Michigan couple tie the knot at funeral home

[September 02, 2008]  ST. JOSEPH TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) -- It generally has flowers, and a clergyman is often present, but this was a first for a local funeral home.

Jason and Rachael Storm held their wedding at Starks and Menchinger Family Funeral Home, where he is a funeral director.

Their reception, including dinner and dancing, also was held at the funeral home.

"This room is usually filled with sadness and contemplation, but today it is filled with joy and celebration," the Rev. Greg Prather said at the start of Saturday's ceremony.

Jason Storm, 24, doesn't see much difference between getting married in a church or the funeral home.

"I look at it as, if you go to a church and get married, how many caskets do you think have been rolled down that aisle?" he told The Herald-Palladium of St. Joseph.

Rachael Storm, also 24, said the location did "not creep me out at all."

"I'm very accustomed to what he does. The one thing I'm very much about is being unique," she said.

Not everyone was entirely comfortable with the idea.

Rachael Storm said some invited guests initially refused to attend, but the couple assured family and friends there would not be any caskets or corpses in the room.

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Information from: The Herald-Palladium, http://www.heraldpalladium.com/

[Associated Press]

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