I almost always meet with new couples to make sure that they feel comfortable with me, and then we discuss what they want in a wedding. During this time I encourage questions and one of the questions I get most often is: What was your most unusual/strangest wedding? Unusual is one of those words that I think is very subjective. What’s unusual to you may not be to me, and vice versa. And what I find unusual at a wedding may not be apparent to anyone else. The strangest wedding I ever performed (and let me add that the wedding was not strange, on the contrary it was very straightforward and normal) was entirely in Spanish. That means it was strange to me. You see, I don’t speak Spanish. Several years ago a bride called me and as we spoke she said everything sounded great, but she really wanted the ceremony in Spanish, could I do that. I told her I don’t speak the language but could read it, however, I have a friend whose wife is Spanish-speaking and is able to perform ceremonies, and I gave her the phone number. A few days later she called me back, said my friend was not available and asked if I could do it. I hesitated, but she asked again, so I said yes. I had a ceremony translated, and she approved it. On the day of the wedding, at a beautiful, borrowed house on the North Shore, we had an outdoor Spanish language wedding in front of . . . all Spanish speaking guests. The groom looked over my shoulder while we were waiting for the bride to come down the aisle and pointed to some words that were incorrect (dialect). Nice, I had been practicing this wedding all week. I changed them, and when the bride was actually standing in front of me with her groom by her side, I looked at her and softly said, “You do realize that I’m more nervous than you are!” I completed the ceremony, and afterwards asked the bride how I did. She said I did fine, but then what else could she say. However, as I was walking to my car a guest who had walked to the cars just in front of me, said that I “spoke really well.” I’ll take that as a compliment. And guess what? I get to do another ceremony partly in Spanish this coming fall. The moral of this story? Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want, nicely, hey, you never know. And sometimes borrowing a friend’s home works out really well.

My name is Larry Adler and I’m a wedding officiant. I’ve been asked what a wedding OFFICIANT is? To me it’s an over-arching term that encompasses minister, priest, rabbi, justice of the peace, celebrant and any other person that can officiate or solemnize a wedding according to New York State. A blog, or at least the idea of a blog, is daunting. To know that I’m committing to sitting down and writing something on a somewhat regular basis is a little scary. And not just anything but something relevant to weddings and being a wedding officiant. I mean, I know that I have a bunch of stories, maybe some hints and ideas, but at some point they have to run out. And I really don’t know if I will get replacement stories in order to continue. Although if the past is any indication there shouldn’t be a problem. But at the moment, stories I have. And pictures. So I am an ordained minister and I officiate weddings mainly, but not exclusively, on Long Island. Long Island – home to almost three million people. In close proximity to New York City, home to another eight million people. Long Island – where there are so many fantastic wedding venues that I have heard of, been to, or officiated at. And so many more that don’t fall into any of those categories. Long Island – surrounded by beaches; on the North Shore, the South Shore, and, yes, the tip of the fish’s tail. A place full of restaurants, backyards, boats, picturesque farms, arboretums, vineyards, lakes, ponds and trees (about that another time). A melting pot in its own right, with English, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Chinese, Albanian, Portuguese and more, all spoken here. And I’ve done weddings in all those places and, at least in part, in those languages. So this will be a blog about my experiences. Hopefully you’ll laugh, maybe feel the love that many couples have felt, and the joy that they’ve shared. It’s possible that you’ll get some ideas, or recognize something that you thought would be a good idea but now realize is not for you. Feedback is welcome, and actually sought, that’s how I’ll grow and change. Will this be a daily blog? I don’t think it should be. But I would like to get down to doing it on a regular basis. Justice PeaceAnd I mentioned pictures, so I guess I’ll include one of me with this first blog. Have a great day.