PROVINCETOWN — Nicholas Busa and Olushola Reis were married outdoors at the Provincetown Visitors Center in the Cape Cod National Seashore on the afternoon of Nov. 27, 2024. “I didn’t know we needed a permit from the Park until the day before, but they were closed, so I don’t think they cared,” Busa said.
The couple met 20 years ago on an online dating platform. “No, not Tinder,” said Busa. “I forget the name of it.” He was living in New York, where he had a career as a contractor. Olushola — friends know her as Shola — was living in Houston.
They were engaged on a trip to Sicily five years ago. Then many different things got in the way of following through on a wedding, Busa said. This year, knowing family would be gathered in Provincetown for Thanksgiving, “I said to myself, this is going to happen.” Why? “We’re best friends,” Reis said. “We’re comfortable together.”
They pulled it off in a week. Reis shopped for her dress online. The first two she bought didn’t work, but the third was just right. “Of course, I had to pay for next day air on everything,” she said. Later, she saw the dress she chose was one she’d put on her wedding Pinterest board years ago.
The groom went shopping at Macy’s with his nephew Christopher Miles. “He’s a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology,” said Busa. “He hooked me up with a suit.” They bought a “Lady M” cake in the city, too, and brought it back for the occasion.
All they needed was a justice of the peace. “When you’re desperate, you call the cops,” Busa said. No, the Provincetown P.D. could not supply an officiant. But the dispatcher knew one — retired Provincetown Officer Rachel Peters. “We chose her because she answered my text,” he said. “I’m a handyman. I know how much that matters.”
In attendance were the bride’s sister, Ololade Reis, the groom’s sister, Marianne Busa Miles, his nephew Christopher Miles, and the couple’s good friend Sam Tager. A few local tourists were shooed away. After the ceremony, the wedding party went to Mac’s.
“We found that if you’re dressed like we were, you get a lot of freebies,” Busa said.
Busa grew up in Provincetown. “I was the only member of my family born here,” he said. “Everybody else was from New York.” He graduated from Provincetown High School in 1977 and left town, only to return after his brother, Provincetown Arts founder Chris Busa, died in 2020, leaving his house to Nick. Though Busa and Reis still have an apartment in New Rochelle, N.Y., they’re spending a lot of their time in Provincetown these days, Busa said. He’s working as a handyman, and she’s a senior digital instructional designer at New York Presbyterian Hospital.
