MANHATTAN — For eight years, the Times Square Alliance has been holding weddings on Valentine’s Day in Times Square. Though this year was different due to the pandemic, they kept the tradition going.
Denise and Robert Marte originally got married in 2009 but life got in the way and they never had a ceremony. Denise originally submitted a request to the Times Square Alliance hoping to renew her vows at the Crossroads of the world.
“We never really had a wedding so I wanted to renew our vows,” Denise Marte said.
But when the group heard her story, she was offered a wedding instead, in the middle of a pandemic.
“2020 was very difficult for us, for everyone, right, with the pandemic, but it’s a really good time for us in our relationship," Denise Marte said. "It’s a very special occasion for us with our family."
The couple took the trip from New Jersey with a handful of their friends and family to get married in Times Square.
Robert’s father died from COVID-19. They said having the wedding means the world to them after that tremendous loss.
It was also a tough year on Robert at work. He leases and sells cars.
“I lost my father," Robert Marte said. "Everything was bad. Kids were in the house every day. It was just tough all around. Half of my day is in the office, half of my day is out networking and that whole other side of my life wasn’t there.”
The couple met at bar in New York City. They said having their ceremony in Manhattan brings their relationship full circle.
“I worked in Times Square when we met here in the city," Denise Marte said. "And I would walk up and down here to 57th Street. That was my route as a sales person."
There was a socially distanced crowd in Times Square also enjoying the couple’s special day.
“It’s cool we’re just walking through Times Square and we’re like what’s all this,” said Beth Hymiak as she watched the wedding from afar.
With the wedding, the couple won a trip to Hawaii. One of Denise’s sons is in the Navy, stationed in Hawaii, so the couple looks forward to visiting him as well.