A marriage made in (convenience store) heaven

By Staff
Couple takes wedding vows at the same place they met – the Hartselle Exxon Station
Leada Gore, Hartselle Enquirer
Donny Goodman can't remember what he bought the day he walked in the Exxon convenience store in Hartselle and saw the pretty clerk behind the cash register. She remembers his purchase well, however.
"He bought a Power Bar, a Red Bull and some cigarettes," Betty Delawder said with a smile.
Last Tuesday night, months after their initial encounter, Goodman and Delawder took their vows at the place they met, the Hartselle Exxon.
It's also where Goodman proposed.
"I met her there, proposed there and thought it made sense to get married there," Goodman said.
The ceremony was held at the front of the store a little after 6 p.m. Rev. William Clark, minister of Salem UMC, performed the ceremony. The convenience store wedding was a new one for him, too.
"I've done them (wedding ceremonies) in a lot of strange places, but never a convenience store," he said.
The bride wore a cream pantsuit and the groom dark pants and tie. There weren't any flowers, though a bunch of Tootsie Roll Pops served as a makeshift bouquet. The strains of "Here Comes the Bride" were replaced by the chimes of a nearby video game.
Maid of honor was Angie Atchley, a fellow clerk at the Exxon. Her husband, Michael, was best man.
The convenience store wedding was Angie's idea.
"Betty wanted Michael to give her away and if she's not working, I am, so this was what worked out," she said.
Delawder said the wedding's location was a surprise to her and she only learned they would be married at the store that day.
"He planned it all," she said of her groom.