News

Dale Huffman: Whirlwind wedding maintains a tradition

By Dale Huffman

Staff Writer

Thursday, July 19, 2007

They call it their whirlwind wedding.

Ann Denney, 38, and Chris Zukoski, 33, have been dating each other for seven years, have been engaged for three years, and were married in a spontaneous ceremony Friday that came together within a four-hour span."We met for lunch in downtown Dayton and were casually talking when Ann mentioned she had called her parents and my parents to wish them a happy anniversary," Chris said. Ann's parents, Pauline and Bob Lovelace of Kettering, were celebrating 44 years of marriage that day and Chris's parents, Diane and Alan Zukoski also were observing 39 years of marriage on July 13. "It just came up in casual conversation," Chris said. "Ann and I have been together a long time, and engaged and have talked about getting married. I have had some concerns with marriage, but always knew we would do it one day. I just didn't know when." As they enjoyed lunch the two talked about how unusual it is that both Ann's and Chris' parents were married on July 13. At one point Ann smiled and looked at Chris and said, "Wouldn't it be great if we were married on that same date, July 13? We could keep the tradition going." Chris said he impulsively proposed, "Do you want to get married today?" He said, "Ann's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. She was so excited. We talked a bit and decided we would go get a marriage license and see how things went." Chris said when they got to the clerk's office, there was no one in line, and getting a marriage license was very easy. "I was amazed how well that went. We then went by the courts and stopped to see if any of the judges could marry us," Chris said. At the office of presiding Dayton Municipal Judge John Pickrel a clerk told them the judge could marry them at 3:30 p.m. "Ann and I have a daughter, Lily, who just turned 2 years old and Ann has a daughter, Tori, 12, from a previous marriage," Chris said. "We went to pick up the girls, and to change clothes. Then we stopped at a jewelry store of a friend and picked out two simple wedding bands. We were back in the courtroom by 3:30 p.m. and a few minutes later we were man and wife." Chris said Lily had a "terrible two tantrum" going on during the service. "Lily was wild, but Judge Pickrel was amazing. He didn't miss a beat as Lily made her voice heard and dropped crackers on the floor. I had asked one of Judge Pickrel's clerks to videotape the ceremony and later someone told us it was comical and if we send the video to one of those TV home video shows it would win a prize." Then the newlyweds called both sets of parents, and a host of friends. "It was just meant to happen this way," Chris said. "We are sure that not too many couples can say they have the same wedding date as both sets of parents. And we also feel Friday the 13th was a very lucky day for us."

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