For $50, couples can get married in Akron in 15 minutes from the comfort of their car with a quick call to licensed officiant and notary Stephanie Singleton.
Phil and Lakeyonia Honor knew they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together as soon as possible after three years together. In an Akron park on May 22, the couple made it official with a "drive-thru" wedding − though they did get out of the car.
"It was very exciting; it was a little nerve wracking, but Stephanie made everything very soothing, very comfortable," Lakeyonia said. "She took the time to just make it feel special but not to take everything away from our actual wedding that we plan to do later."
Born and raised in Akron, Singleton started Drive-Thru Weddings and Notary for people who want their marriage legal now so they can plan a wedding later. She was inspired by the sign-and-go weddings from her time as a wedding officiant in Las Vegas.
A touch of Vegas in Ohio
In Akron, couples drive to a park at a "convenient" location for travelers, Singleton said, with the address kept confidential and given at time of deposit for safety reasons. Here, Singleton reads the pair a marital oath, they say "I do," and she signs their paperwork.
They must provide an Ohio marriage license for the correct county, which Singleton will mail or bring to the courthouse.
People can choose to stay in the car or stand outside and can exchange rings and vows for an extra $25.
Many drive-thru weddings are held the same day they're scheduled, the wedding officiant said, and she has seen couples drive up in onesies, Browns jerseys and dresses and suits. Some come during their lunch breaks. Singleton has even performed a ceremony through Google Translate.
"I love love," Singleton said. "This is really a convenient way for couples who do not want to spend thousands of dollars, or they don't have a lot of family nearby. There's a lot of reasons why they choose to go the small route instead of just the courthouse or the big blowout. It's like an in-between medium."
Singleton said she performs at least one wedding a day for couples of any background from across the state. She began her services in 2020 with micro-weddings, which she now holds at her own small venue with the name Blu-Tique Micro-Wedding Venue at the BLU-Tique Hotel at 1 S. Main St. in Akron, close to the Summit County Courthouse. The drive-thru idea came around August 2023.
Couples can choose from the drive-thru wedding package that includes two guests, an elopement package starting at $150 that includes up to 10 guests, and an officiant-for-hire option starting at $200, where Singleton will travel to various locations for the ceremony.
Those interested in any service can call or text 330-333-0249.
"I do seven days a week, all calendar holidays," Singleton said. "I have been in Christmas Day and done drive-thrus. If there's a double digit, especially when there was 2/22/24 or something like that, people like that. The only thing I have not done fully is no one's taken me fully Las-Vegas style, where there's some type of gimmick."
'It's amazing. Every day is something different'
Phil, 42, and Lakeyonia, 25, met and started dating while working together in North Carolina. From there, the couple moved to Northfield so Phil, who grew up in foster care, could get to know his birth father.
The Honors have lived out of state for about a month and are starting up a nonprofit to help support people who have come out of the foster care system.
When heading to the courthouse May 22, the then-engaged couple found one of Singleton's business cards and called that day to schedule their wedding. Phil had on an all-white suit and Lakeyonia wore a white dress and held a bouquet when becoming husband and wife.
"It's amazing; every day is something different," Singleton said. "I don't touch their spiritual, religious beliefs, symbolic gestures or whatever they do in their ceremony. They just use me for the legal part, and I turn it into a beautiful experience. Now they can choose to either get married locally or destination without having to deal any with the paperwork. But we still make sure it's a special day."
The idea to become ordained came from Singleton's time as a hairstylist, which she started doing at 18 years old. She found herself wanting to help women embrace self-love beyond outer beauty.
"The transition of growth, knowledge, wisdom, family, talking to young girls and women who are like who I was once in the chair − I was up there coaching," she said. "We're talking about family, love, issues, and I'm finding myself sharing wisdom and mentoring and having more passion about that."
Coming back to Akron to help her mother, Singleton saw an opportunity to bring micro- and drive-thru weddings to the area since nothing similar existed. She held the ribbon cutting for her start-up venue in Tallmadge called A Princess for a Day on Feb. 28, 2020, but she performed zero weddings for months due to COVID-19 shutdowns.
When businesses opened back up that June, larger venues were still struggling, so couples began calling Singleton.
Holding weddings at BLU-Tique since May 2023, Singleton runs her micro- and drive-thru wedding brands as sister companies, and she promotes the services on social media, with booths at city events and on bus ads.
Drive-thru weddings have become more popular as the idea has spread, Singleton said, so she pushes that option in her ads.
Over the years, people still reach back out to her with photos and updates as their love grows in married life.
"We really appreciate Stephanie for her hospitality and for being a professional about things," Phil Honor said. "When we called her up, she was very nice. She was very attentive to what we wanted."
The Honors plan to have a formal wedding in Puerto Rico on May 22, 2026. They said a drive-thru wedding can be a perfect option for many couples.
"If you're in love, and this is your partner, and you know that this is your partner, and you feel like you want to just get it done, I would encourage you to use the drive thru," Phil said. "It's very easy, very simple. It can capture the moment that you want captured."
Reporter Isabella Schreck can be contacted at ischreck@gannett.com.
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