Weddingbee Blog

When it came time to decide what kind of ceremony we would have, the decision was not without thought. For a short breath we considered doing a “room flip” and having the reception and ceremony at the same locale, but it seemed like too much work, and extra work means extra room for error! (Extra room for error means extra anxiety for Miss Seal.) Plus, Mr. S and I were both baptized Catholic, and the traditional side of me really wanted to have a big church wedding like my parents had.

My parents’ San Francisco wedding:

After a lengthy and thoughtful discussion with my Sealman, we decided to also marry within the Church.

With the decision made to have a big church ceremony, the next step was to figure out which church would set the stage. Having the ceremony at the local parish where I was baptized was not an option—I just wasn’t comfortable asking my guests to drive 30-plus minutes to get to the reception site. And seeing as how Mr. Seal was baptized in Brooklyn…well, you can understand why that was out of the question!

We looked into Mission Dolores in San Francisco, the beautiful location of my parents’ ceremony, but they couldn’t accommodate our Friday wedding. So that was that.

Then I remembered my cousin Sharla’s wedding. In March of ’09 I was a guest at her wedding in the North Beach area of San Francisco, and I remember being blown away by the beautiful church in which she wed her husband.

I have no idea why this is the only picture I have from her ceremony, as it obviously does it no justice (You can kinda see the interior of the church in the background, no?), but I thought I’d introduce you to Eldest Brother Seal anyhow:

Sooo, hive, meet Sts. Peter and Paul—as it so happens, this is the same church where Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio wed his first wife, Dorthy Arnold, back in November of 1939. (He also posed for pictures on the church’s steps after marrying Marilyn Monroe at City Hall.)

Image by Russell Hill via Flickr

Image via Sts Peter and Paul

Personal photo

Now, this would be an incomplete post if I didn’t explain why all of the aforementioned details are of extra importance.

I’d like to enter into evidence a little something I refer to as “the DiMaggio difference.” OK, so that’s kind of a big name for what I am about to explain but, whatever, let’s roll with it.

The DiMaggio difference:

Image via Wikipedia

1. Joe was born in the small town of Martinez, California—about 30 minutes east of San Francisco. As it so happens, I was also raised in this cozy town of 36,000. And being the birthplace of the Yankee Clipper is one of Martinez’s most prized claims to fame.
2. As you may know, Mr. Seal is THE biggest Yankees fan I know. Informing him that we had the possibility of marrying in the same church as Mr. DiMaggio was quite the delight. Though Joe was a native of the West Coast, he spent his career in New York as a Yankee and according to Mr. Seal…that makes him a New Yorker.
3. Joe and his first wife not only married in Sts. Peter and Paul, but they were married on November 19th…only eight days after our wedding date (albeit 72 years earlier, but you get the point).
4. Lastly, Joe was a SEAL! Prior to the baseball big leagues, Joe played in the minors for the San Francisco Seals.

Young Joe as a Seal:

Image via ninety feet of perfection

In light of all of the obvious coincidences, we made contact with Sts. Peter and Paul. And after some email correspondence with one of the Fathers, we decided to “accept fate,” if you will, and send in our deposit. So now we will appropriately be following in the footsteps of a man who very much embodied both the East and the West—much like Mr. Seal and me.

Well, except we’ll stay married, of course.

What made you decide on your ceremony location? Tradition? Convenience? Joe DiMaggio?