This 91-Year-Old Flower Girl is Giving Us Life
Photos by Amelia Soper Photography
When Lumina Resnick and Christopher Panna got married at Merion Tribute House this past July, they knew they didn’t have many young girls in the family that could fill the flower girl spot, but they also knew that Christopher’s great aunt Gaetana (Tina) Ramagnano would love to have a role in the day. So they asked her to fill in — but with a wonderfully regal twist.
“Tina loves dressing up and is very glamorous,” Lumina tells PW. “She grew up in South Philly and was a dance instructor.”Asking her to be a flower “girl” wouldn’t have felt right, so Lumina came up with another plan instead.
After confirming with Tina’s closest confidants that this would be something she would choose to participate in out of joy rather than obligation, the couple presented Tina with a box containing a beautiful fake flower and asked her to be their “Queen of Flowers.”
“She was tickled,” says Lumina. “She absolutely loved it.”
She also immediately went dress shopping, and landed on a floral-embellished floor-length gown — plus matching full-brim hat because you know Queen Elizabeth would, too — to further cement her royal status.
When the big day arrived, venue regulations prohibited Tina from actually scattering petals, so instead she distributed individual blooms to various guests as she made her way down the aisle. Whom she did — and did not — select to receive her blooms became a hot topic of conversation later that night.
“It was like she was bestowing her approval on you,” remembers Lumina. “Not everyone got them.”
To all of this we say: You go, Supreme Royal Highness Tina of South Philly. You go. May we all hope to be half as iconic as you at our future grand-nephew’s weddings.
(And to further showcase how wonderful this woman is, allow us to present more photos of her looking like she should rule one of those vaguely European-sounding countries Disney makes up for its movies.)
Tina begins her royal parade down the aisle.
Serving face like only a true queen can do.
About to bestow her royal seal of approval on an unworthy guest.
(Update: We weren’t there, so we can’t technically say if said unworthy guest is, in fact, unworthy. But honestly, chances are they probably weren’t. Chances are, none of us would be worthy.)
Here she is posing with Lumina and Chris. Note her posture: Impeccable.
And here she is posted up on her throne, ready for some Renaissance master to paint her royal portrait.
#QueenTinaForever #LongLiveQueenTina
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