Eugene weekly., January 15, 2004, Page 35, Image 35

Something Old, Something New – EW’s Wedding Guide 2004
W
Encore! Encore!
Wedded bliss the second
(third, tenth) time around.
■
By Bobbie Willis
hen a person finds love again
after divorce, it can, in many
ways, be more a cause for cele-
bration than a first wedding. Two and a half
years ago when my friend and future mom-
in-law Laurel decided on remarriage with
sweetheart Mark Neighorn (both of whom
had gone through divorces years ago),
friends, family and their coastal community
in Lincoln City whooped for joy at the union.
Laurel, owner of The Red Cock
Craftsmen’s Outlet, and Mark, a real estate
agent and owner of Lincoln City’s Real
Estate 100, had been dating a few years.
Each of them had raised two sons from their
previous marriages, and both had worked
hard to establish themselves as mainstays in
their coastal community: Mark had served
the town through various civic committees
and Laurel had been regularly sponsoring a
fashion show and dinner through an organ-
ization she helped found called The
Snowflake Foundation, which raises funds
to provide medical services, such as mam-
mograms and immunizations, to those com-
munity members who can’t afford them.
After the youngest of their collective chil-
dren had finished high school, they knew
the time was right to have a wedding. They
set a date of September 16, 2001 and began
plans for the big event.
For both Laurel and Mark, planning this
wedding was very different from their first
weddings. Laurel says, “I was first married
in July of l967, immediately after summer
school. I remember that my mother did
much of the actual preparations, as I was
finishing school. It was a conventional cer-
emony held in a local church. … I remem-
ber picking the flowers and the colors. I
don’t remember being very involved with
the food, reception or music much.” Mark
says, “My first wedding was in March,
1979. I was 25. I thought I was an adult. In
retrospect … I didn’t know what I was
doing. We eloped and went to Reno. It was
to be a double ceremony with my ex’s sis-
ter also getting married at the same time.”
Laurel and Mark worked together to
plan their event and to involve their chil-
dren, family and friends as part of the cele-
bration. Laurel says, “We spent a lot of time
together planning our wedding, and agreed
on nearly everything. We both wanted our
families involved a lot. The actual ceremo-
ny was small and limited to our families
and a couple of dear friends. The younger
of my sons, Ben, married us, and the older,
Dan, stood up with me. My youngest broth-
er, El, catered the food for the reception.”
El’s wife and daughter arranged all the
flowers, which he had grown himself.
Of the planning process Mark says, “I
was way more involved and committed the
second time: I handled the initial meeting
with the photographer and arranged for the
garden rental [where the ceremony was
held]. Laurel and I did the invites together,
selecting papers, inks, wording, etc. Pretty
much it was joint decisions on all stuff:
reception place, menu, etc. I would have
been happy to be given veto power only, but
Laurel kept after me for ideas and thoughts.”
The reception, Mark and Laurel decid-
ed, was “the place where we wanted every-
one to come and celebrate with us and have
a really good time, and share our joy, and
the promise of the day.” Held on a warm,
sunny fall day in the B’nai B’rith Hall over-
JANUARY 15, 2004 23