to the coffee maker that might say something encouraging or sweet or impish or fun.