At Fenway Park, couple caps off lovestruck dream to wed

Carol Merletti waited four years to officiate the marriage of a couple like Annette and Larry Rine.

Annette grew up in Vermont a huge Red Sox fan. Larry watched his first game ever live at Fenway Park. The fact that they live in New York, of all places, made it all the more enticing.

The two discovered Merletti's website, Weddingofyourdesire.com, and sent her an e-mail stating their dream: a wedding at Fenway Park.

That was Merletti's dream, too. A justice of the peace in Malden, Merletti has married couples in hotels, in parks, and on the Boston Common. But she really was hoping to land a couple seeking to tie the knot at Fenway.

The Rines had a few other ideas - Niagara Falls, Las Vegas. But Larry Rine said, "We came up with Fenway and we looked into it more and, before you know it, we were up on the Green Monster getting married."

Merletti couldn't have been more excited.

"It's been on my website begging brides to have them get married there," she said.

Merletti mar ried the couple on the top of the Green Monster during the seventh-inning stretch of the Red Sox' regular-season finale on Sept. 30 against the Minnesota Twins. And, aside from accepting Boston's 3-2 loss, the wedding went off without a hitch.

The Rines wore matching jerseys, "Mr." on the back of Larry's uniform top and "Mrs." on Annette's. As the middle of the seventh inning approached, a quiet buzz became a crowd of love-struck onlookers.

"They were all excited," Annette Rine said. "One guy asked where the cake was."

They were the center of attention at a Red Sox game, quite a feat. The fanfare was nice, but Larry Rine just wanted to make sure the essentials - mainly, the "I do" - didn't get lost in the shuffle.

"We were kind of nervous," he said. "I wanted to make sure everything was going to go well and go smooth. So I was a little nervous that people were starting to crowd in more and draw attention, but it went really well, and I was pretty impressed that it went as smooth as it did."

For that moment, it seemed like everyone was happy for the newlyweds. Everybody but Rine's brother, Jared, a diehard Yankees fan.

"We had a reception dinner that night in New Hampshire," Annette Rine said. "And he wore a Yankees hat to protest."

Welcome to the family.