Maybe all weddings are memorable — but this one is one for the millennium. At 12 noon on 12/12/12, Linnette Cerie and George Irish will finally tie the knot, after dating for 13 years!
"We didn't do it on 03/03/03 or 05/05/05 or 08/08/08, so this is it," Linnette said, laughing. And it will be perfect, she enthuses. In fact, Linnette is pretty enthusiastic about everything and one of the most positive people I've ever spoken with.
"Iconic dates have become a trend ... reaching new heights when over 65,000 couples tied the knot on 07/07/07," said Brian Beitler of David's Bridal. "12/12/12 marks the last triple number sequence of the century [hence] its special significance..." 12/12/12 is a Wednesday, but he says weekday weddings are also becoming a trend.
The last consecutive series of the century will occur next year, 11/12/13, and though it falls on a Tuesday, many brides have already chosen that iconic day to wed."
For Linnette and George, the special significance is the culmination of life events that have included adoption, weddings, funerals, hurricanes and a kidney transplant. After which George, a widower and Gulf War veteran, said to her,
We're getting younger... we should get married."*
How They Met
Backtracking a bit: Linnette a former (and still occasional) plus-size model runs charity fashion shows in her Far Rockaway community, this one at her son's school. Her son's friend wanted to be in the fashion show so she called his parents for permission. George's deep, mellifluous voice made her prick up her ears and got her daydreaming about meeting a man like that. So when she asked about permission from his wife, only to learn that George was widower, she blushingly admits to thinking "yes!" — after the appropriate condolences of course.
First Date
They met at the fashion show — she remembers giggling when this very tall man emerged from his tiny car — but it was another outing, to a church fish fry, some months later that led to their first date. Listen up ladies: Linnette made a bet that whomever arrived last was the loser and had to take the other one out... then carefully engineered her "loss".
She put together an amazing afternoon at a Long Island winery, with lunch, tastings and riding the merry-go-round over and over. Some of the staff thought they were a married couple on their anniversary.
When they got back to her house later that evening, he started out of the car after a peck on the cheek, then paused, turning back for a proper kiss. Apparently her kids were peering out the window and quickly called his kids to report, "they're kissing!"
The Merry-Go-Round
The merry-go-round metaphor is apt — the years went on with their ups and downs but no reason to disrupt the flow. "We've never had an argument," Linnette says. At one point, she decided to adopt, adding another boy to her eldest daughter and fraternal twins. "It's just something I always wanted to do."
But last year, a kidney match finally came through for George, who had been on dialysis for years — at the same time that his mother died. He had to miss her wake and funeral and fly with his son to the veteran's hospital in Pittsburgh; but what looks like terrible timing Linnette explains this way, "I think she got up there and took care of it."
The clean bill of health seems to have sparked the proposal. *And given him a new lease on life — hence the aging backwards comment. Linnette introduced some speculative psychology into the mix: "I think he'd been worried about dying and didn't want to make me a widow like he'd been."
Outfitting the Wedding
"I love David Tutera," Linnette said and applied to be on the show even though it unequivocally states no East Coast weddings. She thought their love story and the special date might intrigue him and "I've never seen a Baby Boomer on his show." Tsk tsk Tutera!
But the David Tutera disappointment was more than made up for by David's Bridal.
To celebrate her iconic date, she's having 12 bridesmaids, 12 groomsmen (plus a junior bridesmaid & groom, maybe for that extra year of courtship), and various flower girls and ringbearers, all made up of the couple's combined families which include his 3 children and her 4, plus various grandchildren.
Not to mention the age range — from 3 years old to 65! And they all have to be outfitted. Linnette pointed out something that hadn't even occurred to me:
Even the ones who live in other states could go to the David's Bridal where they are."
That's a huge plus for coordinating a party of this size. Linnette wanted the women to have an individual style that suited their figure and that they could wear again elsewhere — the only linking element: that they all be in her favorite color purple, in a shade called Regency.
She gushes about Pauline and Marie of David's Bridal who, along with her mother, helped her decide on her own dress, found to match a little bolero jacket she had chosen.
They make any bride at any age look beautiful. I want to look beautiful and... I'm going to be beautiful."
She gushes about George too: "He is a good guy — mentor to a youth group, deacon in church... Now we can be the last thing we see at night and the first thing we see each morning — I'm looking forward to that!"
Despite Hurricane Sandy
With a bridal party that size, how many are coming to the 12/12/12 event at the lakefront Coral House? About 190 at last count, but Hurricane Sandy which rendered their area without power for many weeks also seriously delayed the mail — they are still getting late responses, so who knows how many will actually show up!
Linnette says she feels blessed they weren't hit as hard as so many others. So I have a feeling any guest will be warmly embraced. 12/12/12 will definitely be a day to be remembered as a loving and lovely celebration of joy.
How to plan your wedding?
- A Soldier's Wedding
- You: Walking Down the Aisle
- Passing Down Your Wedding Dress
- Wedding Planning: How To Be an Eco Chic Green Bride
- When Jewelry Speaks to the Soul
