Everafter Weddings

I offer weddings in my home any time, with 24 hours advance notice, at a reduced rate of $150 for those who want a quiet, intimate  ceremony. You can have up to 8 people with you (limited parking) and the wedding includes a disk of photos my husband will prepare for you. Our parlor is painted as a tapestry of a fanciful forest as a backdrop for your intimate wedding. I give you a bound copy of your wedding, a wreath of fresh roses and herbs for you to keep as well as all legal requirements.
 

I offer weddings anywhere at a standard rate of $300. A deposit of $50 is required to secure a date and time. The balance is due on the day of your rehearsal but checks can be made payable the day after your wedding. Due to the high price of gas, if your wedding is over 50 miles away from St. Louis, I will have to charge a travel fee but I use a figure less than the federal government allotment per mile. 

I welcome your ideas for your wedding. We need to plan this together. It is VERY important to me that we meet before your wedding.  I will but I prefer not to marry strangers. You will feel more comfortable at your wedding if we have met before. If you live out of the St. Louis area we'll do conference calls.    If you want me to travel we'll have to talk about arrangements.  I have married couples in Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Arizona, Virginia and in Italy (Yes, they really did fly us to Italy and put us up for the wedding.)

In the almost 35 years my husband, Bob LaRouche, retired St. Louis Post-Dispatch photographer/editor/writer, and I have been together, I've experienced the happiness that true love and devotion in marriage can bring.  I want others to have that too--all others, so I do perform same sex ceremonies when invited to do so. In February 2012 I was invited to unite two wonderful women in a civil union ceremony in Illinois.

Ours is a second marriage for each of us.  Our lives  doesn't always go as we planned when we are twenty. We owe it to ourselves to try again with courage and honor.

Since May 1993 when  I married my son, Brandon, to his wife, Paula,  I've learned a lot about weddings. (They are still married. Bob and I have ten wonderful, perfect grandchildren from our blended family of seven children.)
I have, as of March 2012  married  810 couples. This is what I've learned from the couples I've married:  You want your wedding to be very personal, unique to the two of you, not a canned ritual. If you, like my husband and I, are fortunate enough to have children, you want them to be included in the celebration in an appropriate way. 

Remembering our very hot July  wedding day with our combined 7 children,  I wrote a  little ceremony in which the newly married parents make promises to love, respect, teach and protect their children equally. The children, in turn, promise to respect the decisions parents make together; to respect each other and to honor the home that they share. Mutual respect creates trust; rooted in trust and respect, love grows.

I've learned that, in all likelihood, it could be said of you two, that, in your hearts, you are already as married as any two people could be. You more than likely already make your home together.  I know you could "just live together," but you want to make public and legal, the private promises you have already made to each other in a beautiful and memorable ceremony before your friends and family. I love being a part of that moment.

 It is my calling to provide wedding and Christening ceremonies for any who ask me. I like your ceremony to be unique to your situation.  In my life, I try to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.  You may have other beliefs. I honor them.  I create ceremonies blending the beliefs of many varied religions, nationalities. customs and traditions. I offer traditional wedding ceremonies that may include such features as sharing a cup of wine symbolizing sharing all things in life;  the use of a Nuremburg Wedding Cup so that two may drink from the cup at the same time; a sand ceremony for a couple but even better for those with children; ancient hand fastings, jumping of the broom and my own special binding of the couple with a wreath of fresh roses and herbs. Most brides keep this as it dries very nicely. 

On February 12, 2012 I created a new ceremony for those who are spiritual if not religious and who may want to honor nature. I made an Earth Bowl into which the couple added elements of fire, wind, water and earth.  Open my Portfolio to see photos of just a few of my weddings.

My life experience includes eleven years spent as Special Events Coordinator for Famous-Barr Co,(now Macy's) planning major events, celebrity appearances and extravaganzas in the golden years of retail promotions.  I have been a publishing writer since 1971, a newspaper editor and I spent two years handling publicity for the State of Missouri Division of Tourism.  Nothing much intimidates me and I am pretty unflappable.  I've never lost a bride or groom yet.

Now you know all there is to know about me except that I am a right chubby old elf, wear a size 4 shoe and have 0+ blood.  I'm pretty positive about everything.