Ilana Dan

Dan Seidman and Ilana Mainelli were married on May 11, 1997 at the Pingree Estate in South Hamilton, MA.

Site: the Pingree Estate, site of the Pingree School, contains a beautiful house with terraces leading down to a wonderful hedge garden, and then further down to a pond. The sun came out for us as we were married in the hedge garden, with toasts from the lower terrace and the reception up in the house and on the upper terraces. South Hamilton is north of Boston, near Salem and Ipswich. We would have liked a site closer to our home in Watertown, but we couldn't find anything big enough that we really liked.

Ceremony: we wrote our own secular ceremony, officiated by Linda Potemken, a friend of ours and Ilana's former rabbi. Our "official" officiant, who signed the paperwork for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, was Denise Provost, a great friend and mentor of Ilana's from the Somerville political world that Ilana once belonged to. Denise would have been at the ceremony but for the sudden arrival of her second daughter, Eliza Jane. The best man was Josh Seidman, returning the favor Dan provided him in 1993. The matron of honor was Karin Blum, another Somerville friend and one who went through the wedding ordeal herself in 1996. Linda Coolbaugh and Ann Malaspina, two long time friends of Ilana, were the bridesmaids, and Dan's friends Adam Posen and Greg Menounos were the groomsmen. And last but certainly not least, Andromeda Woodward was the train bearer. Speakers during the ceremony were Josh and his wife, Jocelyn Guyer; and the two mothers, Ruth Seidman and Roz Mainelli. Of course Linda Potemken spoke as well, and the bride and groom each had a welcoming speech as well as our vows. We were very pleased with the way it turned out.

Ceremony music: We found out six days before the wedding that our original musicians would be unavailable. Fortunately, our friend Jeff of the J.J. Swede Band (see below) put us in touch with a guitarist, Norman Daoust, who rounded up a vocalist named Marcia Guntzel. They did a brilliant job with our hodgepodge of songs by Bach, Simon and Garfunkel, the Proclaimers and the groom.

Reception: the music for the reception was performed by the J.J. Swede Band, a terrific local cover band. They rose above and beyond the call of duty by playing Dan's engagement song to Ilana, Eyes of Yours, for our first dance. The caterer was Vinwood Catering of Ipswich, who served wonderful food and whose staff was extremely helpful to us all day. The florist was Joanne's Place, also of Ipswich, and they also did a great job for us. The highlight of the reception was the cake, homemade by Dan's dad, Aaron Seidman.

Rings: The bride and groom presented each other with puzzle rings from Jose Grant, Inc. in Ilana's home town of Stamford, CT. The rings are similar to the one shown here. They consist of four separate bands that can be disentangled, although they remain interlocked. There is then the puzzle of putting the chain back into ring form.

Honeymoon: We went to Ireland, where we drove around for a week, staying in B&B's and seeing some breathtaking scenery in Kerry, Galway, Limerick, Cork, Clare and Tipperary. We thought we'd get to Dublin, but we never did -- we'll save that for a return visit someday.

Invitations: we designed our own, with Dan's dad providing lots of advice and guidance. We mailed them out with the 1997 love stamps, which both of us like better than those doofy-looking angels.

Ilana & Dan

Thanks to George's Wedpage for the wedding clip art.

Thanks to Jon Phelps for the pictures of me and my bride. Fewer thanks to Jon and Greg for whatever it was they made me drink at my bachelor party.

Thanks to The Texas Saxophone Quartet for their rendition of J.S. Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring.

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