More Feinblatt and Mintz

Several people have asked me for my impressions of the John Feinblatt-Jonathan Mintz wedding, which I was privileged to attend yesterday at Gracie Mansion, so here goes...

It was a remarkable event in almost every respect. Somehow, John and Jonathan managed to reconcile two agendas that I would have thought it impossible to achieve simultaneously. On the one hand, this was unmistakably a media and political event: many of the bold face names in New York City government were in attendance (including the Mayor, who presided) as were enough reporters and photographers to dispel the notion that the media industry is in decline. On the other hand, they staged a fun, intimate, and informal wedding for about 150 guests. It is easy to imagine these two agendas being in tension with one another, but that's not how it played out yesterday.

One reason for this might be the active involvement of John and Jonathan's daughters, who processed, carried rings, danced, sang and generally brought a sense of mirth to the festivities. Another reason might be the level of comfort and ease that John and Jonathan brought to the wedding. At most of the weddings I have attended, I find myself thinking about the future of the newlyweds: Will they manage to stick together through bad times? How will they reconcile their careers? Will they have kids? What will they be like as parents? In John and Jonathan's case, they have already answered all of these questions, so there is little doubt that they have what it takes to make a successful marriage.

All in all, it was a beautiful and moving event that made me proud to call myself a New Yorker and a friend of John and Jonathan's.