Renew Your Wedding Vows Night

Yes, indeed it was!  I blogged about the event here and here.  You can also read a short wrap-up at the Fisher Cats’ website here.

They got an excellent turnout, as the article says, over 40 couples came out to renew their vows on the field at MerchantsAuto.com Stadium.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous, as well.

The whole event was very well run and organized.  As we approached the ballpark, we saw signage which instructed participants as to where we were all supposed to meet. They had us line up behind the gate by right field.  Fisher Cats front office staffers Danielle and Joel worked the line, making sure everyone was signed in, and that each couple’s names would be called in the order they were standing in the line.  Much of the staff was dressed in formal wear for the occasion.

This is a pic I took with my phone when we were standing in line.  Like my homemade Fisher Cats bouquet?  We didn’t get all decked out, we just wore what we normally wear to ball games in the summer.  I liked the T-shirt with the printed tux on it that the guy behind us was wearing.  The other guy behind us had on a real suit, though.

But the wife of the guy with the tux T-shirt wore her actual wedding gown.  With a Fisher Cats cap on her head.  They won the “Best-Dressed” prize.  You can see them in the banner at the top of this post, off to the left hand side.  I had thought about wearing my wedding dress, but only for about three seconds.  I thought it would be too uncomfortable, especially if I decided to wear the dressy shoes that went with it.  Those shoes are NOT conducive to walking up and down aluminum stairs in the stands, and certainly not good for walking in the dirt on a baseball field.  I prefer rubber soled sneakers, which is what I wore.

But maybe I could have worn the dress with sneakers.  Why not?  Later, I noticed that the woman with the prize-winning wedding gown was only wearing plain flip-flops on her feet.  Much better for comfort!

So maybe if they do this again next year, I will dig out my dress, have it cleaned, and wear it with my white L.L. Bean deck sneakers.  If it still fits, that is.  Maybe I have to get out the lipofuze and start now, to be prepared for next year…LOL!

Anyhoo, once the ceremony began, they had all of the couple parade out from the right field gate, down the warning track, through the Fisher Cats’ *bullpen*, which is right on the warning track in the outfield.  Wow, who knew that the pitcher’s mound was so high up, it doesn’t look that high from the stands!  They had set up an arch of white balloons, and as each couple walked under it, their names and hometowns were announced over the P.A. system.  And then we were all arranged behind home plate.

Here’s Mike and I as we were being announced…

This is a large image, you can click on it to see bigger.

The ceremony was performed by newly ordained ministers of the Church of Spiritual Humanism, Mike Murphy (no relation) and Erik Lesniak.  Both are actually front office staff members.  Fisher Cats jerseys were the correct vestments for this wedding.  They took turns reading from “the book of Foreigner”, “the book of Wings”, etc, reciting the words to love songs from those and other bands.  It was just so funny.  At end end, we were all pronounced  *still married*, and everybody kissed, as the fans in the stands cheered.

On the way in, each couple was handed an envelope and instructed not to open it until they said so at the end of the ceremony.  One lucky couple would get a *golden ticket* which was redeemable for a second honeymoon trip to some fancy resort in New Hampshire, the Steele Hill Resorts.

No, we didn’t win the trip, but we did win two tickets to an upcoming game.  I don’t think any couple walked away empty-handed, anyone who didn’t win one of the bigger prizes got free game tickets.

After the ceremony, we all went to our seats, and there were little mini *wedding cakes* for all.  Well, you can’t invite people to a wedding and not let them have cake.  And after the game (which the Fisher Cats won), we were all treated to a fabulous Atlas Fireworks show.

Anyhoo, this was an awesome time, and a perfect way to celebrate our 9th anniversary (even if it was a couple of weeks late).  We’d like to thank all of the Fisher Cats staff who organized this, and made it the success that it was!

You can see all of the pictures taken at this game, including many wedding photos, in this gallery.  Enjoy!