Couple gets married at Buc-ee’s: 'Very on-brand for us'
SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — When Bob Hespen suggested that he and his fiancée, Melanie Curtis, get married at Buc-ee’s, he was just being funny.
“I proposed it as a joke,” Bob told Nexstar’s WATE.
“And I loved it,” Melanie said. “This was just very on-brand for us.”
It made sense. The Illinois couple knew they wanted to get married in the Smoky Mountains, and they loved Buc-ee’s, always going out of their way to stop by when on a road trip. What could be a better venue than the gas station’s Sevierville, Tennessee, location?
They posted online, looking for someone to officiate, and they got hundreds of responses from people as diverse as comedians and ventriloquists, one of whom offered to do it for free as long as they let him perform the ceremony with a puppet. In the end, they settled on Sammy Solomon from the New Market Fire Department.
On Sunday morning, the couple, dressed in full wedding garb, met Solomon and their photographer at the statue of Bucky the Beaver in the Sevierville gas station’s parking lot.
(Melanie E. Curtis)
(Melanie E. Curtis)
“I was a little bit nervous about lots of people watching or what people would think, but once Sammy started the ceremony, I was locked in on Bob and just couldn’t stop smiling and giggling,” Melanie said.
They held hands as Solomon spoke.
“A marriage is a lifelong adventure, like a good road trip. And while the importance of today’s ceremony can’t be understated, it’s also just one of the many mile markers you will pass along your route together,” Solomon said. “There will be bumps in the road, but as long as you keep choosing each other, mile after mile, you’ll never get lost.”
The ceremony was only around three minutes. The pair exchanged rings, said “I do,” then kissed. Customers waved and congratulated them as they passed by. Others asked to take pictures.
Smiling, Bob and Melanie now look forward to their future together.
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