Couple throws McWedding
 

February 15, 2006

When Corey Cutcheon and Doreen Brown got engaged three weeks ago, they found themselves squeezed. The couple had sunk so much cash into their new house in Yaphank that there was little left over for a marriage celebration. And they said it was impossible to book a reception venue as quickly as they wanted.

So thrift and haste gave birth to Long Island's first McWedding.

"We called several places; no one would house us, and it cost a fortune," Doreen Cutcheon, 34, said of her and her 23-year-old groom's dilemma. "Corey said to me, 'Why don't we try McDonald's?'"

A judge at Port Jefferson Village Hall hitched them legally at 9:30 a.m. yesterday and then the new couple joined their friends, family and well-wishers under the golden arches in a Farmingville McDonald's.

Franchise officials called the McWedding Long Island's first -- on Valentine's Day to boot. "It's a first and it's pretty exciting" said John Rompollo, who oversees a dozen McDonald's restaurants on the Island. "Maybe it's the beginning of a trend."

The Cutcheons' celebration was not the first McWedding reception the world has seen. In August 2002, a thrifty couple in Wales made BBC headlines when guests at their wedding reception devoured 33 McDonald's Happy Meals at a local franchise.

Yesterday, the 50 wedding guests who gathered for fast food on North Ocean Avenue ate 14 cheeseburger value meals, 13 Filet-o-Fish sandwiches, 17 Chicken McNugget meals and four hot fudge sundaes -- all washed down with 44 medium sodas. They topped the meal off with complimentary slices of chocolate Ronald McDonald cake.

The grand total for the feast was just $250.59.

The bride's family had no complaints. "Our children are in charge of their own weddings and they shouldn't be under the stress of the so-called traditions," said mother of the bride Lene Brown, 57.

Brown said her own wedding was a modest affair on a rainy October day 34 years ago, in front of a judge in Yonkers.

The celebration drew mixed reactions from the customers there for non-wedding noshing, depending mostly upon the observer's age.

"I'm very shocked," said Janet Marino, a homemaker from Farmingville. "McDonald's is for children, and now the adults have become children."

One onlooker, a wedding catering manager, said she's seen clients spend anywhere from $20,000 to $50,000 on their receptions.

"People can't afford Long Island weddings," said the manager. The 31-year-old Oakdale resident did not want to be identified, saying her business could be adversely affected by her name's appearance in print alongside the McWedding. "The business is just that competitive," she said.

But a younger McDonald's patron was all for the fast-food nuptials.

Said Vanessa Vorisek, 16, of Farmingville, as she cleared off her table: "It's cool, and it's a lot less money than a regular reception."

I think I would consider divorce before a wedding at McDonalds. I guess a wedding there goes along with liberal tendicies though. More power too them, losers.

i think its really cute

dont know if i would do it.

p.s. another reason why i :rolleyes: at LI.

I think it's funny. Houses on Long Island can be very expensive. The price of a wedding on L.I. can be a decent down payment.

If they got the wedding and reception they wanted, then that's great. More power to them for doing what they wanted.

how is this liberal vs. conservitive?

I have no idea. McDonald's has nothing to do with being liberal.

Hmmmm...while not the classiest venue for a wedding reception, at least you know that everyone will like the food. :rolleyes:

Except the exclusive club of vegetarians.

This is kinda weird, but I honestly think I'd rather eat a McD's cheeseburger than the umpteenth stuffed chicken breast of my life.

I remember seeing pictures of a wedding reception held at White Freaking Castle, of all places...so I figured it was just a matter of time before a McWedding was held.

Anyone up for an In 'N Out wedding?

The parking lots are pretty big...could probably fit a good 100 people or so :)

I think that a Wendy's Wedding would have been more upscale than a McWedding.

You are such a charmer that I'm sure you will have multiple weddings to plan.

If that's the wedding and reception they wanted, then that's fine.

LOL. I wish I'd thought of this 7 years ago when my husband and I were planning our wedding. I would have loved to see the look on my mother-in-law's face when I informed her (facetiously, of course) that her darling son and I were planning on getting married at Mickey D's.

Then again, she was the one who tried to force us to have our reception at the Holiday Inn... :rolleyes: