If you want to get married quick and cheap, you could fly out to Vegas . But if you want it even quicker and cheaper, and with a short stack of pancakes on the side, just go to Bloomfield.
Cliff Gennarelli, owner of the Bloomfield IHOP, has launched a new business, JustMarriedNJ, and he'll marry you on 24 hours notice, either at his IHOP or at his own wedding chapel in Glen Rock. All you have to do is go to your town hall and pick up the paperwork. It only costs $199 (weekdays), $249 (weekends) or $299 (if he travels to you).
Actually, if you already have a license, he'll marry you on the spot. He'll even dress up as Elvis if you want. But that'll be extra.
As comedian Kathy Griffin demonstrated recently, it doesn't take much training to marry people. Cliff Gennarelli got qualified by becoming a reverend through Rose Ministries, which has a "click here to become ordained" button on its home page.
"They don't mind if you run it as a business or a ministry," says Gennarelli of Rose Ministries. "I do operate as a business, not a non-profit."
Gennarelli was himself married in a big traditional Polish-Italian wedding, attended by 250, and will celebrate his 19th anniversary in July. His father, a former mayor of Paramus, also performed weddings during his tenure in that job. But Gennarelli says it's harder to get mayors to marry you in New Jersey because they can't accept payment directly.
Gennarelli performs both straight marriages and civil unions.
He admits that there aren't very many barriers to doing exactly what he's done: getting ordained online and performing weddings. "Only a mental barrier," he laughs. "Most people wouldn't do it."
Funny, I just noticed Friendly's down the street is going the other way:
justdivorcednj.com