It was a traditional Irish wedding – incorporating many cultural symbols and customs. They exchanged Claddagh rings, which featured two hands holding a heart with a crown, indicating love and loyalty, and they took part in the hand-fastening ceremony where their hands were symbolically tied together. Shamrocks were sprinkled down the aisle and all the men in the ceremony wore traditional Irish kilts representing the Celtic tribe in Fermanagh.
Colleen and her bridesmaids wore lace gowns, Colleen’s in pale blue, a traditional Irish colour symbolising purity.
The reception was planned for the Mile End social hall, located only a block from the church. However, in keeping with the belief that taking the longest route would bring good luck to the married couple and confuse the ‘evil eye’, they proceeded there on a circuitous path through the streets.
Once at the social hall, the toast to the couple was given by Johnny Jr’s best man, Nissan’s son Ben.
“Blessed are you, our Lord
For having brought this loving couple together.
May their relationship be a living
Testimony to Your goodness.
May they always treat each other
With kindness, respect and love.
We ask for your blessings as they unite in marriage
Let all their days together be happy
And may they always be surrounded by those they love”
This was a toast used primarily at Jewish weddings, but Ben knew that Johnny Jr would not mind. Nissen and Johnny Sr spent time outside the Hall reminiscing about Nissen’s time in Liverpool and both recalled how Johnny Sr’s grandmother had prophesied the name of his unborn son. She said it would begin with a ‘B’, which stood for Ben, Johnny Jr’s best man.
The liquor, all of which Nissen had distilled in his basement in a process developed by his father Girsha back in the Ukrainian shtetl, flowed freely. The band played a variety of mostly Irish tunes well into the early morning hours, and true to the promise he had made to Colleen, Johnny Jr had just one small drink after the toast and then only with Colleen’s approval.
Despite the protestations of Johnny Sr, the entire cost of the wedding was covered by Nissen. He refused to hear otherwise and said that it paled in comparison to the support and assistance he had received from the Maguire Family when he found himself in Liverpool on his way from Ukraine to Montreal.
Johnny Jr and Colleen would have 3 children, the eldest of course named Johnny Richard Jr, which resulted in Johnny Jr becoming known as Johnny Sr and his father known as Marguerite’s Johnny.
Johnny Jr enjoyed a long relationship with Ben and Ben’s brother-in-law, working as head of ‘security’ at their various nightclubs. All three would eventually retire together and spend long hours reminiscing about their intertwined experiences. They often thought, only half-joking, about writing them all down in a story.
