Like many inter-national couples, Eli and I were faced with a choice: get married or live on different continents. So Eli applied for a K-1 fiance visa, which allowed him to enter the US on the condition that he marry within 90 days. He was approved in early June and came a week later, so we had very little time to plan. Then, just this week, I found out that what I had very optimistically thought to be a simple form turns out to be an entirely new application package and a $1010 fee to apply for Eli's residency. We decided we would have to get married as soon as possible to be able to work on his residency application and get it in quickly.
So on Tuesday, we had the ultimate New York wedding.
I've had over six months to get used to the idea of getting married without a wedding, but we fully intend to have an actual wedding in two years, at which point I will consider it a done deal. So Eli and I were mentally prepared, but my parents were not. My mom hasn't gotten used to the idea, and quite nearly ruined the day until she pulled it together, thankfully, for my sake.
When we got to City Hall, we zipped through the paperwork and were called in right away to the chapel. The chaplain, a sour-faced, less than cheery lady, waved us through to wait. We were eventually sent in to a room with a bench and old marriage records behind glass, as well as a small podium. The record books were filled with careful script, detailing the marriages of immigrants and Americans alike from the early 1900s.
Then the chaplain came in and called us to the podium, where she married us in a New York minute. No, really. It probably took less than 50 seconds. She said the absolute bare minimum, we said the I dos and exchanged rings and kissed and it was over in less than a minute. Like everything in New York, it was very fast, and it almost didn't feel real. But I surprised myself when I started to cry saying the vows.
Afterward, we took pictures, and walked through the Law and Order SVU set nearby. I was disappointed that we didn't get to see the stars (Eli and I watched SVU almost every night when we lived in Rio), but it was a fun New York coincidence. We had lunch at the Tribeca Grill with my family, and then headed uptown. We found a little B & B at the last minute and checked in, and then bought picnic food and headed to Central Park.
There, we joined 214,000 other people to watch the New York Philharmonic play for free on the Great Lawn, in what the New York Times called "the perfect New York night." We lay on my Brazil canga and listened to Mozart and Beethoven, and watched the fun little fireworks display. Out of the thousands of people at the concert, we happened to sit next to a Brazilian, who we chatted with throughout the night. A mineira living in New York for over a decade, she told us she hated New York hot dogs but loved the city, and even gave us her number. At the end of the night, when we mentioned we had gotten married that day, she fussed over us, and gave each of us a hug and a kiss, before we even knew her name.
Knowing Eliseu, I guarantee when we have our big wedding, complete with a tier cake and a white gown and a ceremony (hopefully on the beach) and a raucous party, he will mention sometime towards the end of the night, "Gostei mais do primeiro casamento." I probably won't agree, but it was the ultimate New York shotgun wedding.
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