The Best Wedding Chapel

Angie Faller
Effingham Daily News

May 01, 2008 02:27 pm

— SHELBYVILLE — Just behind the Shelby County Courthouse lies an old brick chapel once a Catholic church but still full of life.
Kids laugh and play in the basement at a day care center during the day, while couples are married there in the afternoons, evenings and Saturdays and a small, but faithful congregation gathers for church services on Sunday mornings.
Darrell Best, a nondenominational minister who runs the Best Wedding Chapel, said he caters toward people seeking affordable, spiritual weddings.
“When I got married, I had left my father’s church. My beliefs and lifestyle had changed, so I didn’t want to get married there. I had a cousin who was a minister and he officiated my service. I wanted to help those who were just like me who wanted a wedding,” Best said.
His packages run from $75 to $200, and all ceremonies include the decorations, music and officiating.
The weekday special, which Best nicknamed the “naptime special,” is available from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. The package is $75 and includes the bride, groom and witnesses.
The weekday special is during the children’s naptime downstairs. The reason Best only allows the bride, groom and witnesses to attend that ceremony is because he doesn’t want to wake up the children sleeping in the basement below the chapel.
Small wedding packages at times other than during the “naptime special” are $100 if booked in advance. The chapel can seat 75 guests, so the full-guest wedding package is $200 if booked in advance.
Theme-based weddings also are available with themes like biker, beach, gothic, gangster, fireman, hippie, boating and outdoor, and they have proved to be memorable occasions for Best.
“There’s no rules in my chapel. No dress code, although so far everyone has been dressed. We’ve had dresses that cost thousands of dollars, and people in sandals and cutoffs.
“We’ve had quite a bit of bikers and Harley weddings. There was one wedding where the pews were filled and everyone was wearing black leather. I ride, too, so afterwards we all went and road around Lake Shelbyville,” he said.
Best also has many fond memories of medieval-themed weddings.
“We had one where the guys were knights, and the girls were wenches. They were carrying the broad-sized axes. At another medieval wedding, the bride asked me if I had a tunic and tights. I didn’t, but I had an old priest’s robe that tied in nicely with the ceremony,” he said.
During the warmer months, couples can take a cruise through Shelbyville in an antique 1942 open top fire truck the Bests own. In fact, couples can actually get married on top of the fire truck, and it’s actually the truck that led Best to his chapel.
“At the time I bought the church, I was the president of the Metro East Credit Union in Alton. I always thought it would be nice to have a chapel near home and still keep my day job.
“While traveling to Eagle Creek Resort, I saw this cool open-top truck on the side of the road, and I thought, ‘that’s what I want for my ministry. That’s what I could take to people to get married. They could stand on top of the truck, have fun, and I could make a bunch of noise,’” he said.
The Bests came back to Shelbyville to buy the truck. While there, the man who sold them the truck mentioned the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church building was for sale. The parish was moving into a newer and bigger building. But Best didn’t even think about the comment at first.
“We drove the fire truck home, and then my wife Lisa asked, ‘what did you think about what he said about the church?’ We called the man back and he told us to call the Realtor. We made arrangements to come look at the church on a Tuesday and signed the papers before the day was over,” Best said.
So Best finally owned the chapel he always wanted, but the location wasn’t close enough to keep the day job like he had planned.
“I never dreamed I’d quit my day job. It was a leap of faith, because I was always used to getting a paycheck and benefits. After the zoning was cleared, I quit,” he said.
“My brother thought I was nuts. It just floored him. A lot of people I talked to shook their heads, but it turned out fine. I felt comfortable that we were doing the right thing. Seven years here confirms I wasn’t totally nuts,”
Best, his wife, Lisa, and their three sons soon moved into the old church where they live in the rectory. The Bests run a day care out of the basement during the day and hold wedding ceremonies in the evening where the chapel remains ready for a wedding at all times.
“It remains decorated 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Best said.
Best doesn’t run fly-by-night weddings. All couples must have a valid Shelby County marriage license at least one day prior to the wedding and good up to 60 days.
With the courthouse next door, Best has had couples show up on his doorstep with marriage licenses in hand.
He vividly remembered one couple who were desperately trying to get married on their fifth anniversary of being together.
“The justice of the peace couldn’t officiate their ceremony, and they didn’t realize there was a wedding chapel. They wanted to be married that day on their fifth anniversary. They went around the area knocking on church doors, until someone finally told them about the chapel,” Best said, adding he still sees the couple around town quite often.
Other than helping people hold affordable and memorable weddings, Best also is proud of the church’s spiritual history.
“The church has been a continual sanctuary since the 1870s,” he said. “The Immaculate Conception Church continued to have services here until August 2000 when they had their grand opening (at their new church).”
Best began performing wedding ceremonies at the church the next year, so the church has been the home to religious ceremonies for about 130 years.
The Gothic-style, former Catholic church has 14-foot original stained-glass windows and a 33-foot cathedral ceiling. Other interesting touches one can find at the Best Wedding Chapel include a bubble machine and a little-known fog machine.
“We had a couple who was nervous about kissing in public,” Best said, adding the fog diversion allowed the couple to feel comfortable enough to make the big kiss. “Our fog machine adds mystique but is not well publicized.”
In the end, Best is willing to go the extra mile for those he marries.
“If it makes it more special for them, we’ll do it. I do not counsel. If they come here, then they’re probably going to leave married,” Best said. “This is my life, and I love what I do.”
Angie Faller can be reached at 217-347-7151 ext. 131 or angie.faller@
effinghamdailynews.com.

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