New York Weddings > ALBUM

Was this particular church special to your family?
Yes. My father and I sang in the choir for many, many years in that church—we're a big singing family. At the reception, my father and sister serenaded me with "I Want an Old-Fashioned Wedding," a song from Annie Get Your Gun, which was a little bit of an inside joke. It's about two people's visions of a wedding: the dad's (trying to keep to a reasonable budget) and the bride's ("At the Waldorf with champagne and caviar, like the Vanderbilts had"). My little sister, a real chanteuse, sang "My Romance" to us. It was beautiful.

What other family traditions did you celebrate?
Ernest wore a myrtle sprig on his lapel; it's a Latvian symbol of fertility. His mother is Latvian, and he is very in touch with and proud of his heritage. My grandmother used to make amazing lemon cakes, so we thought of her when my then-in-laws-to-be and I chose the cake.

Tell me about your "Just Married" car.
It's one of our beloved family cars—our Ford Crown Victoria station wagon. It was my siblings' idea. My father was the getaway-car driver, and we sat in the back like 5-year-olds.