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Kostia met Marina in 1991 when Marina was
15 and Kostia was 16. This was the very first
time that Marina, her parents, and her
younger brother had come to New York.
Kostia was taking her out on the town,
showing Marina all the famous places of interest in the “World
Capital”. However, they had to part ways before getting to know
much about each other, as Marina's family had to return to Russia.
In six months, however, the couple met up again when the
Komti family celebrated New Year's with Marina's family in Puerto
Rico. After that, Kostia and Marina began quickly exchanging
letters - little envelopes with handwritten notes were flying across
the ocean from New York City to Volzhsky and back (during the
last couple of years of the twentieth century, international phone
calls cost a fortune and there was little online commerce). Marina
has kept some of Kostia's letters from that time even now.
In 1994, Marina and her family went for a vacation to Hamburg,
Germany and Kostia arranged to meet her there from his home in
London. It didn't take much effort for Kostia to convince Marina
to study in her beloved New York so, in the winter of 1995, Marina
(with a student visa) and her Mom came to America. Marina
enrolled at Adelphi University on Long Island to continue the
studies that she had started at Volgograd University.
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 Kostia and Marina's childhood friendship grew into something
more serious and Kostia proposed in March. They had a nice,
boisterous party and celebrated their engagement. In May, Marina
transferred to the Julliard School and moved to New York where
Kostia and she rented an apartment in Manhattan.
Marina's parents came to visit during the summer, and they all
went to Las Vegas. While they were there, the kids announced they
were getting married. Kostia's parents would not believe this news
until the very last moment (since Kostia was 20 years old and
Marina only 19, which makes for an early marriage, not just by
American, but also by Russian standards).. |
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 Nonetheless, they flew to Las Vegas for their only son's wedding
ceremony. So, on August 26, 1995 at 11:30 p.m., Kostia and
Marina were married. This was the only available time slot since
the wedding was scheduled at the very last moment, but at
midnight, when the newlyweds and their parents left the office,
they could not even find an open restaurant to celebrate this
glorious moment!
There is no doubt - the number of guests at a wedding is not that
important - what really matters is commitment and family. Still,
Marina and Kostia decided they would celebrate an anniversary,
since they never got a chance to officially celebrate their wedding
when it happened. |
So, in 2005, they had a large-scale celebration of their ten-year
wedding anniversary.
The Designer Loft Salon, where Marina rented a designer wedding
dress from Israeli couturier Galit Levi, offered a great catering hall.
Marina and Kostia agreed and never regretted their choice for one
second - everything was quite elegant and jubilant, all the way from
the flowers to the napkins. The food was ordered at the Moroccan
restaurant “Tagine” and was great. Everybody enjoyed Tagine's belly
dancer, Electra, who entertained the guests. Marina and Kostia made
the choice not to have a wedding host, so their friends and relatives
were taking turns making speeches.
The American wedding anniversary tradition usually involves
the husband and wife reaffirming their wedding vows at this type
of celebration, but Kostia felt that it was not necessary, since his
and Marina's love does not need any formal vows, so they simply
raised toasts to each other. Kostia's mother also made a speech.
Unfortunately, Marina's parents were not able to attend, so that
only her brother who studies in New York City was able to be there.
The following night Marina and Kostia went to London for their
much-delayed, official wedding trip. It was a great wedding, even
though it was 10 years later. Kostia and Marina give this advice
to anybody: if you can't officially celebrate your wedding for some
reason (financial or other problems), don't let it keep you from
creating your family. Still, the celebration was a great thing to do.
It might be your third, fifth, tenth or any other anniversary of the
day you were married - any time, as long as you are able to give
yourselves and your friends such a wonderful gift.
Organizers Husband and Wife
Hall Designer Loft Salon
Gown Designer Loft Salon
Music Moscow Band Orchestra
CuisineTagine
Photo VITALPHOTO
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