Liz and Nicole

Liz and Nicole are getting married in November in front of 200 of their closest friends and family; but first there's the sweet ritual of the cake tasting. Certainly there will be more complicated decisions to be made during the course of their lives together, but few will be so rich in anticipation and butter cream. It was at Jacques Fine European Pastries in Suncook, New Hampshire that we asked the couple about the multi-layered confection that is matrimony.

Q. Why get married? Why not just live together?

A. "I don't want a roommate. I want a life partner," said Liz (left). For Nicole it's a no brainer. "You can cohabitate or you can solidify your partnership - literally sharing everything with each other for the rest of our lives."

Pembroke, N.H.

Tarah

Q. How does it feel to see yourself in full wedding regalia for the first time?

Tarah got married today. A month ago we were watching her try on her gown for the last time before the big day. Such joy. Such a smile. It was almost too bright to look at without sunglasses. 

Today only Tarah’s brand-new husband, Ryan, was the one to warm in that smile’s glow. The pair chose to share their nuptials on a beach in Jamaica with just one another, the sand, the sea and the sky as witnesses.

Four weeks ago it was her friends gathered on a cushy couch and her mom in Florida, via FaceTime watching the 25-year-old hair stylist twirl in front of a wall of mirrors at a bridal shop in Bedford, New Hampshire. That's when she answered the question without hesitation.

A. “Amazing. I was worried about the butt, before it was altered, but it’s not too tight and the boobs look good.” Everyone present in the flesh and on line laughed, but wholeheartedly agreed. Tarah would be a stunning bride on the beach. Tarah would be a stunning bride on a football field. Tarah would be a stunning bride just about anywhere. Her beauty secret was no secret. Pure, unadulterated love.

Bedford, N.H.

Debbie and Dean

“Jerry Springer has nothing on us,” said Dean, who first met, Debbie, when she was 15. She was his best friend’s girlfriend. A few years later Debbie introduced Dean to her older sister.

“We all got married in a double wedding when we were in our 20s,” said Debbie who along with Dean on this chilly day, were selling prom dresses and bridesmaid gowns at the Londonderry Flea Market. So to get this straight. Dean married Debbie's sister and Debbie married Dean's best friend.

And in an act that could be considered a portent of the future, the preacher got the couples mixed up. 

“Her first child is my godson,” said Dean.

“And my ex is the godfather to Dean’s oldest son.”

After a while both couples divorced. Both Debbie and Dean started dating other people.

“I swore I’d never marry again,” said Dean. 

Truth be told, said Dean, “My ex (Debbie’s sister) pushed us together. So  years later Dean asked Debbie out.  The first date – sharing cheese fries at a restaurant in a lighthouse in Maine. The couple still has an ashtray from that date as a memento.

“From then on I schmoozed her,” said Dean, who has worked as a sheet metalist or “tin knocker” most of his life.

“We were just looking at our love letters last night,” said Debbie.

And that resolve never to marry again? Out the window.

Debbie and Dean wed in June, 2001.

Dean laughs. “I didn’t want to get to know a whole new family. This was perfect.”


Londonderry N.H.

Rebecca and Steve

The parents of flower children, Elizabeth and Adrianna, have a romance steeped in determination. “He stalked me at my job at Teavana in the mall. He’d come in every day for a cup of tea, then he ended up asking for my number.” That was four years and one set of identical twins ago.  And does Steve still indulge in a daily cuppa? “I don’t work at Teavana anymore,” said Rebecca. “We can’t afford it without the store discount.”

- Pumpkin Festival, Hudson, N.H.

Kim and Mark

What’s the secret to a long, a happy romance? Live in different states and stay single. At least that’s how it looks for Mark and Kim, both 51, who have dated for 19 years, have never been married before and have no children. The couple talked about their relationship before a Bingo game started at a Kiwanis Club one recent, winter afternoon.  One day in 1995, Kim visited a phone company for her job as a corporate travel agent. Mark, an electrician, was doing repairs in the room in which Kim was working.  “I asked her to go to the office Christmas party,” said Mark.  “I said ‘no’ at first because I wasn’t an employee of the company,” said Kim. But Mark said he could get her a ticket.  “It was a good party,” Kim recalls. “It was love at first date,” said Mark, who guessed it was a black frock Kim wore that night. “It was a green, strapless dress,” she said. So will the couple ever marry? They’re pretty sure – yeah – someday. But in the meanwhile, said Kim; “The way things are - keeps things fresh.”

Mary Ellen and Tom

Where else would young college students find romance and love in 1963? For Mary Ellen and Tom – uh that would be a fallout shelter.  Mary Ellen needed one more elective credit to finish out her sophomore year studying special education at the University of Kentucky.  After ruling out judo and woodwind instruments, she took a course in fallout shelter management. Serious stuff during the Cold War. The class culminated with a mock nuclear event over the course of a weekend. “It was very realistic, with a recording of the president’s voice announcing there had been an attack on our country,“ said Mary Ellen. “It was gruesome, but it was also fascinating. They were talking about what was going on outside and that there were still people alive." Not exactly the typical stuff of romance. Mary Ellen’s job was to dole out the limited supply of food and water.  This is where Tom comes into the picture. He was a freshman at the school but he also served on the Blue Grass Council of the Boy Scouts in Kentucky. They needed volunteers for the mock attack and he signed up. “She had a hard time siphoning that water,” said Tom. “So I helped her.” Mary Ellen said from that point on “he followed me everywhere in that shelter. It was creepy. When it came time to go to sleep he moved his cot near mine. And I got up and moved my cot to get away from him.” After the class was over, Tom found out where Mary Ellen was living and called her every night. “I wouldn’t go out with him for three weeks,” said Mary Ellen. Then she caved. And a year later they married, went on to have two careers, two children, six grandchildren and one great-grand child, Willow, who was featured in the previous post.

Sky and Kat

For five years Sky took to the road solo – hitchhiking across America in true Jack Kerouac style.  A year and half ago, he found himself at a rainbow gathering in Ithaca, N.Y. where “no money or modern conveniences were allowed.” It was there, while foraging for food and cooking on an open fire, he met Kat, an artist, who had also spent a few years thumbing around America. Six months later – on Valentine’s Day, the traveling chums became – well – more.  "We found out we were pregnant in Oregon then hightailed it here - home where Kat's family lives."  Sky, 22, is now working as a barista and Kat, 20, is spending time at home with their daughter, Willow, who was born this January. – Nashua, N.H.