Oceanside H.S. sweethearts postpone wedding, but get special surprise

It was early March when high school sweethearts Paige McCarthy, 27, and Charlie Franzini, 28, began questioning whether they could go ahead with their April 18 wedding in Aruba.

By mid-March, stay-at-home orders started going into effect. McCarthy, a teacher and gymnastics coach at Valley Stream South High School, was homebound at the couple's house in Long Beach, where they have lived together for three years now. Franzini, a real estate finance portfolio manager in Manhattan, was also working from home.

On March 20, they officially postponed the wedding and let their 150 guests know to cancel their flights. They’ve set a new date of July 18, and, while they remain realistic about the situation, hope they won’t need to reschedule it a second time.

“I was definitely sad,” McCarthy said. “A lot of people were going to make the trip, and I felt so bad that so many people had to get on the phone with the airlines and hotels. If it was a wedding here, it would be a quick email or call, but now our guests had to be a part of it.”

“I was upset, too,” Franzini added, “but we’re both just trying to focus on the fact that we can’t control what's going on. We’re lucky all our family and friends are healthy, and things can be a lot worse.”

The soon-to-be bride and groom met when McCarthy was a sophomore and Franzini was a junior at Oceanside High School. McCarthy was on the varsity gymnastics team, and Franzini played basketball. They’d see each other in the gymnasium, a friend set them up, and they’ve been dating ever since. “We still have the same group of friends,” Franzini said, “and they've seen us [grow up] together throughout the years.”

After Franzini graduated OHS in 2009, he went to Northeastern University in Boston. Then, McCarthy graduated in the class of 2010 and went to SUNY Cortland. The couple had a long distance relationship for five years, lived back in Oceanside with their respective families for three years, and then moved to Long Beach together.

On the morning of Dec. 22, 2018, Franzini proposed with a special breakfast, flowers and listening to their favorite song, “Angel” by Jack Johnson. The couple surprised their families with the news later that day at a Christmas party.

But on the day that would have been their wedding, April 18, it was their family and friends’ turn to surprise the high school sweethearts.

That morning, McCarthy’s family set up a Zoom call with the couple. Both of their friends and family had put together a video with photos, video clips and words of wisdom for them, which they streamed through the Zoom conference to watch together.

“Just when we thought all the fun was over, my mom told us to go outside,” McCarthy said. “There was a car parade with signs and pictures and goodies.”

McCarthy’s mother, Lisa, and 30 other cars of family and friends drove by their home and dropped off presents to show their love for the couple.

“Even though it wasn’t our actual wedding day, it was still extremely special,” McCarthy said. “It was so nice to see everyone come together and celebrate us, and it ended up being a really perfect day.”

Franzini noted that some of their other friends have had to postpone weddings, and with the entire world practicing some kind of social distancing, he knows they aren’t alone.

“We want to say thank you to everyone for everything they’ve done,” he said. “Even though we haven't had the opportunity to get married, we know there are so many people suffering right now who would probably wish to have our problems. We keep reminding ourselves it’s not canceled, just postponed.”