AMAZING CEREMONIES!

On April 12, I officiated a wedding at Portobello in Oakland.
Fran is the amazing hostess there, so friendly, and you could say she commands a tightly-run ship. The food is great, and the rooms available for ceremonies have beautiful fireplaces and elegant decor.
After the ceremony, I was speaking with the bride and groom, Donna and Nick.
Both were in their 40's and thrilled to have found love again in their lives.
Donna suddenly motioned to two gentlemen in their mid-20s, who were helping themselves to some wine and beer. "Who are they?" she whispered. "I don't recognize them, are they supposed to be here?"
I then reached over to one of the young men, tapped him on the shoulder and said, "The bride wants you." The man looked to her and she asked him politely, "Hi. Who are you here with?" He replied, "Oh. I'm here for the wedding." She said, "I don't recognize you. Did we invite you?" The man then began to stammer and tried to spin a story, with an embarassed grin on his face. It soon became obvious that he and his friend had seen the movie "Wedding Crashers" once too many times, and thought they too could pull it off.
A moment later, they were busted, Fran was giving them the tongue lashing of their life, and they were being escorted to the door.
For all the bride has to do on this momentous occasion, Donna sure was keen-eyed and on top of things. No one could pull a fast one on her or slip past her watchful eye. Best wishes to her and Nick for a beautiful future together. Rest assured Nick, she's always got your back!

Last night I officiated a wedding for Susanna and Quetzalcoatl at Cappucino's Restaurant in Poughkeepsie, NY. The groom is Mexican, and the bride is Irish, Welsh, Scottish, English, German, Austrian, Bulgarian, and Native American! They wrote their own vows, which they recited in English and Spanish, and the whole ceremony was completely bilingual. Their vows were truly heartfelt, and were real "tear-jerkers" for them and all their witnesses. That's what a good wedding ceremony is all about... you have to "feel it." It was very affectionate and beautiful.
I stayed with my girlfriend Maria for the reception, and it started out mild-mannered, but as the evening unfolded we participated in some really cool and festive Mexican traditions. These included the Dance of the Monkey, a song where you dance to pretend you are a monkey and other fun things; and the "Snake of the Sea" Dance (La Vivora de la Mar) which is where all the girls form a snake/train and swerve around crazily trying to knock down the bride and groom from their pedestals; and then all the guys form a snake and do the same. That was fun! There were some other fun traditions, which I won't go into here - except one of them involved taking off the groom's shoes and filling them with Coca Cola!  It was beautiful to experience some Mexican culture at full tilt. What a fun reception and great customs! If you ever have the opportunity to attend a Mexican or half-Mexican wedding, don't miss it.
(If you are looking for a Mexican DJ I recommend their DJ, Sonido Super Loco at 845-380-9134)

Yesterday I officiated Stacy and Al's wedding at The Tides in North Haledon. Believe it or not, they had a chimpanzee in their wedding party!  Louie the Chimpanzee walked down the aisle right before the bride, escorted by his trainer. It was different, and awesome! Everyone in the room absolutely loved it, as Louie shook hands with attendees as he processed down the aisle. His presence allowed everyone to relax and be at ease. What a memorable ceremony!  Louie's online home is www.monk-biz.com
Photo courtesy of  www.kondreckstudios.com  of Belleville, NJ - you can e-mail them at kondreckstudios@comcast.net

I am part Irish. Listening to music live from Ireland, the thought occurred to me:
1) The drum beat of the bodhran (hand drum) is a tribute to our prehistoric origins.
It's probably the earliest instrument we have, and playing it must be a call to those distant ancestors who built great monuments like Stonehenge and Newgrange in 4000-2000 b.c.
In Africa they say the thumb piano or mbira is what they use to converse with their dead loved ones;
in Ireland it would be the bodhran.

You can listen live
at: http://www.rte.ie/rnag/player_av.html??1,null,200,http://www.rte.ie/smiltest/rnag_new.smil

I performed a wedding last week in East Hanover. The flower girl did a great job spreading her rose petals during the procession. Maybe she was too good: as the ceremony continued she had some rose petals left in her basket and was dumping them on the ground and then picking them up one by one, then dumping the basketful on the floor again. She did this through the first 5 minutes of the ceremony. It was cute, but the thought occurred to me: these rose petals have the effect of blessing the ceremony carpet. Is playing around with these sacred objects going to have some effect on the sacred space of the ceremony?

A moment later we all heard a thud; one of the bridesmaids had fainted and keeled over on the floor! We paused the ceremony, many ran to the bridemaid's assistance, and she soon came to. Later the paramedics arrived, and all was fine. We continued the ceremony and it was beautiful and unforgettable. She hadn't eaten. But the flower girl playing with the rose petals probably didn't help :)

Coincidence? Coincidence is how God speaks.

On New Year's Eve, I married Victoria and Tylor on the streets of Manhattan at 12:01 a.m.!

CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO

They had wanted to marry in Times Square as the ball dropped, but this would have been tough to pull off. Then they planned to marry in front of the Rockefeller Xmas Tree at midnight, but the city turned off the tree lights at 9 pm! (And didn't tell us in advance)
We eventually did a beautiful ceremony near midnight in front of some other lit xmas trees outside, as taxis honked and passersby looked on. They kissed at the stroke of midnight. Happy New Year!

This year we held Yule Log Lightings in Long Island, Nutley and Orange. They were fun as always, as we rediscovered the old fashioned European traditions of Christmas. Next year I hope to bring this great family event to some new venues. People are always amazed at the things our ancestors did! But it's so good when we remember.

At 6 pm on Xmas Eve, at Sunny Palace Chinese banquet hall in East Brunswick. A festive evening. Emily and Wilson were one of the first couples ever to meet on the internet! in 1994. 13 years later, they were so happy to be tying the knot at last!