(WSB photos by Patrick Sand unless otherwise credited)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
The joy of a wedding in West Seattle last weekend went far beyond the bride, groom, attendants, and those who gathered to witness the ceremony and celebrate with them.
The celebration was made possible by countless community members, some of whom have never met the happy couple, Mirna and Magdiel.
The spouses are a story all their own … immigrants in their 20s from Honduras, awaiting their chance to make their case for asylum. Their road to get here, with their 3-year-old son Joshua, has been long and difficult. At the wedding, he carried the train of his mom’s gown:
The family eventually found their way to this area; Mirna has a sister in south King County. Here in West Seattle, members of the Kol HaNeshamah faith community decided to support them, through the International Rescue Committee. Mirna and Magdiel’s time in limbo has stretched – and so has that support, from housing o legal help. Right now, the U.S. government doesn’t have time to hear their asylum case until the end of next year.
The couple became legally married in a civil ceremony just before crossing the US/Mexico border last year. (Their story is told – before and after – in these two video reports by multimedia journalist Cady Voge, who came from Colombia to Seattle to be a bridesmaid on Sunday.)
But Mirna had a dream, wedding organizer/officiant Eddie Westerman explained – to walk down the aisle in white. Eddie explained, “I thought to myself, should they become citizens, we should throw them the wedding they never had.” But then: “The world is uncertain; their trial is still more than a year away. Why wait?”
A community outpouring made it happen – in effect a blessing of their marriage – this past Sunday afternoon. Eddie (above left) officiated in English, while Verónica Hellar (above right), who has been helping the couple learn English, co-officiated in Spanish.
There were the logistics – on the wedding day, that startd with picking up donated chairs Sunday morning from Tuxedoes and Tennis Shoes Catering, to haul to the home of the family who lent their home as the venue for the wedding (and provided food, wine, and beer for the party).
And so much other giving – like the almost-too-good-looking-to-eat three-tier wedding cake made by Pamela Volkman Garrett:
Jennifer Schill and Laura Gillman made “supplemental” cakes too). And there was more baking: Marilyn Meyer baked two big loaves of challah. Shannon Ninburg and her assistant Janet Manuta bought flowers at the Farmers’ Market and made centerpieces for each table, arranged the flowers surrounding the cake, and made bouquets and boutonnieres for the wedding party. Flowers for the tables, too – beautiful even before everything was fully set up:
Table decorations were another labor of love, from the tablecloths to carefully folded coral napkins.
The bride’s dress was loaned by Janel Lardizabal, who, Eddie explains, “pulled (it) out of deep storage” and it turned out to fit Mirna perfectly – needed some work to be wedding-ready. Eddie lent her veil and a tiara she had left over from a party. The rings were donated too. Michael Olsen served as the DJ, who played “I’ve Loved You for a Thousand Years” as wedding attendants danced down the aisle – shortly after it began with “Mission Impossible”:
(Photo by Steve Weil)
The coral bridesmaids’ dresses were gifts from five people (who bought them via Amazon Prime to ensure they would arrive in time!). Volunteers did hair and makeup.
(Photo by Steve Weil)
The giving even stretched into social media, where Betsy Hoffmeister got the word out and brought in other donations including decorations, and spanned generations, with KHN teens serving appetizers during the post-wedding party and doing dishes afterward. Eddie says, “So many people had a finger, a hand, an arm or their whole selves immersed in making this wedding special.” The “whole selves” included Mary Blodgett, who hosted the wedding, walked Magdiel down the aisle:
(Photo by Steve Weil)
And Eddie’s husband Marty Westerman, who walked with Mirna:
The ceremony was more storytelling than anything else – from how Mirna and Magdiel met, to their realization as they became parents that they had to seek a better future for themselves and their son.
All for one couple – one family – who came here with the dream that brought so many here over the decades and centuries. They were separated and detained during their early months in the U.S., and the wait for their asylum trial is difficult, with challenges including that they are not allowed to work. But they are together and in turn have brought together a community coalescing around them with love and hope.
Said one guest before the ceremony, “This is what Americans are supposed to do.”
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