Love among the wildflowers: University of Dayton, Ohio

By Teri Rizvi

You belong to the wildflowers
You belong somewhere near me

As Tom Petty’s tender ballad “Wildflowers” wafted through the gentle evening breeze, Ali and Emily greeted me and her father on the dance floor at their wedding reception on our sloping front yard.

Could there be a more lyrical wedding anthem for this young couple? Wildflowers, in full bloom in spring, symbolize love and harmony. And flowers of all kinds were in abundance at their May wedding—from a cascading arch to vases filled with colorful daisies, roses, delphiniums, lisianthus, and blueberries.

Ali wanted the wedding to take place at his parents’ house, which sits on 7 acres of land that is mostly covered in forest, with scattered wildflowers growing naturally along the paths lined with tall trees.

“This is holy ground,” he said, ordering a road sign reading “Rizvi Road” to be put up at the end of the driveway.

The sign welcomed 180 guests from across the country, England, Canada and Guatemala to what Ali called a “public wedding” – a follow-up to the couple’s small, private Muslim ceremony last summer on Lake Michigan.

The country venue did not disappoint. Ali and Emily exchanged their heartfelt wedding vows against a backdrop of sun-drenched forests.

“When we first talked about writing our vows, you said, ‘I’ve been writing my vows since I met you.’ I hope we can continue to talk to each other with as much kindness and love as we do today for the rest of our lives,” said Emily, who made an indelible impression on Ali when she was late for her first social work class in graduate school at NYU.

“It wasn’t just your late appearance that caught my eye, but the truly sincere way you express yourself and connect with those around you,” he said in his vows. “You approach every moment, every person and every thing with gentle kindness and a present heart.”

Ali also made “quite an entrance and impression” on Emily’s mother and sister when he met them for the first time at a picnic on a hot July day in Washington Square Park in New York’s Greenwich Village.

“We all know how much Ali thrives in the heat,” joked Paula, Emily’s mother, at the ceremony. “Even though I knew he would be sweaty and nervous, Ali showed up and I knew immediately that I would win Ali. He was charming, genuine and so personable. I knew he couldn’t wait to meet me because Emily already meant everything to him.”

That was 1,778 days ago, Paula told us, and the words the couple exchanged that late spring afternoon showed that they had only grown closer since then.

“I love the way you pick flowers from our garden and give them to me in a jar with a smile on your face,” she told him quietly at the ceremony, which was led by Ali’s brother Qasim.

“I love how you make me feel confident and good about everything I do. I love how a casual meal with you on the porch feels like we’re celebrating at a fancy restaurant because you make every moment together special,” she said as I held back my tears, so touched by the man he had become.

Ali promised Emily that he would “always listen to her, really listen to her and respect her.” And, in an unconventional twist, he vowed to whirl and whirl with her in the kitchen.

“A dear, deceased mentor once shared his secret to a lifelong happy marriage with these words: ‘Every day I dance with my wife in the kitchen.’ Today, Emily, I promise to always dance with you in the kitchen – through challenges and celebrations, in laughter and in tears,” he said.

After exchanging rings and kissing, the two walked down the aisle to cheers and the cheerful chorus of the Beatles song “All You Need is Love.”

Later, after family photos were taken, they held hands and spontaneously skipped across the lawn outside the reception tent, where guests sipped specialty cocktails and ate samosas from an Indian buffet. Again, cheers erupted.

Two weddings. One marriage. For Ali and Emily, all they need is love that blooms as freely as wildflowers.

(Photo by Danielle Stark of Moments Captured.)

— Teri Rizvi

Teri Rizvi is the founder and director of the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop at the University of Dayton, where she serves as executive director of strategic communications.