08/10/2003

Keri Guarino and Eric Cote

Independence Harbor, Assonet, Massachusetts

6.13.03

Mother-of-the-bride Pam Guarino rushes around her Seekonk home with a sense of purpose, while her daughter, Keri Guarino, poses for portraits in the living room. Pam stacks boxes and bags at the back door, stuff to be transported to Independence Harbor, where Keri -- the eldest of three children, her only daughter -- will marry Eric Cote. Chair covers, yards of tulle for the cake table, and lots and lots of gerbera daisies, enough to fill 42 vases, one for each table.

"The wedding has a garden theme," says Pam. "The tables have flower names. We got stuck at the pansy table, of all things! It just worked out that way. We had to put them in alphabetical order because at our son's wedding last October, all the guests were wandering around looking for their tables, and I wasn't going to let that happen."

Keri, 32, grew up in Seekonk. She graduated from St. Mary Academy - Bay View in East Providence, then Ithaca College in New York, with a degree in marketing. Eric, 27, graduated from Exeter-West Greenwich High School, and is a systems analyst with Tyco International in Mansfield, Mass.

They met on October 13 -- a Friday -- 2000, and they are getting married on June 13 -- a Friday -- 2003. "And I bought my dress on April Fools' Day!" says Keri.

"When Eric surprised Keri with an engagement ring last May, Keri began to realize how far in advance weddings are booked," says Pam. "Since she had waited all her life for Eric, there seemed to be no reason to put off a wedding. But a Saturday summer 2003 wedding was out of the question -- everything was booked." Keri and Pam looked for alternatives. A Friday evening sounded fine, and there was one available in June at her preferred location: Independence Harbor in Assonet. "But did she dare? Friday the 13th! Absolutely. No superstitions here -- knock on wood.

"Eric claims he's not superstitious," says Pam, "but he plans to keep a four-leaf clover in his pocket till the clock strikes midnight."

For a while, it looks like there might be some substance to the Friday the 13th myth after all: It has been raining all day, which just might affect the planned outdoor ceremony.

And, in the rain and Friday rush-hour traffic from Seekonk through Fall River, following the limousine to Assonet, Pam's sister Joan from Florida gets lost. Not only is she unfamiliar with the area, but the gerbera daisies are in her trunk.

Minutes before the ceremony is to begin, the lost sister arrives, the rain stops. The wait staff, armed with towels, descends upon the 200 chairs facing the gazebo. As the guests file out on the lawn, Pam turns to me with a smile and says: "Things never go perfect. As good as I am, they just can't be perfect!"