Photo Credit: Veronica Yankowski, Chiarascuro Photography
ABOVE: Rev. Mitchell Maged of Oakland officiating at the wedding of Christina and Jason Allentoff in Spring Lake last year. In a televised stunt tied to the wedding coverage of Prince William and Kate Middleton, Maged will preside over three consecutive weddings in New York City Friday, April 29.
Rev. Mitchell Maged is not your everyday knot-tyer.
"Mitch the Minister" - as he's known colloquially - said he has officiated at more than 1,200 weddings since becoming ordained on a whim at an interfaith ministry in Bound Brook 12 years ago.
It's an odyssey the former accountant said he never saw coming.
"Talk about a change of venue," said Maged, who has lived on Oneida Avenue in Oakland with his wife, Kathleen, and daughters, Patricia and Rachel, for almost 20 years.
But when it comes to venues, Maged is open to just about anything.
Museums, national parkland, a yacht on the Hudson River - even a hot-air balloon - Maged said he's done it all and that he considers himself a "mobile minister."
On Friday, April 29, Maged will officiate at three consecutive weddings at his biggest -or at least most visible - venue to date: Times Square in New York City.
The ceremonies are planned as part of the culmination of a week of programming The Learning Channel is broadcasting to celebrate the wedding of Prince William of Wales and Catherine Middleton, which will happen simultaneously at Westminster Abbey in London.
The Times Square weddings will take place at 7:40 a.m., 8:30 a.m. and 9:10 a.m. and will be broadcasted live on a JumboTron. Meanwhile, the royal wedding will be broadcasted live on a second JumboTron and on TLC beginning at 5 a.m.
The couples who will be married in Times Square were selected after undergoing an application and screening process that began in February, said TLC publicity coordinator Niki Kazakos. More than 45 couples applied, she said.
Among the couples are Marie Grace Singgo of Clifton and Jesse Chao of Jersey City. The other couples are from Connecticut and New York.
Kazakos said the perks include wedding cakes from Carlo's Bake Shop - of "Cake Boss" fame - in Hoboken and wedding gowns for the brides from Kleinfeld Bridal - of "Say Yes to the Dress" fame - in New York City.
Kazakos said Maged was selected to officiate at the weddings primarily because TLC, a cable TV network that caters to viewers interested in cooking, fashion, home design and parenting, had employed his services for "Four Weddings," a program that pits four brides against one another for the "honeymoon of their dreams."
Maged was the frontrunner for the project, Kazakos said, because he specializes in nondenominational weddings.
The genesis of Maged's compassion for interfaith couples was his own interfaith nuptials in 1985. On Oct. 20 of that year, Maged, who was born Jewish, married Kathleen, who is Roman Catholic.
In fact, according to Maged, if it wasn't for the trouble he and his future wife went through to find a wedding officiant, he wouldn't be one today.
Eventually, Maged said, the priest from Kathleen's parish agreed to preside over the wedding. But, he said, he and his future wife still had to find a rabbi in the telephone directory.
"Back then it was a rarity for two people of different faiths to get married without one of them converting or going to the mayor," Maged said. "When I heard about the opportunity [to become a minister], I knew the time was right to help couples going through the same aggravation I did."
As for the weddings on April 29, Maged confessed he may be the one with cold feet.
"I've done pretty good in front of large crowds," Maged said, "but the reality of being viewed by thousands of people is still setting in."
Article by Philip Devencentis, www.northjersey.com
(Newsfeed)
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