FORGET the glitzy fanfare and spectacle of a Trump wedding. In the minimally decorated basement of the Bronx Courthouse, hundreds of New York couples are saying “I do” – making it the Big Apple’s new wedding mecca.
“Our couples are predominantly Latino – working people who are too busy with jobs and can’t take the time off,” says First Deputy Clerk Michael McSweeney. “I definitely have to work on my Spanish.”
The convenient, fast and economical ceremonies attract lovebirds from across the city in droves. In March, nearly 1,000 couples exchanged vows.
McSweeney said that last year the Bronx Courthouse was the site of 121 ceremonies weekly on average, but this year, “we are up to 151 so far … The Bronx is definitely overtaking Brooklyn.”
Instead of spending thousands on grandiose wedding receptions, these young, working couples have their eye on the bigger, practical picture – financial security for a new family and home.
Twenty-eight-year-old Bronx bride Maria Nieves nixed hopes for a 50-pound Christian Dior wedding dress of crystals and pearls, like the kind sported by Trump bride Melania Krauss recently.
Nieves opted to wear her favorite tight-fitting jeans, black spandex top and black platform boots to her nuptials. Her groom, Luis Verdejo, 23, wore a black nylon durag and silver hoop earrings.
“What’s the difference? You do it for love,” said Verdejo.
Despite the basement’s vault-like ambience – a far cry from Trump’s Versailles-inspired ballroom at his Palm Beach estate – love and romance still wafted through the air.
“I want to live with Maria for the rest of my life,” said Verdejo.
“I love Luis, because he is good,” Nieves said, wearing a pearly white smile. Strapped for money and harboring dreams of moving to Oklahoma, where Verdejo’s mother recently opened a clothing store, he and his new bride are looking for a fresh life. An expensive wedding to impress friends and family was out of the question.
“We have other responsibilities that come first,” said Nieves. “The most important thing is that we are together.”