Terri and Duff exchanged wedding vows starting at noon on September 7, 1996 at Centennial Park Pavilion H. They annouced their committment to one another in front of Reverend Leslie Metcalf and a large gathering of family and friends.
Mother Nature came through for Terri and Duff. Hurricane Fran hit land on Thursday, September 5 and it looked like it was going to have a big impact on the wedding plans. Terri and Duff scrambled around and found a backup facility, but continued to hope that they could hold the wedding as planned. Good Fortune was on their side as the Hurricane headed west and other than a tremendous amount of rain on Friday, all was well. It looked like all the prayers paid off when a star-filled night was evident upon exiting the restaurant where the rehearsal dinner was held. There was still concern about possible flooding due to the impact of Friday's rain, but when Duff checked out the site at 4:30 am on wedding morning, he let out the signal to party on full steam ahead.
The wedding party consisted of matron of honor, Anita Ordakowski, and the bridesmaids: Eileen Barry, Sally Blickenstaff, and Anita Cox. On the men's side were best man, Bernie Duffy, and ushers/groomsman: Charlie Duffy, Michael Dymek, and Dan Paddy. They had a wonderful evening at Nichi Bei' Kei' at the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding.
Terri and Duff hosted about 200 guests, about 50 of them children. They acquired the services of Pickles Pub who did an excellent job catering the event providing Pit Beef, Pit Turkey, Barbecue Chicken, fruits and vegetables for lunch and ample burgers and hot dogs to be used later in the day for dinner. A wonderful three-tiered cake and additional sheet cake was provided by J&P Kake Korner in Laurel. The bar-tenders were Ken Webster and Chuck Parvis who did an excellent job. The musical entertainment included a DJ (noon-4 pm), Chris from Sounds Unlimited, and Triniman, the former lead singer from Mamba Jamba who went solo from 4pm to 6pm. Fun-Fit provided entertainment for the kids from 2pm to 4pm. Sporting activity was bountiful in the form of volleyball, softball, horseshoes, crochet, soccer, and tennis. The first dance was to the tune of "Because You Loved Me" by Celine Dion, the theme song from the movie "Up Close and Personal". Allison Taylor was the first to join Terri and Duff during their dance. Michael Dymek caught the garter and his date, Colleen McMurray caught the bouqet.
Anita Cox coordinated the Pot Luck Dinner which was a huge success. She found the couple that worked the grill and cooked the burgers and hot dogs and made sure that all the food from many of the wedding guests was arranged. The food was outstanding and allowed the rehearsal to extend for more than one meal without encountering the huge cost of feeding a large number of guests twice.
Wedding attendees were asked to dress like they were going to a picnic. Formal attire was strongly discouraged and fortunately everyone responded accordingly. The end result was a relaxing, fun-filled day in a nice park.
Although the wedding ended in divorce roughly two years later, Duff would like to thank all of his friends who attended that day and continue to be an active part of his life. It was not easy to be married to the wrong person, but Duff learned a lot from this experience and is fortunate to continue to see his ex-stepson Jim.