Weddings

NORTHVILLIANS,

Switching gears from previous weeks’ notes on Memorial Day and Father’s Day activities, we will touch on the wedding season in this letter, which is in full swing in the Ville. The month of June is when flowers are starting to bloom, and it’s been synonymous with weddings in our Hamlet in the Hills. Appropriately, at the Mill Race Village, young love is in the air with many ceremonies taking place.

When I first became Mayor in 2019, a citizen asked me at my swearing-in ceremony if I would officiate their marriage. At the time, I didn’t realize that mayorship also included being “Justice of the Peace.”  Since then, I have married 52 couples, with ceremonies mostly at Mill Race, but also at various homes, City Hall, and other Northville venues.

History of Marriage
Many cultures have legends concerning the origins of marriage and the way their ceremonies are conducted. The first recorded evidence of marriage ceremonies dates back to around 2350 B.C. in ancient Mesopotamia and Babylon. Even within our lifetimes, we have witnessed how the ceremonially union of couples has evolved and changed over the years.

The month of June derives its name from Juno, the Roman goddess of marriage. It was thought that couples who married in June would be blessed with prosperity and happiness for life by the goddess Juno.

Let’s take a look at Weddings in Northville through the Years…

Weddings in Northville have always been celebrated in very unique & special ways. The Mill Race Village historical area is a prominent example of a popular, quaint, and romantic wedding venue.

1888 – Henry Ford spent his honeymoon with relatives in Northville, and Henry & Clara could be seen strolling along the riverbank. Eventually, Mr. Ford built an Albert Kahn-designed factory here that produced the company’s vehicle valves for over half a century, starting in 1919. Ford donated the land where our Mill Race Village and Ford Field are positioned today.

1929 – A high-flying marriage ceremony took place at 10,000 feet in a Stinson Aircraft produced in Northville (Stinson’s planes are highlighted in the Smithsonian and The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn). Eddie Stinson, a Northville resident of Orchard Heights, was involved in a ceremony that took place between Toledo & Northville, with our Methodist Minister officiating in the air. The plane was painted with graphics that said, “Just Married.”

1931 – During the Great Depression, the marriage of a prominent Northville couple (Gertrude Parmenter & Donald Starr) occurred in front of a packed grandstand at the Wayne County Fair (on the grounds of Northville Downs). The couple had won a contest for their elaborate wedding ceremony with music provided by the Fair’s vaudeville orchestra. Northville merchants & businesses donated gifts (including a new Ford car) and a honeymoon suite at the old log cabin on River Street in “Bealtown.”  It was estimated that 2,500 attended the wedding at the Racetrack, with 75 or so celebrating at the reception afterward in Orchard Heights.

1935 – Again, at the annual County Fair, an elaborate wedding was conducted uniting Herbert Ware and Madeline Lemmon in a carnival atmosphere. The ceremony was preceded by a trapeze act and a vaudeville show. According to The Record, a beautiful garden background theme was established for the event that year.

1999 – The bridegroom (Steve Skinner) made a grand entrance when his helicopter touched down at Ford Field just in time for his wedding ceremony at the Mill Race Village.

Get out and enjoy June in the Ville – see the trees in full bloom and the young ducklings, swans and geese on the Mill Pond. Stroll the grounds of the Mill Race Village, walk through our historic downtown streets, and partake in the downtown social district this coming weekend. May the Roman June Goddess (Juno) bless you with prosperity and happiness for life.

Keep that Northville June Faith!

Brian Turnbull
Mayor – Northville
BTurnbull@ci.northville.mi.us / 248.505.6849

(Reach out to me anytime or forward this communication to others interested.)

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