The Marrying Man

Hundreds of 'I do's' later, a Brooklyn-born showman finds a second career as a fast-talking wedding officiant.

Photos by Josh Adler

On a Saturday evening at the Hilton Garden Inn in Nanuet, a bedroom community about thirty miles north of New York City, a wedding is about to begin. The bridesmaids and groomsmen drink and take photographs in the lobby. The planners gather in the conference room where the ceremony soon will take place. The musician wants to know her cues. The photographers want to know where they should set up. Everything is pretty much per usual, until the conference room doors open. Inside, decorative grass illuminated with LED lights sets the mood. A harpist plays Stairway to Heaven as guests enter. Candles flicker in square lanterns along the floor mirrored by black-and-white paper lanterns that hang from the ceiling. The guests stand when the bride, visibly pregnant and wearing an off-white gown, enters alongside two men. She meets the groom at a two-foot-high white stand bearing three candles: then they stand at this makeshift altar before a man in a black suit and black hat…