Stationed in Texas, Pfc. Timothy Oremus is told he's leaving for Iraq, but a weekend pass means a Rhode Island wedding with the girl of his dreams.

01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, May 6, 2006

BY PAUL DAVIS
Journal Staff Writer

NARRAGANSETT -- All weddings carry a little stress.

Then there's the wedding of Timothy Oremus and Cassandra Guglielmetti.

Initially the Army said Oremus could take a few days off to marry the girl of his dreams, back in South Kingstown.

Then, early this week, the Army said the 21-year-old Smithfield man -- stationed in Fort Hood, Texas -- was going to Iraq instead.

Guglielmetti, 21, and her mother, Robin Lehrman, cried, and the bride-to-be canceled her wedding plans.

A day later, Oremus called again and said he could get the weekend off. He arrived in Rhode Island at 3:30 Friday morning and, yesterday afternoon, married Guglielmetti in a wooden gazebo near the beach.

"We literally planned the wedding in 24 hours," said Guglielmetti.

It wasn't easy.

Her mother got up before 7 a.m. to buy purple and yellow flowers at Home Depot. She picked up a wedding cake from food services at the University of Rhode Island, where she works in the business department. And she grabbed some decorations from her own wedding.

"It's been busy, busy, busy," Lehrman said yesterday. "The Army kept changing its plans. We didn't really know he was coming until we saw the whites of his eyes."

Guglielmetti's younger brother, Ryan, was a last-minute best man. Her grandmother, Elinor, flew from Florida to Rhode Island an hour before the wedding. Her father, Thomas, a URI police officer, gave her away.

Not everyone could make it. Oremus' mother, who lives in Oregon, could not get a flight in time.

"When I get back, we're going to have another wedding, a big one," promised Oremus.

Despite the short notice, two dozen family members and friends watched while the couple recited their vows.

Oremus, his head shaved, stood straight in his green slacks, green jacket and shiny black shoes. Guglielmetti wore a sparkly white gown with her blond hair swept up.

The couple met two years ago in Providence -- an informal date planned by matchmaking friends -- and became engaged in December. They had sports in common. Oremus played football at Ponaganset High School and Guglielmetti was a volleyball star at South Kingstown High School.

The couple will spend today and tonight in Newport. Oremus, a private first class, flies back to Fort Hood tomorrow morning and leaves for Iraq next week. He'll miss his wife's graduation ceremony at URI, where Guglielmetti studied fashion design and merchandising.

Outside the gazebo, Oremus' father, William, snapped pictures of the couple. His emotions were mixed. His son was getting married -- and would soon go to the war in Iraq.

"He's matured a lot in the last six months," he said. "But as a parent, you've got be scared as hell about where he's going. And you've got to be thankful, and you've got to be proud."

During the wedding, Justice of the Peace Diane L. Seemann told the couple that marriage would bring them joy and sorrow and change their lives forever.

When it was over, she introduced the couple to the people crowded around:

"Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to introduce Mr. and Mrs. Timothy and Cassandra Oremus."

pdavis@projo.com / (401) 277-7093