Weddings and funerals in the same place in Kitchener, just not a church
Posted Sep 8, 2016 06:51:43 AM.
Last Updated Sep 8, 2016 08:02:58 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
‘Till death do us part’ is really emphasized at one wedding hot-spot in our region.
The Dedication Centre is a restored 19th century Mennonite chapel that is described as warm and beautiful. It just happens to be in the centre of the Williamsburg Cemetery.
Manager of cemeteries for the City of Kitchener, Lorelei Eckel-Braun, describes what local brides can expect on their big day.
“As you enter, you come into traditional cemetery grounds. You will see our pond, and our water-feature, our boardwalk that goes through the wet-land, and the bridge, and then you see the chapel.” She says “past the chapel, there’s an additional 25 acres of cemetery land on the other side.”
She says usually they host the average run-of-the-mill couple, but sometimes there’s an interesting twist.
“There have been some couples that get married here that have family or friends that are buried at Williamsburg Cemetery. That was a way of including them, by having the ceremony take place at the chapel.”
She adds “that’s not everybody, by any means.”
Eckel-Braun says they’ve never had any scheduling problems between weddings and funerals, because their weddings are usually scheduled a year in advance.
