Marriage Meets Macabre: Funeral Homes Doubling As Wedding Venues

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Newlywed

Saying your vows alongside the recently deceased receiving their last rites? It’s not as unusual as you might think.

In an attempt to branch out (and stay in business) funeral homes are offering their grounds for occasions other than memorials–namely, weddings. USA Today reports that in order to make full use of their property, 10 percent of funeral homes reported in a 2010 National Funeral Directors Association survey that they “owned or offered a community or family center in addition to traditional funeral facilities.”

(See the mother of all 2011 weddings with TIME’s coverage of the Royal Wedding)

While the idea does initially seem, well, creepy, according to USA Today, a lot of brides and grooms-to-be don’t seem to mind. One bride, Paulita Flores, who was married in the Center at Washington Park East Cemetery, said that after one tour of the funeral home, she was convinced.

“I fell in love and thought it was the perfect place,” she said. “It was breathtaking, so it (the funeral home aspect) didn’t cross my mind again.”

(See photos of the busiest day in wedding history)

And, as USA Today points out, beginning a marriage in the same setting where others are mourned isn’t really much different from getting married in a church, where ceremonies of all types take place.

So if saying your “I dos” alongside the dearly departed doesn’t send shivers down your spine, your wedding venue options just got a whole lot wider. (via USA Today)

(See the top 10 celebrity funerals)