FUNERAL HOMES ARE NOW HOSTING WEDDINGS

Saying your vows alongside the recently deceased receiving their last rites?  It's not as unusual as you might think.  Although I would never do it, I suppose "there's something for everyone".  Below is an excerpt from the article by USA Today:


Paulita Flores took her wedding vows in December, in an elegant rotunda with marble floors amid glimmering chandeliers and a bubbling fountain.

It didn't bother her that a room down the hall showcased caskets and urns. Or that the building was surrounded by a large cemetery with 100,000 gravestones on 60 acres. Or that on other days, the facility hosts something a lot more somber — funerals.

Across the USA, funeral homes are building and marketing such centers as not just a place to mourn the dead, but as sites for events celebrating the living, including weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, holiday parties and proms.

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.

James Olson, who is also a spokesman for the National Funeral Directors Association, says he has noticed more couples tying the knot in funeral homes, but not only because of changes in his industry.  "A lot of [traditional wedding facilities] are shutting down because of the economy, while we [funeral homes] aren't going anywhere."

Although people may think it morbid to start a marriage in a place surrounded by sadness, it would be no different than doing it at a church — where both caskets and newlyweds occupy the aisles throughout the year, says Sue Totterdale, national chairwoman of the National Association of Wedding Professionals. "A banquet hall is a banquet hall, and a chapel is a chapel," she says. "If you can get past the driveway and the cemetery, it's going to be beautiful."


So, what are your thoughts?  Would you consider having your wedding or event at a funeral home?  Leave your comments and let me know.


Ciao, until next time...