James Donaldson, 79, of Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee, is accustomed to being around happy people. For 30 years, he was a mall Santa, and now he performs weddings from a converted church bus.
Donaldson and his wife, Diane, who is also 79, are both ordained ministers who hit on the idea of a mobile wedding chapel to serve couples who want to get married quickly – and on a budget. Many of their services are performed outside courthouses within a 50-mile radius of Soddy-Daisy.
“I go anywhere they want me to,” says James. “If it’s clean to California, I’d go. Of course, I’d have to charge a little more.”
All told, the Donaldson’s figure they have performed about 200 weddings. Service locations have included a dirt race track in Spring City, a hang-glider launch in Dunlap and a Tennessee River overlook in Prentice Cooper State Forest.
When the weather is bad, they offer couples the option of doing the ceremony inside a converted church bus, which James purchased in Atlanta.