Our Field of Dreams - a Baseball Wedding

Can you imagine getting married on a baseball diamond? A baseball wedding was the dream of lifelong Mets fans Dave Kerpen and Carrie Fisher, and they found a unique way to make it happen.

After her parents paid for her first wedding five years earlier, Carrie didn't think she could ask her parents again to shell out for a lavish wedding. So instead, the couple got dozens of sponsors to pay for everything from their wedding rings to the flowers. The Brooklyn Cyclones, (the Mets single A affiliate team) joined in, providing their stadium, Keyspan Park, as the venue for the July 8, 2006 wedding, and the onsite restaurant for the rehearsal dinner. Additionally, Dave and Carrie were able to pool money from sponsors and donate $20,000 to the David Wright Foundation, which fights Multiple Sclerosis.

Held immediately after the game, the wedding was attended not only by 400 of the couple's friends and family, but also the 8,000 Cyclones fans who had come to the game. The bride and groom stood under a Huppah (the Jewish wedding canopy) as their 9 bridesmaids and 9 groomsmen watched from the 1st and 3rd baselines.

Rather than baseball jerseys, the bride wore a simple white v-neck satin mermaid-style gown with a train, while the groom wore a black suit with a red tie. After the ceremony, the wedding party exited under an arch of baseball bats held by Brooklyn Cyclones players.

"This was our dream wedding, " said Fisher. While she wouldn't necessarily recommend this type of wedding to other couples, unless they already worked in sales and marketing, she does say "Whatever your dream is for your wedding, you can achieve that."

Sponsored weddings first came into prominence in 2000 when a Philadelphia man in ad sales got the idea to have his wedding sponsored. In exchange for donations, companies got to have their names appear on everything from the invitations to the thank you cards.

But Carrie and Dave found a different way to have their wedding sponsored. Because their wedding was at a sports stadium, immediately following a game, sponsor messages were announced between innings. And although ceremony at home plate had some moments of humor – such as the bride promising to fold the laundry – it was a traditional Jewish wedding ceremony, conducted by a rabbi, without any advertising whatsoever. The reception afterwards was an elegant and private event for their friends and family.

The couple still had their critics. Etiquette doyen Peggy Post was quoted in the New York Times as saying, "It really takes away so much of the beauty and dignity of a wedding." And while sponsored weddings have become more common in the last six years, they are still unusual and frequently thought of as tacky.

There are also a few downsides of having your wedding at a baseball stadium. Still revved up from the game, the crowd had a hard time settling down for the wedding and was often talking when the rabbi was speaking. Meanwhile, the white train of Carrie's dress was getting a little dirty on home plate.

But the bride and groom's family were just happy to celebrate. When asked if she was surprised when she learned about her son's wedding, mother of the groom Rayni Joan said, "I wasn't surprised at all. Dave has been a lifelong baseball fan, ever since the 1986 Mets won the World Series. And he had so many very very dear friends that he wanted to include. This wedding was perfect for that – he could have his team of nine. I'm thrilled for them."