Published Sunday, November 15, 2009

Wedding chapel on wheels

Couples wanting to get married in a hurry have found the answer in Illinois. It's a wedding chapel on wheels.

The minister in charge says it is the fastest church in the state and always on the move. Motto of the operation is: "If they can't come to us, we go to them."

The rolling chapel has stained glass windows, a lectern and a pipe organ and the parson says, "For $2 per mile and a fee of $200, he will drive the chapel anywhere." With the horsepower of a truck motor required to transport the chapel, and the high price of gasoline, the fee is competitive with amounts required to reserve meeting halls for traditional marriage ceremonies.

Supposedly, for those who do not choose to have a "church or chapel wedding," curb service is provided.

This new idea of a wedding chapel on wheels must provoke some interesting comments from townspeople in communities where the Holy Rolling Motorized Marriage takes place.

Down at the Dew Drop Inn morning coffee break, the talk must go like this: "Did you hear about Joe and Myrt? They're going to be married in a wedding chapel on wheels."

"Sounds like Joe. He always has been a wheeler-dealer." The lady who cries at every wedding had a different slant on it.

She sniffed and said, "Soon as I saw the chapel roll into town, I knew it was going to be a moving ceremony."