Do you vow to take your wife anywhere two wheels can take you?
Will you continue to share the memories of love and riding with your man regardless of what is over the next horizon?
Seventeen leather-clad couples answered “I do” to those questions and several more during a vow renewal ceremony at Thunder Creek Harley-Davidson in Chattanooga on Saturday afternoon.
“It was kind of one of those spur of the moment, let’s go do it things,” said Nancy Miller, 56, a Chattanooga resident who renewed her vows with her husband, Mike.
Saturday’s ceremony was “a lot more formal” than the couple’s wedding 15 years ago, Mr. Miller said. The two were registering a deed at the courthouse when they decided to take the initial plunge, Mrs. Miller said.
The license office was across the hall from where they were, so they asked each other if they should go ahead and get a marriage license, she said.
“And it just kind of developed from there,” Mrs. Miller said. “The preacher was there that’s there only one time a month. We just went outside under a tree and got married and went dove hunting.”
For many of the couples, the ceremony was a first chance at renewing their wedding vows and a unique way to celebrate Valentine’s Day.
Pat and Lisa Hagan each drove their own Harley to the shop Saturday so they could recommit to each other.
“I thought it was a good Valentine’s Day thing,” said Mr. Hagan, 50, of Chattanooga. “I loved it. I thought it was good. We were both crying.”
Geof Hutchinson, operations manager for Thunder Creek, said based on the event’s turnout, he “wouldn’t be surprised at all” if the shop holds the ceremony again next year.
WHO OWNS HARLEYS?
* Males made up 88 percent of Harley-Davidson motorcycle owners in 2007.
* The median age of a Harley owner is between 45 and 50 years old.
* Fifty-two percent of Harley purchasers in 2007 had previously owned one at some point in their lifetime.
* There are nearly 900,000 Harley owners worldwide.
Source: Harley-Davidson Inc.