Post by Ardbeg... innit on Jan 25, 2011 14:55:14 GMT -6
Obviously, optimism about life is growing in Indiana. It should be pretty easy to find the flowers to liven the place up
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More Indiana couples discover funeral home facilities can make great wedding chapels
Paulita and Tony Flores took their vows in an elegant rotunda with marble floors amid glimmering chandeliers and a bubbling fountain.
It didn't bother them that a room down the hall showcased caskets and urns. Or that the building was surrounded by a cemetery with 100,000 gravestones on 60 acres. Or that on other days, the facility hosts something a lot more somber — funerals.
And they're not alone. The Floreses' recent wedding at the Community Life Center at Washington Park East Cemetery on Indianapolis' Far Eastside illustrates a growing trend.
Across the U.S., more funeral homes are building such centers and marketing them not only as places to mourn the dead, but as sites for events celebrating the living, including birthdays, anniversaries, holiday parties, school proms and, yes, weddings.
The lure? It is often less expensive; there is greater availability; and the settings — inside and outside — can be nothing short of wedding-picture perfect.
...
The cemetery hosts about a dozen weddings a year — usually in its scenic 1875 Gothic Chapel, I dont think Im going too far out on a limb here, but Im thinking the bride wore black.. all black, including the lipstick and nail polish said Keith Norwalk, cemetery president. But the funeral home will soon open a new reception hall, patio and private garden area that he said will be great for community events such as weddings.
And Norwalk agrees with others that funeral-home weddings will only increase as more couples see the benefits of nontraditional settings.
"Within the last decade, the recognition has come that many funeral homes and cemeteries are beautiful facilities and can be used differently," he said.
Still, the idea of exchanging vows at a funeral home or cemetery isn't for everyone.
Paulita Flores originally planned to get married in September in the Community Life Center's outdoor courtyard, which has a clear view of the cemetery, but was glad she moved the event indoors.
"I was worried that people who would come would be creeped out," she said. "I was worried that when taking pictures, (the cemetery) would be in the background."
But if the proximity to gravestones is a drawback for some, Norwalk said it can be a selling point for others.
"We had one situation where a young woman wanted to be married near her grandmother's grave," he said. "It was meaningful to the family."
Paulita and Tony Flores took their vows in an elegant rotunda with marble floors amid glimmering chandeliers and a bubbling fountain.
It didn't bother them that a room down the hall showcased caskets and urns. Or that the building was surrounded by a cemetery with 100,000 gravestones on 60 acres. Or that on other days, the facility hosts something a lot more somber — funerals.
And they're not alone. The Floreses' recent wedding at the Community Life Center at Washington Park East Cemetery on Indianapolis' Far Eastside illustrates a growing trend.
Across the U.S., more funeral homes are building such centers and marketing them not only as places to mourn the dead, but as sites for events celebrating the living, including birthdays, anniversaries, holiday parties, school proms and, yes, weddings.
The lure? It is often less expensive; there is greater availability; and the settings — inside and outside — can be nothing short of wedding-picture perfect.
...
The cemetery hosts about a dozen weddings a year — usually in its scenic 1875 Gothic Chapel, I dont think Im going too far out on a limb here, but Im thinking the bride wore black.. all black, including the lipstick and nail polish said Keith Norwalk, cemetery president. But the funeral home will soon open a new reception hall, patio and private garden area that he said will be great for community events such as weddings.
And Norwalk agrees with others that funeral-home weddings will only increase as more couples see the benefits of nontraditional settings.
"Within the last decade, the recognition has come that many funeral homes and cemeteries are beautiful facilities and can be used differently," he said.
Still, the idea of exchanging vows at a funeral home or cemetery isn't for everyone.
Paulita Flores originally planned to get married in September in the Community Life Center's outdoor courtyard, which has a clear view of the cemetery, but was glad she moved the event indoors.
"I was worried that people who would come would be creeped out," she said. "I was worried that when taking pictures, (the cemetery) would be in the background."
But if the proximity to gravestones is a drawback for some, Norwalk said it can be a selling point for others.
"We had one situation where a young woman wanted to be married near her grandmother's grave," he said. "It was meaningful to the family."
