A couple from Boston planned to have their wedding in Italy, but their dog caused a problem when it chewed up the groom’s passport just days before the wedding in Lake Garda, Italy.
Donato, who is usually very organized, felt panic when he saw his passport in pieces. His fiancée Magda usually saw him as the calm and methodical one in their relationship.
Magda and Donato met when she started working at his Victory Point restaurant five years ago. They didn’t start dating until three years later when she left to work somewhere else.
Magda was determined to fix the passport issue, and they checked the U.S. State Department’s website. It said they could get a new passport on the same day if they had proof of their travel within 14 days. The problem was getting an appointment, and they couldn’t find any appointments in Boston.
The closest appointment they could find was in Atlanta, but that was too late. So, the earliest appointment they found was in El Paso, Texas, and Donato was willing to travel there.
Magda reached out to local officials, who helped them get an appointment in Boston a week later. This made Donato’s life easier because he was ready to go anywhere in the country to get his passport. Some people had to wait six months for an expedited passport.
The couple had always planned to have a destination wedding in Italy because Donato’s family is there, and Magda has family in Morocco. They had been working on their wedding plans for 18 months.
They wanted to bring their dog Chickie with them, but it was too much for her, so they had to leave her behind, and she wasn’t happy about it.
Chickie came into their lives a few years ago, and they named her Chicken Cutlet because she was golden, and it was a reference to Magda’s cooking.
Even though Chickie couldn’t be at the wedding, they had a miniature Chickie put on their wedding cake because she’s an important part of their lives.
Reflecting on the passport incident and other challenges during their honeymoon trip from France to Boston, the couple learned to adapt and handle unexpected situations. They missed their connecting flight and faced canceled flights and a lack of rental cars, so they took a train to get back home.
Their wedding experience taught them how to deal with unexpected problems and find solutions.
