Weddings on Wheels
Downstate Reverend mods out his hot-rod fire engine
By ANDREW GREINER
Updated 7:36 AM CDT, Fri, Aug 7, 2009
This hot-rod gives a whole new meaning to quickie marriage.
Reverend Darrell Best converted his 1942-edition American La France fire engine into a chapel on wheels with the help of some expert mechanics.
The team at “Trick My Truck,” Country Music Television’s reality series, provided parts and labor.
"I've always loved firetrucks," the reverend told NBCChicago.com. "And I love my job, and I guess I've been making the boss happy. I've got a corporate vehicle".
Now the truck barrels down the road sporting stained-glass windows, a pipe organ and an altar. Sometimes he also has a bride and a groom on board.
Best charges a $200 fee plus $2 per mile – hey, gas ain’t cheap – to pick up a small wedding party and pronounce them hubby and wife. He’s performed four marriages and one renewal thus far.
“It fits me, the bride, the groom, the best man and the maid-of-honor,” Best said. “It gets a little crowded but it works.”
The hot-rod marriage isn’t for everyone, though.
It works “for the kind of people who don’t want a traditional wedding,” Best said.
The reverend offers more traditional fare at his brick and mortar chapel, Best Wedding Chapel, in Shelbyville, Illinois. But it's the truck that gets the most attention.
Best is taking his wedding ride on the road when the Illinois State Fair rolls around on August 14 in Springfield. He’ll give discount nuptials there: just $100 bucks to wed in the weird ride.
If you're planning on getting hitched, best talk to Best soon: he stops officiating between Halloween and the first day of spring, though he'll make exceptions on unseasonally warm days.
"We did a wedding last Novemeber and it was 46 degrees," Best said. "I thought the bride was going to get cold feet".
First Published: Aug 6, 2009 3:41 PM CDT on NBC Chicago
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