Wedding with a Difference

When Russell Crowe tied the knot with Danielle Spencer, the wedding had the glitter you expect from well-known personalities.

It started with the groom’s gift of some $13 million dollars to his intended, and went on pretty well from there.

The ‘I dos’ were uttered in a chapel specifically designed and built for the occasion, and both the bride and the groom were adorned in designer clothes by well-recognised designers.

Somewhere along the way most people have become addicted to the idea that for a wedding to be a special event, it should be invested with all the ostentation that money can buy.

It takes a bit of a backbone to go against the grain of the expectations of others, especially when it comes to weddings.

Though one time actor, as well as Governor of California, Ronald Reagan had no qualms about going his own separate and different way.

Actually, his life consisted of differences. The oldest president, he also survived an assassination attempt and wore a hearing aid.

He was also the only president in the country’s history to have been married twice, first to actor Jane Wyman, then to his second wife actor Nancy Davis.

When it comes to their presidents, Americans like to think of them as celibate until the day they marry, and faithful once they tie the knot. So it is remarkable that Jane Wyman cast no shadow upon the President, though it is but too obvious, that no great effort is made to keep Ms Wyman in the spot light.

However, both weddings have a similarity in that the choice of wedding venue was unexpected, yet extremely meaningful.

In the case of his marriage to Jane Wyman, Ronald Reagan choose what, on the face of it, seems somewhat macabre. It was not a prestigious hotel, or a well-known church, or even a registry office. The marriage was in fact, solemnized at the Forest Lawn Cemetery, at Glendale, California.

Needless to say, it isn’t just a cemetery. This gigantic bit of real estate includes a museum, an art gallery, and, in the structures in which it abounds, it’s a positive architectural showcase. And as a cemetery, it is a place where some of the best-known actors, including Marilyn Monroe, Rudolph Valentino and Clark Gable were laid to rest.

The venue for the second ‘I do’ was a small, simple non-denominational chapel, Little Brown Church in Studio City, California. Although the chapel can hold up to 125 people, the only people who were invited to witness the wedding ceremony were friend and fellow actor William Holden and his wife, Ardis.

The marriage itself lasted more than half a century.

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