A Fairytale Wedding

Ellen Jankowitz and Michael Ord

Ellen Miriam Jankowitz, the daughter of Evelyn Armstrong and Allan Jankowitz of Newton, Mass., was married at her parents’ house Sunday to Michael Evan Ord, a son of Jill Ord and Evan Ord of Gary, Indiana. A friend ordained by the Universal Life Church officiated.

The bride, 26, is pursuing a Ph.D. in electrical engineering at Tufts. She graduated from Brown.

The bride’s father retired in 2005 as a partner at Jones Day. Her mother is a volunteer librarian at Newton Montessori.

The bridegroom, 32, is a federal prosecutor in New York for the United States attorney for the Western District of New York. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Virginia, from which he also received a law degree magna cum laude.

The bridegroom’s mother is a photojournalist in Sante Fe. His father is an architect.

Guests report a beautiful ceremony, marred only by the presence of Ellen’s stepsister, a crone-like figure who seized the bouquet and, by ancient tradition, declared herself entitled to the husband of her choosing.

Having selected the bridegroom, she swept the centerpiece off the head table, consummated the marriage, and fled with her prize. The bride, bowing to the further inevitability of ancient tradition, allowed the best man to retrieve her garter and escort her to the house of her birth, where she must dwell forever in solitude, attended only by three deaf-mutes and a trained owl.

The crone stepsister and Mr. Ord report they will be making their home in Montclair, NJ.