By Nicole Falco
The couple chose Dec. 5 to honor the memory of Coviello's firefighter friend, Michael Kiefer, a New York City firefighter who was killed on Sept. 11, 2001. The date was Kiefer's birthday. When they chose it, of course, they never expected a blizzard wedding.
As the first of the weekend's 15 inches of snow began to fall, friends and family began calling to say they would not be attending the reception at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Syosset. About half the 150 expected guests called to cancel. The limousine company called to say the antique car the bride ordered could not be taken out in the snow. The priest was 30 minutes late for the ceremony, and the organist 40 minutes late. The ceremony began an hour late, as did the reception. The cocktail hour lasted two hours, because the band hired by the newlyweds arrived before their instruments.
While everything that could go wrong did, the wedding was a success. According to the bride's mother, Janet Miserandino, "The bride looked like a vision in white -- a snow princess. I was told by [other] people in the church that when the doors opened and Chris stood there in her white fur-lined cape, there was a collective, audible 'Aaahhh!'"
According to Miserandino, friends and family helped save the day. The bride's brother, Dominick, who was also her "man of honor," called his sister's college sorority, Psi Sigma Sigma, to come to the rescue. Christine's sorority sisters from Hofstra put out an "all points bulletin." Though she did not know the girls -- Christine graduated in 1999 -- 10 sorority members in evening gowns came to the reception to fill seats and help the couple celebrate.
After driving from upstate New York the night before, one relative drove five more hours through the blizzard to make sure the bride's grandmother and 98-year-old aunt could attend the wedding.
Friends and family continually shoveled the walkway outside Christine's Valley Stream house to make sure she would be able to get to church. The bride's father and sister-in-law sang in church when the designated vocalist couldn't make it.
Members of the Malverne, Franklin Square and New York City fire departments attended to root the couple on. The groom, a New York City firefighter and Malverne volunteer who lives in Franklin Square, had hoped to have a picture of him and his bride taken in front of a fire truck outside the church, but it couldn't be arranged. The Syosset Fire Department heard about it, and members showed up at the reception with a truck so photos could be taken there.
The following day, the couple's wedding was featured in two daily newspapers. They left for their honeymoon cruise on Monday, as planned. When they return they will live in Valley Stream.
Christine is the daughter of Janet and Donald Miserandino of Valley Stream, and Vincent is the son of Pat and Cathy Coviello of Franklin Square.
