No standing on ceremony at Camas wedding drive-thru

CAMAS — As the first few lines of the song “Chapel of Love” were partially drowned out by passing traffic, Cristina Wardwell and James Coen pulled forward in their golf cart. The couple rang a doorbell, and seconds later, Leslie Rick poked her head out of a window at her floral shop.

Rick took their marriage license, had them sign some papers, talked about the importance of love, and less than 30 minutes later, the couple were officially married.

Beginning in January, Rick brought some Vegas flair to Camas by offering drive-thru wedding services at Mystic Gardens, 1924 N.E. Third Ave.

“We’re outgoing people, outdoorsy people,” said Wardwell, 49. “We wanted an untraditional wedding, something a bit more unique.”

While the ceremony unfolded, Wardwell’s son, Christofer Faulhaber, taped a “just married” sign and tied some empty cans to the back of the golf cart.

After they sealed their marriage with a few kisses, the couple took a brief joyride in their golf cart — empty cans bouncing around Third Avenue — before returning to the Mystic Gardens parking lot.

Coen, 47, read about the drive-thru weddings at Mystic Gardens online, he said, and proposed the idea to Wardwell, adding that they could get married in their golf cart. It was a fixer-upper gift from a friend that they like to take out on the road. Wardwell laughed at the idea quite a bit, she said, but ultimately agreed.

The couple drove to Camas from their home in Molalla, Ore., with nine family members and friends Wednesday, the 26th anniversary of when they started dating. As relatives wiped tears from their eyes, some said they still couldn’t believe the couple finally got married.

After the ceremony, Coen and Wardwell reminisced about their first date, which was supposed to be dinner followed by some bar hopping. The two connected instantly, though, and stayed at the restaurant all night, dancing and enjoying each other’s company.

They both said the ceremony was exactly what they were looking for.

“It was a one-of-a-kind wedding,” Wardwell said.

Mystic’s mythicism

For Rick, performing weddings started with her death.

In late 1993, she got chicken pox, which later spread to her lungs. While in the hospital, she was placed in a medically induced coma and then fell into a full coma. At one point, she was declared legally dead and came back to life. Rick said she remembers none of it.

After she was released from the hospital, Rick started talking to a minister and ended up getting a doctorate in mythology, religion and cultures. She started as a reverend doctor in Montana, but eventually ended up back in her hometown of Camas. She performs weddings through her nondenominational organization, God’s Garden Association.

“So many religions are saying the same basic things and have so many similarities,” Rick said. “And a lot of them started in gardens.”

In May 2016, she decided to return to another of her passions: flowers and plants. She opened Mystic Gardens in May 2016, selling out of the Camas Produce parking lot. Rick moved into the current Mystic Gardens location in June 2017. She previously owned a floral shop, Rick Family Enterprises, in downtown Camas about 25 years ago.

The building she’s currently in already had a drive-thru window from past businesses that occupied the space, including a dairy farm, so Rick thought it would be fun to offer drive-thru weddings. The weddings are all performed by Rick or her friend Tim Carroll, who volunteers at the shop and is ordained through God’s Garden Association.

Interested parties need to obtain their marriage license, bring two witnesses and provide identification to prove they’re both older than 18. A drive-thru wedding costs $50. Rick said she can provide add-ons, if requested, such as bouquets and boutonnieres.

Wednesday’s wedding was Rick’s third drive-thru since starting earlier this year. Wardwell and Coen called ahead to let Rick know they planned on coming, but some have simply driven up, rung the bell and gotten married. Mystic Gardens also gives couples the option of getting married inside the store or renewing their vows.

“It’s an affordable option,” Rick said. “If people want to just get married and not deal with all that other stuff, all that family fighting and everything, it’s a good option.”

Wardwell and Coen were the first to add some pizazz to the drive-thru ceremony by getting married in a golf cart, but Rick said she would welcome whatever a couple can dream up. In the past, she has officiated weddings between ogres and fairies, and vampires and werewolves. She’s also officiated a medieval-themed ceremony.

Carroll has a dream wedding he’d like to officiate, he said.

“I’m a professional Santa Claus, and I’ve wanted to perform a wedding dressed like Santa for a long time,” he said. “I had one scheduled, but the couple broke up.”

For Rick and Carroll, it’s all about making a drive-thru, 20-minute wedding as special and memorable as they can.

“I have no problem dressing up, if that’s what they want,” Rick said. “I’ve got all sorts of costumes. It’s their day. It should be how they want it to be. So many couples get roped into things they don’t want.”

If a couple want to go full-on cliche Vegas, Rick said she’d of course dress up like Elvis to perform a ceremony.

“People can call us ‘Little Vegas’ all they want,” Rick said. “We’re proud of it.”