Last Friday evening, it was my pleasure and honor to unite Nick and Viktoria in marriage. The groom is the son of my husband's first cousin. The groom's grandmother is my husband's godmother. So there were hugs and kisses all around.
The ceremony and reeption took place in The Grand Palace (formerly Passage Palace) on 18th Avenue in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn. This formerly Italian area is filled with memories for my husband. It is where he grew up. In fact, it is where his mother and her brother, the groom's grandfather, grew up too.
Nick and Viktoria wanted their ceremony to be just right for them...not too formal, not too stuffy, not too tedious. The final draft of the ceremony script was OK'd by them, and I was ready to "stand and deliver."
Well, getting to a catering hall on a Friday evening in the summer is a traffic nightmare. Some of the guests were hopelessly tied up on the Belt Parkway, and the bridal party was stuck in traffice coming back from taking photographs on the Brooklyn Bridge. So the ceremony started about an hour late.
I quickly adjusted the words I was to say...deleting a reading, for example...because the guests were getting antsy. The role of the celebrant is to be flexible on the day of the wedding because you never know what will happen. There is hardly ever a ceremony that goes 100% according to plan.
The highlight of the ceremony for me was seeing the groom's brother come down the aisle escorting his grandmother. He is recovering from a terrible auto accident...and the entire family was bursting with joy that he was there...walking in with a big smile.
The picture of Nick and Viktoria above shows the part of the ceremony when they signed the legal documents...much like couples do in a civil ceremony in the Ukraine where Viktoria and her family are from.
So I toast Nick and Viktoria! May they join the numerous couples in the family whose marriages are long-lasting and filled with love...."in good times and in bad."
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