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Three New Sons
Sisters Have Big Joint Wedding

July 10— The saying goes, "You're not losing a daughter, you're gaining a son." How about gaining three sons on the same day?

That's what happened to Charles and Terry Munz, parents of three daughters who decided to get married in a triple ceremony.

All three newlywed couples, and the women's parents, visited Good Morning America studios Wednesday morning after returning from their honeymoons — which they took separately.

The couples were married June 27 at a Presbyterian church in Coral Gables, Fla., south of Miami and near the parents' home.

When the sisters told friends and family of the simultaneous wedding idea, "we got different reactions," said Mary Anne Munz Collier, a 20-year-old university student. "Most people were very shocked."


Spontaneous Idea

The idea started when Mary Anne got engaged last November to her high-school sweetheart, Phillip Collier, 22, who's a student at the same Virginia university she's attending.

The thought of inviting her sisters, Katie and Melissa, to join her "just popped into my head while I was talking to Katie on the phone," she told show host Diane Sawyer.

"I was like, 'OK, let's do it,' " Katie said.

There was one hurdle to overcome, though: Katie's beau, Jud Henry, hadn't proposed. When Katie, a 21-year-old pre-school teacher, mentioned the idea, he "at first" thought it was crazy, but then jumped at the chance, he said.

"I thought, man, it would be a cool experience to be part of," said Henry, who works with youth at a public school in Deerfield, Ill., where they live.

Melissa, 23, a first-grade teacher, got on board after some initial hesitation.

"The selfish part of me said, 'Actually, you know, I kind of want my own.' But then I thought about it more and got carried away," she told Sawyer.

She's now married to John Batusic, 22, a customer service manager for a company that sells Sunday school materials.


'People Were Shocked'

The women's father was busy wedding day, walking down the aisle three times to the tune of "Here Comes the Bride."

"It was great," he said.

All three couples, as shown in a homemade video, gathered at the altar, said their vows at the same time, and mixed tears and laughter, helped by 14 bridesmaids and 16 groomsmen. About 420 people attended the reception at a hotel.

The couples aren't living near each other — the Colliers are moving to Virginia, and the Batusics live in Chestnut Mountain, Ga. — but there's always hope for that, too, said Katie, who's hoping to get their parents to move from the Miami area.

And there's already "a lot of talk" about who's going to have the first children, Phillip says.

"We're all planning to have them around the same time," says Mary Anne, smiling.

What there won't be, though, is a wedding for another Munz sister.

"We've got one son, Chad, at home," noted Charles Munz, with a hint of relief. "No more daughters."

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