The Herald chatted with Rosati and Mikromastoras, both 30, who talked about the road that led them to “Wedding Wars.”
Herald: How long have you lived in East Meadow?
Frankie: I have lived there since 2004, and Sofia has been there since last April. I’m originally from Astoria and Sofia is from Ronkonkoma. We love East Meadow. It’s a great place. It’s centrally located on the Island and the people of East Meadow are great.
H: How did you meet?
Frankie: We were actually college sweethearts [at Adelphi]. Our parents introduced us on campus for college orientation, even before we started college.
Sofia: We go to orientation, you don’t know anybody, and then believe it or not, the two sets of Greek parents talked to each other and introduced us. From there, sparks flew and I wanted to meet up with him.
H: So you’ve stayed together since your days at college?
Frankie: We didn’t date until our second year at college. We dated for six months. But we were still living in Astoria and Ronkonkoma and the distance was too big. We parted in a nice way and broke up on good terms. Then there was a 10-year spread from the time we graduated. We lost contact for a good 10 years, then I had broken off my relationship at the time and the same with Sofia. Within two weeks we found each other.
H: How did you reconnect?
Frankie: I sent her a text message.
Sofia: It just perfectly happened. He texted me randomly 10 years later. Everything just fell in place. No obstacles. We picked up where we left off.
Frankie: It was a breath of fresh air.
H: What was the proposal like?
Frankie: We always had our one favorite restaurant in Astoria, the Grand Café. The owner there made my job very easy. I really wanted it to be special. It was the first place we had our first date after being reunited.
It was just funny. As the night progressed, I became paler and paler as the anxiety was building. I played it off like I wasn’t feeling too great, like it was something I ate. My palms were all sweaty and I disappeared for 10 minutes. During my disappearing act, I finalized things with the owner. I came back to the table, and as soon as they delivered the dessert, the entire staff came by and they cut off the music. I pulled the table away, got on one knee and the rest is history.
Sofia: He definitely knows how to keep himself together. It was totally out of left field. I didn’t expect anything. Every time marriage came up, he would change the subject drastically. It was a complete shock.
I came home from a long day of work and it was our seven-month anniversary. A couple of days before this, he was actually sick, and I’m thinking, ‘Oh my God, he is getting sick all over again.’ Then every waiter and waitress is staring at me. The New Yorker came out of me when he got back to the table. I said ‘No. 1, are you OK?” and “No. 2, if we don’t get out of here, I’m going to hurt somebody.” Then I reached out for coffee and then 15 waiters and waitresses came over.
H: We were told you two are extremely proud of your Greek heritage. What do you like most about being Greek?
Sofia: Before Frankie, I started to get away from heritage. I started to realize how important family is to and having a huge family. Frankie brought me to ground. He told me that family is amazing, it’s what life is for and you need to revisit that. He reminded me of the old college Sofia and reminded me of who I really truly was: the Greek heritage, a passion for your family, your friends and everything around you. The movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” is the epitome of the heritage.
Frankie: There is lot of symbolism ... there is so much history that comes along with it from Greek mythology and Ancient Greece. It goes back to Sofia and what she says about family. My mom worked two jobs and we were doing everything we could to survive with our family. Family is No. 1 over everything else. Seeing both our families join together is something that is hard to explain. If you see it in action, it’s priceless. The fact that we have the same religion, our mothers have gone to church together and they actually get along.
H: What is your ideal wedding?
Sofia: Just like “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” – period. Just basically having our families there. I’m the first one of my generation to get married, so my family has been crazy about it.
Frankie: It goes back to our family values, to really just have everyone there.
H: What led you to ‘Wedding Wars?’
Frankie: I heard through a friend they were looking for cast members. It was perfect timing. Sofia had been laid off and I was pretty much carrying both of us. Finances were very difficult at the time and what better way to possibly win our wedding. There was no chance in hell we would have been able to fly out relatives and put up a hotel – our families don’t have the money either, they can barely make ends meet. We saw it as a perfect opportunity to represent our families, represent New York, and at the same time be able to pay off our wedding.
H: How did you react when you were told that you would be exiled on a remote island instead of a five-star resort?
Frankie: When they sprung the news on us that it wasn’t a five-star resort, it was the jungle, I knew Sofia’s heart stopped for 10 minutes.
Sofia: I held in strong . . . I battled the elements.
H: What are your plans for when the show airs on television?
Sofia: We’re just going to have friends over and have a party. A side of me is coming out that nobody usually sees — when you push my buttons. I had a few friends that have seen that side of me, and the show definitely brings that out. My family is going to look at me like, “Who are you?” And my friends will make fun of me.
via liherald.com
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