There are whale watchers, bird-watchers, and storm watchers. And then there is a group of widows in Key West, Fla., who have taken up a rather unexpected pastime: watching strangers say “I do.”
“OK ladies,” said Jane Cosco. “Get ready,” as Christine Herrington, the bride, was about to walk down the aisle with her father to “All You Need is Love” on Oct. 10 at the Casa Marina Key West hotel.
Just after 4 p.m., the 13 women who had gathered for an afternoon of wedding watching caught their first glimpse of the bride over the trimmed hedges along the palm-lined walkway that led to the oceanfront altar. They snapped a few photos before raising glasses of Riondo Prosecco adorned with blue “Wedding Watchers” lettering.
Cosco, 77, a retired middle school drama and computer teacher who organized the outing, had even prepared goody bags with hand fans that helped the group stay cool in the mid-80-degree heat. “It brings joy to everybody,” she said of her wedding watching gatherings. “It’s so magical.”
Since fall 2024, she has gone wedding watching on her own, sometimes with friends, and recently with members of her weekly Sunday widows dinner group.
In March 2017, Cosco and her husband, Gene, a real estate developer who loved fishing and catching tarpon off Key West each spring, were preparing to leave Montvale, N.J., for a new life in Florida.
His Boston Whaler boat was hooked up to his Ford Explorer, her minivan was packed with their belongings and two couples had arrived to help with the move. The engine was running when suddenly Cosco’s husband said he wasn’t feeling well.
A week later, he died. A decorated Vietnam War veteran who served as an Army sergeant and forward observer for light artillery, he had earned two Purple Hearts. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Cosco then moved to Key West on her own in March 2020. She and her husband had owned a house in Key West since 2016 that was being rented out.
In the fall of 2023, she stopped at Casa Marina after picking up two longtime friends, Johanna Antonacci and Leta Gandolfini, sisters of the actor James Gandolfini, from the airport.
A wedding was unfolding in the hotel. “We’re running into guys with boutonnieres, beige suits and a lot of drama in the lobby,” Cosco said.
Over dinner near the ceremony, the three women admired guests’ outfits, discussing their favorites — including a tiger-print look — and made up stories about the festivities.
A year later, on a Saturday evening in fall 2024, Cosco was on the phone with one of her daughters, who encouraged her to go to the Casa Marina hotel rather than sit at home alone. She took the advice, and ended up watching a wedding that evening over a Margherita and shrimp cocktail, and was hooked. Since then, she had attended about 20 weddings, mostly covertly, and counting.
“I go to TJ Maxx, then park the car, sit at the bar,” said Cosco, who felt right at home at the hotel since she dined there with her parents in the 1950s and stayed there with her husband in the ‘80s and ‘90s.
In 2024, she joined a Key West widows group, which bounced around for weekly Sunday dinners at various places in Key West.
In April 2026, she broached the idea of wedding watching to the group.
“Ping, ping, ping,” sounded as texts arrived, she said, “15 people came out of the woodwork.”
“Usually I’m undercover,” said Cosco, but this time she approached Blaire A. Blechinger, the assistant director of catering at Casa Marina, to coordinate the time and logistics.
“I didn’t want them to go and not have a wedding,” Cosco said.
Blechinger, who oversees 100 weddings annually, said she “enjoys seeing hotel guests watching weddings and swooning from afar.”
“It makes my heart so happy,” said Blechinger, who was game and excited.
In April, the widows watched Greg Muha and John Rehm, from Washington, tie the knot, with their two dogs in the wedding party.
“Jane’s table was in the middle of the property,” said Blechinger, “guests going from cocktail hour to the reception space pass Jane and the ladies.”
Each woman wrote a note to the grooms in cards provided in a goody bag, along with a hand fan to cool off. The cards were brought directly to the grooms by a staff member at the beginning of dinner. The grooms, amazed, jumped up and walked over to the ladies.
“You never know how people will react to same-sex marriage,” Muha said. “We were so appreciative and appreciated their support.”
On Oct. 10, Cosco went all out again when hosting another wedding-watching gathering at the hotel.
She picked out pink gerbera daisies and white and pink roses for centerpieces, and just the right napkins from a trip to Bermuda — some with a map of Bermuda in the center; others with hot pink hibiscus.
“I love this stuff,” said Cosco, who brought crystal dessert plates for cake with white Chantilly cream topped by a little banner that said, “Happy Wedding Watching.”
She created a wedding watcher score card, ranking 11 items one to five, including the bride’s dress (Zakaa Couture sweetheart ball gown) and décor (oversized white silk florals on palms along the Waterwalk).
Joyce Murray, 87, who picked out a dress she hadn’t worn in 20 years, gave all fives. “It’s perfect,” she said of the wedding.
“Nobody wants to be in this club,” said Elizabeth Greenwald, 75, who lost her husband 11 years ago, as they sat down for dinner. “They’re a nice group bringing a bright spot on a dark cloud. ”
One of the Gandolfini sisters, Johanna Antonacci, flew down for the event and especially enjoyed the recessional song “Another One Bites the Dust.”
“It’s a joyous thing to watch,” she said.
The women, who wore festive outfits, some wearing fascinators, wrote wedding cards to the couple, which Cosco tied with a big blue silk bow.
Later, when the newlyweds, who live in Annandale, Va., walked over to their table, the women applauded.
“Cheers to the ladies,” said the bride, and spoke to each of them with the groom, Chris Allard.
Cosco is already looking ahead to a March gathering that will include later-arriving snowbirds.
“To celebrate someone else’s joy is a happy thing,” Cosco said. “I can’t believe other people don’t do this.”
The post The Merry Widow Wedding Watchers of Key West appeared first on New York Times.
