Longtime Calgary marriage commissioner Nomi Whalen retires from 'precious job'

After presiding over more than 6,000 weddings, Nomi Whalen helped tie the knot for one last couple Saturday.

The well-known Calgary marriage commissioner is retiring after 37 years.

Whalen told the Calgary Eyeopener she became a marriage commissioner after an unimpressive experience at her own wedding to Ed Whalen, a popular Calgary sports broadcaster who died in 2001. 

"What got me started was the jerk that married Eddie and me," she said.

"He didn't even look at us. I cried all the way away from it, and we got married again, and I've been making up for him ever since."

At that time, there was only one marriage commissioner in Calgary. Whalen vowed to do better.

"Every couple that I married was precious to me," she said.  

Memorable weddings

Over the years, Whalen has been part of many memorable weddings. She once flew in a helicopter over the Three Sisters peaks near Canmore, landing in about 15 feet of snow and marrying the couple on a mountain.

Another time, a couple on a flight recognized her and asked if she would marry them — on the plane. 

"I asked the pilot and he said it was OK. There was a fellow trying to sleep on the plane, who didn't want to go to a wedding," Whalen recalled, laughing.

Advice for couples

When asked about the most valuable advice she shares with couples, Whalen mentions a book she wrote, Before We Say I Do. It's filled with questions for sweethearts to discuss with each other. 

"I've had couples do that book and decide not to get married," she said.

"I wish I could have made it the law [to read the book]. We have to do more to get a driver's licence than we do to get married." 

Now in her 80s, Whalen plans to spend her retirement returning to writing books and creating art. She's working on an autobiography titled Getting to Nomi.

She'll leave the marrying job up to the many marriage commissioners she's mentored over the years, and hopes they enjoy it as much as she did. 

"I just loved doing it," she said. "It's a precious job."  

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With files from the Calgary Eyeopener