Empire State weddings mark Valentine's Day

Sarah-Marie Carpino and George Callahan traded wedding vows Monday with a 61st-floor view of lower Manhattan.

The Lindenhurst couple, who met as volunteer firefighters, saw the ceremony at the Empire State Building as "an opportunity to be at the top of the world," Callahan said. "Because we already feel that way."

In his arms throughout the ceremony was 17-month-old "miracle baby" Jack, a child Callahan said doctors had told them would be nearly impossible for the couple to conceive because he had had testicular cancer.

Carpino, 33, and Callahan, 43, were among 14 couples from eight states - including two other Long Island couples - who won complimentary Valentine's Day weddings from theknot.com by submitting their love stories.

Since meeting in 2007, the pair bonded through firefighting and walks on the beach at Robert Moses State Park. Before they learned of the improbable pregnancy, Callahan attempted to break off their relationship, fearing he couldn't give Carpino the family she wanted. When she insisted he and his daughter, Jessica, 17, were all the family she needed, Callahan proposed. Then they discovered they would have baby Jack to add to their brood.

Callahan, formerly a ballet dancer, has given up touring internationally so he can spend more time with his family. The foursome combined four vials of sand into one container during Monday's ceremony to symbolize their unity.

Carpino walked down an aisle lined with hydrangeas in a strapless beaded white gown. Callahan wore a tuxedo and a permanent grin as he gazed at his partner. He even became flustered during the vows, saying, "I'm sorry. I keep looking at how gorgeous she is and keep losing my spot."

Manorville couple Carolynn Cohan and Richard Bank met in 2009 after Cohan's brother George, also Bank's best friend, had tried for three years to set them up. Their matchmaker died of heart failure two days after their meeting, and Cohan and Bank knew their union was his last and lasting gift to them.

Monday, Cohan, 43, who works in child care, and Bank, 36, who's in management, handed out rings inscribed with Bank's last name to Cohan's five children - Daniel, 2; Christian, 5; Thomas, 12; James, 14; and Kristina, 17.

Daniel and Christian wore their rings - intended to remind the children of their stepfather's love - on necklaces. "They'll grow into their rings," said Cohan.

Karin Kirch and Stephen Garguilo, of Holbrook, also combined two families Monday as Kirch's son, Brendon, 5, and Garguilo's son, Shane, also 5, officially became brothers.

Kirch and Garguilo met online but were wary of starting a new relationship. They nevertheless took a leap of faith and have no regrets. Garguilo, 37, an attorney, and Kirch, 38, who specializes in post-merger integration, posed Monday for photos as husband and wife 86 stories up on the Empire State Building's observation deck.

"I'm on top of the world," Kirch said. "This is the happiest I've ever been in my whole life."