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Over the years we have been featured in several articles
from the Columbus Dispatch. The articles below do not reflect our
current costs and our seating has grown.
The “I do” Alternative
Historically, the courthouse could always be depended upon to commit
matrimony. The bad news is that the courthouse marriage hours have
been curtailed to 9 a.m., to noon and 1 to 3 p.m.
The good news is, there is an alternative. Down the street from
the courthouse, at 761 S. High., is non-denominational Pastor John
Butler and his Columbus Wedding Chapel, with a small bridal room,
a reception room and a chapel with seating for 21 people.
Pastor Butler also offers alternatives to the chapel ceremony. You
name the spot – the park, your backyard, Broad and High –
and he will bring the ceremony there. If you are in the marrying
mood, call Pastor John at 443-5962.
On-the-spot weddings with a personal touch
The “I do’s” come fast and furious at the Columbus
Wedding Services chapel.
But not quite as fast as a few blocks north at the Franklin County
Courthouse.When binding a couple in holy matrimony, a few minutes
can make a difference, said John Butler, who, as an ordained World
Christianship minister, performs weddings at his chapel, 761 S.
High St.
“There’s nothing wrong with getting married at the courthouse,
but in my opinion, it’s a very impersonal type of wedding.”
Butler said.“When you’re running them in and out in
10 minutes, it’s like a conveyor belt: ‘Do you? Do you?
Done.’” Not that Butler can’t churn through couples
who are in a hurry. He offers a 20-minute $50 service Monday through
Thursday, no appointment necessary. But he finds that most couples
choose the more leisurely and personal $150 candlelight service,
which can include customized vows, last up to an hour and accommodate
22 guests. “After we opened up, we found people wanted more
than the very inexpensive weddings,” he said.
Ohio doesn’t have a waiting period for weddings. Many couples
pick up licenses at the courthouse and want to get married on the
spot. Until recently, they could because a judge could perform ceremonies
from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays.
But last year the courthouse increased its wedding fee to $25 from
$10 and cut back services to two hours a day – 9-10 a.m. and
2-3 p.m., by appointment only.
“That’s really not convenient for a lot of people,”
Butler said.
He and his wife, Marge, also an ordained minister, started out with
a mobile service of sorts, traveling anywhere in the city to do
weddings, including most of the parks.
After the courthouse changed its hours, they opened the chapel –
on Valentine’s Day, of course. “We’re from Las
Vegas – that’s probably what gave us the idea,”
Mr. Butler said.
“Then we went to Gatlinburg (in Tennessee) – they’re
overrun with chapels down there. But we’re sort of a unique
thing in this area.”
The Butlers’ chapel is more Columbus than Vegas – a
bit of lace but no spangles. The conservatively remodeled German
Village house has an alcove for the waiting bride, a small lecturn,
candelabra, and folding chairs.
Some couples choose the chapel for convenience, others because they
don’t want or can’t get a religious service in a church,
Mrs. Butler said.
“Sometimes people who have been divorced before have problems
with a church wedding,” Mrs. Butler said. “But we think
everyone deserves a second chance. ”The chapel has seen weddings
of all kinds, Mrs. Butler said. “We get brides in jeans and
brides in $3,000 dresses.
Tim Neff and his new wife, Cindy, were of the jeans persuasion.
They married at the chapel Friday because they wanted a small, intimate
ceremony, Mrs. Neff said. The Neffs of Circleville, Ohio, each have
17-year-old daughters from previous marriages. The wedding party
consisted of the four of them.
“We’ll have a party for the rest of the family this
weekend,” Mrs. Neff said. Although they had planned to get
married on that date for several months, Mr. Neff confessed that
he put off getting the marriage license until that morning. “There’s
nothing like being prepared,” he said. “But I was pretty
sure (the courthouse) would be open. ”The ceremony was “very
pretty and nice,” said Mrs. Neff’s daughter, Jennifer.
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With help of can-do attitude, minister hears wedding bells
A few years ago, John Butler and his wife, both ordained nondenominational
ministers, were performing wedding services in people’s homes,
in banquet facilities and in parks.
But they wanted their own facility, so on Valentine’s Day
1999, they opened the Columbus Wedding Services Chapel on South
High Street.
John Butler says he felt if they could put their minds to it, they
could make it a success. His “I-think-I-can” attitude
took root at an early age. Butler’s grandmother gave him a
copy of “The Little Engine That Could,” when he was
10 years old.
“It taught me that I could do whatever I wanted to do if I
was pursuant in my endeavors,” he says. “In the story,
the bigger engines were too busy and too important to help the animals
get over the mountain, but the little blue engine hooked onto the
circus train and chugged, ‘I think I can, I think I can, I
know I can,’ until he pulled the train over the mountain.
Butler’s life is sprinkled with “I-think-I-can”
experiences. A native of Chicago, at age 27 he ended up in Canada
owning a restaurant, which he operated successfully for 16 years.
Although his family wanted him to become a priest, he resisted the
vocation until his early forties, when he quit the restaurant business
to become a minister. “God had called me to do this, even
at this age,” says Butler, now 58.
In 1975, he graduated from California World Christian Ministries
and eventually became the pastor of a small congregation in Las
Vegas. While in Las Vegas, he met his wife-to-be, Marge, who was
also an ordained minister and coincidentally, a graduate of the
same institute.
In 1996, tired of Las Vegas, the couple visited friends in Columbus
and decided to stay. They opened the Columbus Wedding Services Chapel
near the Franklin County Courthouse, three years later.
Available Monday through Saturday, weddings at the chapel range
from $50 to $900, depending on the number of guests, the time and
the complexity of the service. For example, a basic service without
candles or music will cost $75, but use of the chapel for one hour
with music, candles, the wedding march and up to 32 guests would
run $275. Nearly 30 percent of Butler’s weddings are walk-ins
and no appointments are needed Monday through Thursday.
These days, the couple performs about 200 weddings a month.
“Marge and I believe couples should be able to choose a Christian
service in a simple, yet tasteful, setting,” Butler says.
“And we’re glad the Wedding Chapel can provide that.”
When duty called, they headed for the alter
The bride wore green hospital scrubs; the groom, jeans and an untucked
shirt. The rings were borrowed wedding bands that didn’t fit.
There was no music; there were no bouquets.
“We’re going to do this a little different this evening.”
said the Rev. John Butler.
In a ceremony reminiscent of the quickie weddings of soldiers headed
off to combat in World War II, Michael Woods wed his first love,
Carolyn Castle, last night before being shipped out today with his
Ohio Army National Guard unit.
Woods, a private, got the phone call Monday night telling him to
report to his unit, the 135th Military Police company, in the Cleveland
suburb of Brook Park. From there, he is scheduled to leave Friday
for Fort Bragg, N.C., for two weeks of training.
The decision to marry last night, seven months before they had planned,
was a practical one. Families of Guardsmen called to duty receive
benefits. Woods didn’t want to leave Castle and their two
sons – Austin, 6 months, and Michael, 1 – without the
additional income.
“It gives us a reason to do it right now,” Woods said,
moments before the ceremony.
Woods picked up Castle at 3:30 p.m. when she got off work from Children’s
Hospital, where she’s a nursing assistant. From there, the
two drove to the Franklin County Courthouse and bought a marriage
license.
The Hilliard couple learned that Butler performed spur-of-the-moment
ceremonies at Columbus Wedding Services, 761 S. High St. They walked
into the chapel at 5:15 p.m. without an appointment.
In the past two weeks, Butler said, he has married 20 couples faced
with impending separation because of military duty.
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