It is 9 o\u2019clock on a Saturday night, and Sean Cononie has just finished ordaining a wedding. The couple shares a kiss and gets in a car to head to a Marriott hotel. But after their two-day honeymoon, they won\u2019t go home to a house with a yard. The newlyweds will return to the homeless shelter where they live.
\nCononie isn\u2019t a traditional minister. He runs the shelter the couple will return to. The Coalition of Service and Charity (COSAC) currently houses about 300 people in their four buildings in Hollywood. A year and a half ago, Cononie decided to expand COSAC\u2019s services to include holding and paying for weddings for homeless and poor couples.
\n\u201cWe do enough funerals here, so we needed to do something more.\u201d
\nOver the past 18 months, COSAC has organized five weddings, all free of charge to the couples. So far, four out of the five weddings were for couples that lived in the shelter.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve been blessed with donations, so if I can help them out, I do,\u201d says Cononie, founder\/director of COSAC. \u201cIt costs us hardly anything.\u201d
\nBut these wedding aren\u2019t traditional. They are usually organized and held in one day. The shelter offers to pay for cake, flowers and clothing. The organization also offers two nights in a hotel and around $200 for spending.
\n\u201cWe did a wedding for an outside couple who were disabled and poor,\u201d says Rich Carlish, COSAC\u2019s hotel manager. \u201cWe provided food for the 25 people attending and because it was donated, the whole thing was done at almost no cost. I enjoyed it.\u201d
\nAccording to Cononie, outsiders tend to think that COSAC\u2019s residents are \u201calcoholics and druggies.\u201d But most of the time, that isn\u2019t the case. Either way, he ensures that the couple is making an informed decision before he gives his blessing.
\nHe usually meets with the couple at least three times, similar to a counselor, before deciding whether COSAC will organize a wedding for them.
\n\u201cI want to make sure they aren\u2019t making a bipolar decision,\u201d he says.
\nOne thing Cononie requires the couple to do is obtain a marriage license.
\n\u201cIf they say, \u2018Oh, I don\u2019t know about that,\u2019 then I say they aren\u2019t ready.\u201d
\nGetting a marriage license for the couple isn\u2019t always easy. Only three out of 15 people who come to COSAC have an ID. Getting them IDs is one of COSAC\u2019s goals when new people come to the shelter.
\nThat is the final step before the wedding day.
\n\u201cThere is something satisfying [about doing this] even though it is as low-budget as it gets,\u201d says Richard Carlish. \u201cIt is satisfying taking what you have to work with and making it as beautiful as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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