The Alexandria Clerk’s Office is expanding its wedding offerings yet again.
After a successful run last fall with its costumed “Halloweddings,” Clerk of Court Greg Parks will officiate 18 weddings aboard the Tall Ship Providence on Friday, May 15, at Waterfront Park in Old Town.
Eighteen happy couples, some in costume, are tying the knot in a historic Old Town ballroom today (Friday) as part of a new “Hallowedding” ceremony with the Alexandria Clerk of Court.
Clerk Greg Parks and his staff donned 18th century-inspired costumes at Gadsby’s Tavern Museum to officiate the marriages, which took about 20 minutes each and came with gift bags that included local restaurant coupons, free entry to Alexandria museums and a one-night stay at the Fairfield Inn & Suites on Richmond Hwy.
Alexandria’s Clerk of Court Greg Parks will officiate “Halloweddings” on Friday, Oct. 31, in Old Town.
For the first time, Parks and his staff will perform the weddings in 18th-century costumes in the ballroom of Gadsby’s Tavern Museum (138 N. Royal Street). He wants the happy couples to dress up however they want — as Lydia Deets and Beetlejuice, Gomez and Morticia Addams, even Ken and Barbie. The ceremonies take about 20 minutes to perform, and reservations are available between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
After a wedding, graduation, or significant event, wouldn’t it be nice if folks could upload their phone pictures and videos to a single gallery?
Alexandria-based entrepreneur Elizabeth Kukla did just that. In the spring of 2021, Kukla’s cousin was getting married. As a gift to the happy couple, Kukla designed a card based on the wedding invitations and printed out cards with QR codes to be placed on the guest tables for the reception. Guests who scanned the code uploaded their favorite pictures to one place, and a week later, the bride’s younger sister reached out and asked for the same services at her own nuptials that summer. With that, SnapSpaces was born.
Alexandria Man Claims Trucker Convoy Assaulted Him — “D.C. police are looking into claims that participants in the trucker convoy assaulted a motorcyclist in the District last week. The encounter reportedly happened as an Alexandria, Virginia, man was traveling on Interstate 395 on the Francis Case Memorial Bridge back on Wednesday, March 16 after 3 p.m.” [WTOP]
Local Women Business Owners Celebrated — “The pioneering spirit that helped give women the right to vote just over 100 years ago is alive and well today as women-owned businesses grow across the city.” [Connection Newspaper]
The Alexandria Wedding Showcase is back to being an in-person event.
This year’s event will be held at The Alexandrian (480 King Street) in Old Town and feature a VIP champagne brunch with Alexandria resident Monte Durham, host of TLC’s “Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta”and owner of Salon Monte.
Alexandria’s land records date back to the 18th century, and the city’s Clerk of the Circuit Court just secured more than $43,000 in grant funding to conserve those records and digitize them for public enjoyment.
This is the second year that the clerk’s office has been awarded the grant, which is made possible through the Circuit Court Records Preservation program from the Virginia Court Clerks Association and the Library of Virginia. Approximately $4.7 million was awarded to clerks offices throughout Virginia this year.
Private School, The Linder Academy, to Open in Old Town — “The Linder Academy, a private K-8 school, submitted a special use permit application to open a location at 601, 607 and 609 S. Washington St. and 710 Gibbon St. According to the application, the school will serve up to 105 students and 14-16 teachers and staff. There is a proposed outdoor play area in the courtyard between 601 and 607 S. Washington St.” [Alexandria Living]
Homegrown Restaurant Group vaccinates 300+ restaurant workers — “HGR volunteering today at the Alexandria Restaurant Vaccination Drive! 330 workers from 29 different restaurants will be vaccinated by the end of day. Many thanks to all the volunteers and to Alexandria Restaurant Partners for donating space to make this happen.” [Facebook]
It might take years for Alexandria’s economy to recover from the impact of the pandemic, but there are plenty of developments down the road.
Micro weddings, new businesses and tourism expectations this year were just a few of the topics covered by Visit Alexandria in its annual membership meeting last week. While offset by positive news of business developments along the waterfront, the meeting was full of sobering statistics on drastically reduced revenues in nearly all sectors of the local economy.
When Monte Durham’s contract with TLC expired in March, he realized he needed to do something else. The star of Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta was told that the network would be going dark because of the pandemic, and Durham quickly decided to go back to his roots as a hairstylist and open a boutique in Old Town.
“My goal is to inspire, educate, and hopefully motivate people to go to the next level with their look,” Durham told ALXnow.
Beyer: We Must Protect the U.S. Postal Service — “I have been in touch with local postal officials, who express their commitment to ensuring the timely delivery and return of all ballots. This could be an issue in many parts of the country, however, and I will be working with my colleagues to exercise constant vigilance and ensure that elections are fair and safe. My Northern Virginia colleague, U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly, serves as the chair of the Oversight Subcommittee on Government Operations, and with his tireless leadership the House will do all it can to fix these problems and restore operations and service at USPS.” [Gazette]
Three City Parks Scheduled for Improvements — “Projects at or near Powhatan, Hooffs Run, and Brenman Parks to occur over next two months.” [Zebra]
