Some Butler County couples choose simple ceremony
The day of your wedding is, to many, one of the most important days of your life.
Couples can spend years planning the event. The dress needs to be ordered months, or even years, in advance, and the same goes for reserving the venue for the reception.
But many couples are choosing to simplify one large part of the day — the ceremony — by skipping the church and being married by an elected official.
There is a misconception by some that choosing a mayor or judge to perform the ceremony is just an effort to make things quick, which is not the case in many instances.
“(We) wanted a simple event to celebrate ourselves,” said Kimberly Greene, who chose, along with her husband Kenneth Greene II, to be married by a family friend, Armstrong County District Judge Gary DeComo.
The lone guest at their February 2015 wedding ceremony was Kyler Greene, Kenneth’s son and Kimberly’s stepson.
“We love our family and friends, but the cost effectiveness of this smaller celebration gave us everything we were looking for,” said Greene, who lives in Armstrong County but works at NexTier in Butler.
The couple and their son celebrated with family and friends later in the year with a summer picnic.
Butler Mayor Bob Dandoy began performing weddings not long after he took office, and officiates two or three a year.
Dandoy has found that there are many reasons couples decide to go the “mayor marriage” route.
“Sometimes it’s a matter of cost,” said Dandoy. “They’re trying to do a wedding on a tight budget.”
The Greene family took into consideration the cost of the wedding when deciding on going small and foregoing the church wedding.
“Ken and I wanted to start our life together debt-free and did not want others paying for our wedding,” said Greene.
The couple had already purchased a house and had plans to remodel it and to have another child, so keeping the costs for the wedding low was important to them both.
Weddings performed by elected officials don’t have to be cookie cutter or impersonal, as some might assume. Dandoy takes the time before the ceremony to speak to the couple about what they are looking for, taking their wants and needs into consideration before he starts.
“I do discuss the ceremony with the bride and groom and if they want to include some sort of prayer or reading,” Dandoy said. “That gives that part of the wedding a special touch.”
The Greenes were given the opportunity to choose their own vows for the traditional ceremony they selected.
The couples getting married are not the only ones who enjoy the day. Dandoy said the wedding ceremonies are a nice break in what can sometimes be a stressful job.
“Some days as mayor, I face nothing but problems and complaints and criticism, (but) at the moment when I’m performing a marriage ceremony, I am among happy people who are showing love,” said Dandoy.
For couples who are interested in having their ceremonies performed by a local elected official, the best course of action is to either reach out via email or call the official’s office and make a request.
Greene’s advice for a couple planning their wedding is to do what is right for them.
“The best advice I can give is follow your heart. Not every girl or guy needs to have a huge breathtaking wedding celebration,” she said. “Do what feels right for you, not what you think your family and friends would want.”
