There’s never a better time for love to save the day.
Crowds of couples flocked to City Hall on Valentine’s Day Wednesday to tie the knot — but no one had more of a reason to celebrate than one lucky pair who had a cabby rescue their romantic day.
“I almost screwed it all up,” said new hubby Brion Starr, 37, who wed his love, 29-year-old Lindsey Wixson in a City Hall ceremony.
“The other day I left my tuxedo in a cab. Believe it or not I called 311 and they told me that since I used Apple Pay I could use that to track down the driver’s Medallion, which I did.”
Finding the lost tux was only half the challenge. They also had to get it back — and that’s where cabby Mohammad Khan flew in like Cupid.
“This morning he drove right up here and dropped it off to me outside. Talk about a guy who believes in Valentine’s Day! I gave him a big hug and a hundred bucks!”
Starr, a touring musician, and Wixson, a model who has appeared in the likes of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, were wearing matching handmade Yves Saint Laurent outfits from the 1970s when they finally said their vows at City Hall, so the stakes were high for the couture couple when they realized the one-of-a-kind tux had been lost.
Khan, 48, told The Post that he woke up to a series of missed calls and frantic voicemails explaining the situation on Wednesday morning — and knew he had to rise to the occasion.
“He says, ‘I am here at City Hall and I’m getting married.’ I said ‘You are getting married? Give me ten minutes I will find you!’ He told me that the wedding was happening and he did not have much time. He was only getting married one time in his life.”
“I have had people leave things in the car before in the cab, I’ve found laptops, and even two big suitcases from an airport drop off, but this is the first wedding tuxedo. I said ‘I cannot ruin this! I cannot ruin this wedding’ I ran immediately. I said ‘I have to get this to him, it is the one time in his life, please let me make it on time!’ When I arrive I call him and I meet him I give him the tuxedo. He was very happy. I hope they have a good life together.”
Starr and Wixson, who share a son and met two years ago at a wedding in Italy, were just one of many couples who headed down to City Hall for a Valentine’s Day wedding this year.
“We average 70 appointments, Monday through Thursday. Today we have 125 appointments,” said the city clerk who oversees the marriage office, Michael McSweeney.
Roughly an 80% increase from normal weekday traffic, McSweeney — who said it was okay to call him “The Commissioner of Love” — explained the day’s appointments were fully booked and typically were on the holiday each year.
Others queued up to get married were Aaron Peasley, 38, and Michael Wydra, 36, from Park Slope.
“We met 14 years ago to the day and 14 just kept coming up over and over again, and we just decided that this Valentine’s Day, the 14th, would special for us,” Peasley said.
“We have a theme, ‘Love Is Love Is Love’ for our reception and they’re hearts everywhere. We’re having neon hearts and this whole Mulan Rouge reception at the Odeon. And then later tonight we’re having a big disco.”
“The real reason is because my brother is getting married in a month and I wanted to beat him to it!” Wydra added.
Greenpointers Katya Vladykina, 26, and Luke Hajdukiewicz, 27, met in 2015 when they lived on the same floor at the University of Michigan.
“We’re getting married in June in Scopello, Sicily, but all the paperwork needs to be done here,” said Vladykina.
Hajdukiewicz said they chose to get married on Valentine’s Day because “We will celebrate it forever. This holiday takes on a whole new meaning today.”
“And I needed health insurance!” added Vladykina.
