Carolyn Burke STL Blog

Most couples getting married have no problem telling all of their family and friends of their decision to marry. It seems the more, the merrier. Well, Dan and Susan had another plan. They are from St Joseph, Missouri but would rather get married away from family and friends. They want to keep the ceremony a secret . Okay, so choosing the Gateway Arch to have the ceremony is not necessarily a secret. Dan and Susan wanted to get married at the TOP of the arch. We met at the entrance to the facility and waited in line to go up to the top in the tram. While in line, we asked the folks in front of us if they would witness the ceremony and sign the license. A man and his daughter were agreeable. Dan proposed to Susan while they were vacationing here a year before. They chose the same WINDOW to stand in front of while I performed the ceremony. After the witnesses signed the license, the dad stated he was celebrating his 32nd anniversary on the very same day - his wife decided no...

I was out for some evening shopping and came back to find that I had three voice mail messages.  Inquiries after 5pm are not rare, but two out of three were from the same phone number.  Anita and Paul called from Milwaukee saying they were leaving at 4AM to drive to St. Louis to elope and would I be available. My calendar was clear as many Tuesdays are for the most part.  Good thing I called them back even though it was after 9pm.  Anita was so sweet on the phone.  She had already done all the research for Marriage Laws in Missouri.  There is no waiting period like there is in Wisconsin where the waiting period is 6 days. When a couple TRULY elopes - six days is too long! I estimated that if they left at 4am in Milwaukee they would be in St. Louis around 10am.  In downtown St. Louis there are many choices.  My favorites are the City Garden which is walking distance from City Hall or the infamous Gateway Arch . Anita and Paul a...

I had fun with a couple who love the number SEVEN !! Kelly and James 07-07-07 at 7:07am Kelly and James were unique and it was to be the EARLIEST ceremony I have ever performed. They liked the idea of getting married at St Louis' national monument, the Gateway Arch . So do I - many couples make this their choice of location.  As long as the guest count is less than 20 people, you do not have to notify them of the event.  No chairs, no music, just LOVE and DEVOTION. Well, Kelly and James wanted to keep their ceremony in the 'down low'.  They did not want to tell anyone about the ceremony - maybe they are shy - who knows!  Couples who elope like this do not need to know their witnesses.  But at 7:00 in the morning, I was not going to take any chances. They needed to provide their own witnesses or else stop someone RUNNING that early and the chances of finding two runners - pretty near impossible.  They asked their neighbors who were a bit older t...