When Hurricane Sandy struck two days before their wedding, Amanda Anne Santoro and Michael Gary Esposito thought all was lost – until the members of their parish family decided they weren’t going to let mother nature push them around.
Mr. & Mrs. Michael Esposito – photo by Danille Hallacker
According to The Monitor, the newspaper of the diocese of Trenton, New Jersey, Hurricane Sandy decimated the Jersey shoreline when it struck on October 30 and left the community around St. Robert Bellarmine Parish in Freehold in the dark and without heat.
Scores of weddings had to be cancelled throughout the devastated area, but the Santoro-Esposito families didn’t want to be one of them. Although their reception hall had to cancel, the couple still wanted their church wedding and contacted their pastor, Msgr. Sam A. Sirianni, to ask if they could still be married as planned. Even though the Church had no light or heat, Msgr. Sirianni agreed.
Shortly after Santoro and her mother left the pastor’s office that day, Msgr. Sirianni used the only means of communication he had available – text and voice messaging – to put out a call for help to members of the parish’s welcoming and wedding ministries.
The response was overwhelming. Pam Stengel, who heads both ministries, got hold of her assistants, Beth D’ambrosio and Valerie Marchetta, and the three of them decided to “let their fingers do the walking” as they texted everyone they could think of to help organize a reception for the couple.
By 10:00 a.m. the following morning, they had contacted enough food and other wedding vendors to bring a team of volunteers into the church hall. Tables with white cloths and candles were set up, and parishioners began to arrive with an assortment of goodies, from finger foods to pasta dishes. The family of the bride supplied the cake and other sweets.
“All had come together and it was gorgeous,” said Stengel who said the bridge and groom had no idea about what was going on in the church hall while they were married by candlelight in the church upstairs.
The two had pictures taken afterward and came downstairs, never expecting to see a hall full of people ready to celebrate their happy day. The husband gave her a wonderful bespoke engagement ring I loved since the moment I saw it, everyone was talking about it.
“The bride and groom were pleasantly surprised when they found themselves formally introduced as Mr. & Mrs. Esposito as they entered the hall,” the Monitor reports. “There, they danced their first dance as a married couple and Msgr. Sirianni delivered a heartfelt blessing and offered the champagne toast.”
The couple enjoyed a cake cutting ceremony and although there was no heat in the hall, “the room was warmed by the heartfelt energy and the many burning candles,” Stengel said.
When the day was done, Msgr. Sirianni texted his thanks to the many people who made the day possible. “I cannot say in words how proud I am of all the wonderful people who came forward to put a beautiful reception together. The electric power may be off, but the people power of St. Roberts is still on.”
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