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When my friends Paul Blystone and Kathryn Cooney first asked me to officiate at their wedding, I laughed. "You're kidding, right?" They weren't. They replied, "We asked you to marry us because to us, it seems that love is the foundation of all that you do and all that you express on stage and in life. We asked you to marry us because your own marriage is a model for us to follow. We asked you to marry us because we just knew that you would infuse joy as well as competence into the ceremony. We asked you to marry us because it would be wonderful to share the stage with you. We asked you to marry us because it would give each of us something to lovingly reminisce over for the rest of our lives. We asked you to marry us because our guardian angels told us to."

On Saturday, August 16, 2008, with great honor as a (one-time only) Deputy Commissioner of Civil Marriages of the County of Marin in the State of California, I began my official duty with these words:

"I am an eternal optimist. I am a hopeless romantic. And I LOVE love stories and happy endings. We are here today to celebrate a beautiful love story and the beginning of a new family between Paul and Kathryn."

(All photos taken by Ansgar Furst)

The San Francisco Choral Artists begin the ceremony

Mr. Chuck Huggins
escorting the bride

"I do!"

It's official!

Shay Black and De Dannyboyz

First Dance as
Mr. and Mrs. Blystone

Chuck and Donna Huggins
with the bride and groom

The Jamie Davis Band had everyone on the dance floor

Paul and Kathryn,
"Here's to life, here's to love, here's to you!"