Alicia Ying of Miami, Florida, was most likely putting the finishing touches on her July 2003 wedding when her fiancé, Kevin Chin of Huntington, received orders to report to Camp Lejeune Feb. 8.

Knowing they'd have to put their post-Fourth of July wedding on hold until Chin's return from active duty in the Marines, the two went ahead and said "I do" during a somewhat informal ceremony at Garden City Village Hall just days before his ordered departure.

In the upstairs boardroom, with Village Clerk Brian Ridgway and Hilda Simmons, an administrator in the courts, posing as witnesses, Ying and Chin promised to each other eternal love, reciting wedding vows before Village Justice/Colonel Allen Mathers.

A Marine for almost nine years, Chin is stationed at the Unit 6 Communications Battalion, Alpha Company, in Amityville. Once at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, he will depart for Kuwait City.

"There's no anxiety. This is something we're trained to do," he said, "and the Marine Corps has the best training to do what we do." He left the Corps for a year-and-a-half and rejoined post-September 11, 2001 last January. "To some extent I missed the camaraderie with those I served with," he admitted.

Village Justice/Colonel Mathers of Garden City is a colonel in charge of legal support for the New York Guard. He also serves as commander of the 13th Civil Affairs Regiment and has served on various active duty assignments from September 11, 2001 through June of 2002.

"I did Kevin's legal processing out in Amityville," he said. "I got a call from him asking me for a favor and here we are. It's such a nice thing for me to do and the village opens its arms for this type of thing."

The couple plans to hold a more formal wedding ceremony with family and friends upon Chin's return. "Deployment is up to one year but can be extended in emergency circumstances. The Garden City base returned just days or weeks before their one-year deployment expired."

Holding a bouquet of flowers the village donated for the ceremony, the couple sealed the covenant with a kiss. Village Justice/Colonel Mathers granted Ying honorary rank of 1st Sergeant. "You're now the boss," he said.