{"id":485947,"date":"2026-01-02T00:54:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T00:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/485947\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T00:54:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T00:54:10","slug":"meet-the-couple-who-got-married-at-the-125th-mummers-parade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/485947\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the couple who got married at the 125th Mummers Parade"},"content":{"rendered":"

The bride wore a sequin silk gown with golden sneakers. The groom, a bedazzled tux. They became husband and wife in the bitter cold of Market Street \u2014 in the middle of the Mummers<\/a> Parade. <\/p>\n

Juliana Bonilla, 25, and Stanley Wells, 32, met online three years ago. And they never envisioned their love story would include a storybook Mummers Parade wedding. But on Thursday, the pair, who marched with the Hegeman String Band, officially tied the knot as part of a Mummers Parade performance. <\/p>\n

The wedding was a first, said Kelliann Gallagher, captain of Hegeman. At least in the string band division, anyway, she said. At least that anyone had ever heard of.<\/p>\n

The Mummers Day matrimony had come together by chance, explained Gallagher, who served as the officiant. <\/p>\n

Back in October, the South Philly string band was finalizing its parade plans when it struck Gallagher that a real wedding would be the perfect ending to their Las Vegas-themed routine. <\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, one of the aspects of Vegas is the little white wedding chapel,\u201d said Gallagher. \u201cSo we thought, \u2018Wouldn\u2019t it be cool if we can get someone to actually be married on New Year\u2019s Day?\u201d<\/p>\n

They just needed a couple.<\/p>\n

Evie Pastor, who serves as sergeant-at-arms for Hegeman, thought of her recently engaged daughter, Juliana. She had grown up around the Mummers, and her stepfather, Jon Pastor, plays first alto saxophone in the string band. <\/p>\n

After all, Bonilla, of South Philadelphia<\/a>, and Wells, of North Philadelphia<\/a>, who both work as home healthcare aides, had a very Philly courtship. Their first date three years ago was at a Delaware Avenue eatery, where they watched the Eagles play. <\/p>\n

She had fallen for him immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a gentleman,\u201d Bonilla said of Wells. <\/p>\n

He was drawn to her beauty and humor. <\/p>\n

By October, the couple who have a daughter, Kehlani, 2, had already picked out a venue. Bonilla, who is shy and nervous in front of large crowds, was hesitant when her mother asked about a Mummers wedding.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t like all the attention on me,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

But the more she thought of it, the more the idea grew on her. It would be special. She would be marching anyway. But this year, instead of a parade marshal, she\u2019d be the bride. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was something different,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Her nerves grew as the parade drew close, and it had nothing to do with Wells. It was about the crowds and the television cameras that would be filming the band\u2019s performance \u2014 and her wedding. <\/p>\n

She found a long-sleeve gown with a long train and a Mummers vibe. And on Thursday morning, she and Stanley posed in front of the band\u2019s Second Street clubhouse, showing off their golden sneakers. <\/p>\n

They practiced their vows on the bus ride to Market Street, where the bands would perform before the judges. The bride packed a flask of Southern Comfort to warm herself against the cold \u2014 and to calm herself about the crowds. <\/p>\n

And then they waited on Market Street \u2014 for hours \u2014 due to delays caused when the String Band Division<\/a> called off its competition because of punishing winds. Many props were destroyed, and five people were sent to the hospital Thursday morning, Mummers officials said. <\/p>\n

While no longer competing, the bands would still march. <\/p>\n

By 4 p.m., Hegemen String Band finally begun to inch toward the bright lights and crowds at City Hall. As Jon Pastor played \u201cCan\u2019t Help Falling in Love\u201d on his sax, Bonilla and Wells stepped off the band\u2019s bus. <\/p>\n

Taking each other\u2019s hands before Gallagher, who would officiate in a bedazzled Elvis get-up, wanted to at least exchange their vows in the quiet moments before the performance. <\/p>\n

\u201cI promise to stand by your side, to support and cherish you in all the seasons of your life,\u201d Wells said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI promise to love you without condition or expectation, exactly as you are today and every day after.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, with a showman\u2019s touch, Gallagher shouted, \u201cStay tuned for the rest of the wedding.\u201d<\/p>\n

That took place a short while later, as the band performed its routine under the stars of Market Street. Braving the cold and the crowds, the couple strutted to the front of the line, each holding aloft signs saying, \u201cI do.\u201d <\/p>\n

With that, Gallagher pronounced them man and wife to the grandstand cheers.<\/p>\n

Evie Pastor began to cry.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s enough, get a room,\u201d joked a parade emcee, as the couple\u2019s kiss lingered. <\/p>\n

With that, Juliana Bonilla and Stanley Wells, now husband and wife, strutted down Broad Street, the bride\u2019s nerves finally eased by the overwhelming emotion of the moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad its done with,\u201d she said. \u201cI can get warm now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The bride wore a sequin silk gown with golden sneakers. The groom, a bedazzled tux. They became husband…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":485948,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5132],"tags":[5229,219585,1448,2830,1311,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-485947","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-mummers-parade-2026-wedding","10":"tag-pa","11":"tag-pennsylvania","12":"tag-philadelphia","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-united-states-of-america","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","17":"tag-us","18":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115822779618405452","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}