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Brynn Mustra and Mark Buchanan are married at home plate by John Cook of North Stafford Church of Christ.
Brynn Mustra throws out a 'first pitch' to her groom, Mark Buchanan, during the ceremony at Brooke Point.
Nicole Lukas (left) and Jasmine Mustra throw peanuts rather than flower petals. |
BY CATHY DYSON
The wedding ceremony began with the national anthem and ended with the bride and groom walking arm-in-arm down the third-base line as "Put Me In, Coach" blared from the speakers.
Moments before Brynn Mustra and Mark Buchanan were presented as husband and wife, the two read vows they'd written.
Standing on the home plate of the Brooke Point High School baseball field, where the groom coaches the junior varsity team, the couple included every baseball metaphor they could work into their brief remarks.
He said that God threw him a fast pitch when they met, and that he realized the game was over in terms of other women.
She called him her MVP and said his face always lights up, no matter what the score.
He said their marriage will be the game of a lifetime, and she called it their own trip to the World Series.
The crowd of about 140 friends, relatives and co-workers at the Stafford County school cheered after the Rev. John Cook--dressed as a major league umpire--introduced the married couple to the crowd.
A few people in the bride's bleachers started to do the wave.
"That was pretty cool," said Jerry Buchanan, cousin of the groom, after the 22-minute ceremony.
For him and many others in the crowd, yesterday's service was the first time a diamond--the baseball kind--played such a major role in the union of two people.
But as friends and relatives said, the ceremony was vintage Brynn and Mark.
"This wedding really matches their personalities," said Candice Young, the bride's sister. "They're both very laid-back and fun."
Mary Ellen Cole helped get members of the wedding party into formation--on the bleachers--as her husband, Randy, took photos. He's president of the baseball team's booster club.
"It's fun," he said about the sports theme.
"It's so them," said his wife, who added that the groom "is just a little boy in an adult body."
As it turned out, Buchanan was the most dressed-up person in the wedding. He wore a white tuxedo with white shoes and a white baseball hat.
Only when he kissed the bride did he break formality and turn his hat around like a rally cap.
The bride wore a white sparkly dress she bought in a thrift shop for $13 and had altered for $15.50. It had a halter top, a fitted bodice with sequined diamonds and a skirt that was short in the front and back and longer on the sides.
"My whole theme is comfort," she said a few days before the wedding, as she and the groom talked about their planning process.
They sent out invitations that looked like baseball tickets, and told attendees to wear athletic attire and no heels.
"I hate going to a wedding and being stuck in a dress," she said.
Her three bridesmaids didn't have to buy expensive--and ugly--gowns they'd never wear again. They dressed in white jerseys with "Team Bride" on the front and their names and favorite numbers on the back.
The three groomsmen wore black jerseys with "Team Groom" and carried baseball bats as they walked out of the dugout.
The bride's bouquet was white and round, with two lines of purple flowers that looked like the seams on a baseball.
The flower girls, wearing tank tops, shorts and flip-flops, carried baseball mitts. They tossed peanuts onto the field as they joined the wedding party.
The bride, 22, has always been a tomboy, but she never watched an entire baseball game until she started dating Buchanan last year.
The groom, 30, makes up for whatever sporting deficiencies she might have. He's a fan of every sport, an avid softball player and stat-keeper who gets fantasy-baseball alerts on his cell phone.
Believe it or not, it was her idea to get married on a baseball field. Once the idea came to her, she thought of all the cute ways she could personalize it.
The couple had their reception at the Falmouth Fire Department and served baseball food: nachos, hamburgers and hot dogs.
She works at a salon in North Stafford, and he works at Pep Boys and coaches on the side. Both live with her parents, Joe and Diane Mustra, at Lake Anna.
Most of the people the couple hired for wedding services are friends, fellow coaches or relatives of her customers, so the couple got everything at a discount. Their customized wedding cost less than $3,000.
"I think it's great, they got exactly what they wanted," said groomsman Warren Young, the bride's brother. "They're starting off on the right foot instead of being in debt."
Cathy Dyson: 540/374-5425
Email: cdyson@freelancestar.com
