Little Wedding Stories

While we do a good quantity of “off site” ceremonies, not all of them are simple. They are, for the most part, usually quite sweet. This brings us to the wedding of Juan and Jessica. We met this couple on a weekend afternoon and gave them the full tour of our location. Jessica was thrilled with it all but Juan was not convinced. Juan liked everything we had to offer, but he was not as marriage minded as Jessica was.

Throughout the tour, Jessica and Juan argued openly in front of us. Jessica loved the ceremonial parlor with its floral wedding arch - Juan made several smirky comments. The couple left with the “we will call and let you know” speech. That was ok, we can’t be chosen to perform every service that we interview for.

In this case, where a groom gives the impression that he is not interested in getting married, it’s not a good idea to force it. We sincerely wished this couple the best and didn’t think we would hear from them in the near future.

Nearly 5 months later, we received a call from Jessica and Juan wanting to have us marry them at their home. Juan must have had time to reflect on his future and they were ready for their special day to happen. Continue Reading »

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One of the services we offer is for offsite weddings where we go to a location and perform a marriage service; we do our fare share of these events.

We received an email from a gentleman inquiring about having one of us marry him and his fiancé at their home within the next couple of days. After some light back and forth communications we learned that the marriage needed to happen rather quickly because of immigration issues concerning the fiancé and her child. We understood the urgency of the situation and scheduled their mid-week evening ceremony. A “quick & simple” service was requested.

We arrived at the groom’s modest sized home to meet with him, the bride and her child. The groom had arranged for two of his neighbors to attend as well be their witnesses on the marriage certificate. We briefly chatted with the couple and filled out the paperwork. The ceremony was to take place in the living room. It all sounded very cozy.

Walking into the living room, we were introduced to the most fabulous view of the city! Continue Reading »

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The old saying “Time Flys” really is accurate! Eight months really had flown by and here we were on July 27^th for Tony and Barbara’s wedding! Today will be a large ceremony without reception. The reception will be at another larger location so the Bride and Groom can invite many more to that part of their special day.

It has been forecasted to be a very warm and sunny day today and we hoped our air conditioners’ are going to be able to keep up with our large crowd.

Barbara and Tony arrived together with their children, all carrying bags of wedding related items into the chapel. Gary went to help carry items from the car and I carried items to their necessary locations throughout the chapel. Excitement was in the air as we began the setup for this wedding per the information we received a couple of weeks ago. Soon, the bride was upstairs in the bridal dressing room getting ready and guests were beginning to arrive. Continue Reading »

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We were meeting with a couple for a Sunday afternoon tour for their wedding eight months away. It is actually pretty normal for a couple to secure their location at least one year in advance but for our little chapel we were more accustomed to couples scheduling a wedding one week to three months away so we were not expecting this couple to book today as their wedding but we nonetheless were looking forward to meeting with them.

Tony and Barbara arrived promptly and were such a lovely couple. We gave them the full tour of the chapel and they were so thrilled with what they saw. Barbara was happy with the ceremonial parlor and bridal dressing room and Tony was happy as long as Barbara was happy. It is always heart warming when a couple tours our location and after meeting with us light up.

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We met with a couple of young girls who were very eager to tour our location. Most of our tours call in advance, which gives us the opportunity to “qualify” them with respect to their wedding date, how many guests they were considering, and so on.

We were not expecting these young ladies; they just stopped by out of the blue. Luckily for them, we did have a few minutes to chat and show them around.  The girls really liked the look and feel of the chapel, and were most interested in our wedding arch and ceremonial parlor setup. The chapel wedding arch was very beautiful, adorned with lots of floral swags, twinkling lights, and bows. Each side of the arch was flanked with an antique, lace-covered table and glorious flower basket full of roses and lilies. It was never a wonder that most folks were indeed pleased with what they saw.

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A few days later, we met with another couple that also wanted to get married on Valentine’s Day. Fortunately for them, the Red Handprint Marauder’s mother and fiancée had cancelled, and we had an opening. It seemed the original group found a larger location to accommodate their event (and, one hopes, a location with access to a thorough cleaning service).

Our scheduled couple, though, was running late. Most couples never bothered to cancel their tours if they weren’t going to make it, nor would they call to let us know that they were running late. Many times, we found ourselves patiently waiting for tours that never showed.  That’s part of the business, however frustrating it may be. Soon, though, the chapel doorbell rang, and our potential clients had arrived.

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Tours of our location were scheduled either at our couples’ convenience, or ours, if we had a wedding to officiate or coordinate. On busy tour days, we could meet with many couples and their families. Some tours wouldn’t take very long, while others might extend on for hours for one reason or another.

February 14^th, Valentine’s Day, was fast approaching, and we had nearly every possible timeslot booked with weddings. We did have room for one smaller wedding due to a late cancelation, and a couple had expressed an interest in touring the Chapel. They turned out to be very indecisive. We met with the bride-to-be and her child, fiancée, mother, and father. It was a weekday and close to eight o’clock in the evening when they arrived. Everyone came into the chapel where we started them on the full tour. Ending gathered in the reception parlor to chat. The couple was ready to book the location, but the parents felt that it was a little small for the large number of guests they planned to invite. The parents also felt that we should provide brand new linens on the tables and new lace curtains on the windows, as they didn’t want their daughter to have to use the same ones as our other wedding parties. Gary and I kept the chapel at the highest possible standard of cleanliness, with regularly scheduled cleanings, painting, linen laundering, and carpet cleaning, not to mention weekly landscaping services for the grounds. We assured the group that everything would be clean and ready for their event.

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The bride and groom were having a unity candle ceremony. The wedding opened with the moms walking down the aisle and lighting the individual candles to signify the beginning of the ceremony. Gary, Patrick, and the groomsmen took their positions in the parlor under the arch. I cued the bridesmaids to enter one at a time to the first CD, finishing with bride’s father walking her down the aisle to give her away. Kelly wore a gorgeous strapless white gown with full veil, and had a lush bouquet of soft pink roses and peonies. The ceremony was flawless.

As the guests mingled and ate cookies, the photographer took the photos. When the couple was ready, we prepared the paperwork and laid it out on the lacy tablecloth surrounded by accent corsages. We knew this would provide for a wonderful photo-op. The families thanked us for everything we did for them, and the bride and groom sped off to their honeymoon. On the way out, the groom’s father slipped Gary a much appreciated tip.

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Kelly and Patrick arrived by way of limousine, and family and friends followed. The bride and groom were both extremely nervous. One of the moms had several corsages and boutonnières made for the event, in addition to a gorgeous bridal bouquet for Kelly. We had two flower girls, so each was able to carry one of our flower baskets filled with pre-selected pink silk rose petals (we always provided the flower girl baskets and a selection of silk rose petals for our couples, as real petals would stain and grind into the carpet).

The moms helped the groom and his groomsmen put on their boutonnières, but when it came to the corsages, they encountered a small problem. If you attempt to pin a heavy floral corsage to sheer or silk fabric, sagging results. Gary quickly jumped to action and located our backup, pearl-tipped, heavy-duty pins, thus saving the day.

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Our final wedding of the day was for Kelly and Patrick, and they were bringing around twenty-five guests. They were a young couple in their mid-twenties, and we had chatted with them a few times prior to a tour. During our tour with this couple, Patrick came across as very religious and had a specific style of ceremony in mind. Furthermore, only Gary would be able to marry them. Both Kelly and Patrick loved the location and thought it was so cute and clean.

Gary and I, of course, did our best to keep the space spotless by re-painting the interiors yearly, and we always kept fresh pressed linens on the tables. Out front, we maintained a beautiful, fragrant rose garden, with forever-blooming wisteria on the porch. Presentation is of the highest importance.

Patrick communicated with us all the way up until the day of his wedding. He and Gary went back and forth many times on the particulars of the wedding services and vows. The couple had hired a professional photographer to take their photos, compliments of their families. Patrick and Kelly were going to say their own vows, and appreciated Gary’s guidance in crafting them.

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