I do x 2: Couple weds at Clinton House; first wedding since Bill and Hillary’s
Posted on Sunday, August 12, 2007
The Clinton House in Fayetteville was the scene of another wedding Saturday. Sarah McGregor and Todd Gill, both of Fayetteville, were the first couple to exchange vows in the quaint 1930 s cottage on South California Boulevard since President Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said "I do"on Oct. 11, 1975. "Ever since one hot day in Memphis, when Todd went up to Sarah and asked to borrow her Justin Timberlake CD as an excuse to talk to her, their love and understanding of each other has grown and matured," said "the good reverend "Seth Gunderson, the bridegroom's best friend. Gunderson got ordained by Rose Ministries and OpenOrdination. org just to perform the McGregor-Gill wedding.
The couple did not have a Clinton-themed wedding, although they did send the Clintons an invitation and both Clintons responded.
"Your lives will be richer and happier because you chose each other. May the coming years bring you abundant laughter in the good times, courage in the tough times, growing wisdom and an enduring love," wrote Bill Clinton in a letter presented to the couple after the ceremony by someone who knows the Clintons.
"People always ask, ' Are you huge Clinton fans ? ' We love the Clintons and we always have; but, ultimately, the venue ended up being absolutely perfect for what we wanted which was a casual, summer, small wedding. And we have the added perk of being the first people to get married there since the Clintons," said Sarah.
"We wanted to do something different," she said, adding," We're very nontraditional when it comes to weddings and everything else."
The allure of the little house linked Sarah (McGregor ) Gill and Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Sarah said she drove by the little house on her way to classes at the University of Arkansas.
"I always knew that was the house they got married at, even before it was a museum. For some reason, when I was trying to find venues, that's the first place that popped in mind. It's the first place I called and it's the only place I went and looked at," she said.
Sarah went on," Apparently, that's how Hillary ended up living there. She was just driving by and noticed it."
Sen. Clinton referred to the house in her good wishes to the younger couple.
"The home may be small but it is filled with lots of love and tremendous memories. It is so touching to me that they chose to start their lives together there. I wish them much love and happiness as they start this journey together," she wrote in an e-mail.
Brittany Starr, director of the Clinton House Museum, in an article about the Clinton wedding, wrote that Bill Clinton bought the house when Hillary Rodham was away after "a passing comment"from her.
President Clinton also referred to the house in his letter to the Gills.
"We're so glad that after all these years, our old house will be the site of another wedding celebration. We still treasure the memories of our time there as we hope you will treasure your own," he wrote.
The Clintons were married in the living room of the little house; the Gills were wed in the backyard where there was more room for the approximately 70 guests.
"It will be very hot; but the ceremony will be very short. We just want to say, ' I do' and kiss each other," said Sarah a few days before the wedding.
But, they didn't exactly say "I do."
Todd and Sarah heard their vows for the first time when Gunderson, in shorts, a Hawaiian shirt and lei, standing on a rock at the backyard pool's edge and holding a notebook with pictures of cats on the cover, read the vows before the wedding congregation.
The couple wanted a ceremony closer to who they really are, he told the Northwest Arkansas Times.
"I think it will be slightly funny yet sweet at the same time, which fits us perfectly," said Sarah last week.
Using lists they gave him about what they loved about each other, Gunderson strove to provide that lighthearted atmosphere.
Gunderson asked Todd if he promised to celebrate Sarah's creativity, if he would watch trashy television shows with her, if he would be as careful as he can be when he rides on a motorcycle and if he would take care of her when she woke him up at night after being scared by critter or bug.
"And will you tell her, as often as you can, that she's the smartest, the funniest, the most considerate and is absolutely the most interesting person that you've ever met and you'd be insane not to love her ? "asked Gunderson.
"I totally do," answered the bridegroom.
Gunderson asked Sarah if she would promise to believe Todd when he thinks the neighbors are in witness protection, if she would help him with Google searches such as how to ride a motorcycle, and not get too upset when he yelled things like rutabaga or cauliflower just as she was falling asleep.
Then the newly-ordained non-denominational friend and minister asked her," And will you remind him daily that his creativity amazes you, his dedication to everything he loves is contagious, his charming personality is the most genuine thing ever and the way he makes you, and everyone else around him laugh is something you simply cannot deny loving ?"
"No doubt," she answered.
Sarah's mother, Dr. Catherine Reese, said after the ceremony," Wasn't that awesome ? Wasn't that the sweetest wedding ever ?"
Todd Gill's father, Terry, answered," Did we just attend a wedding ceremony ?"
Then they hugged.
"I think that our families are blessed in ways we can't even imagine," said Reese.
For the wedding, Sarah wore a white summer sun dress with a blue sash, a ring of snowflakes tatooed around her arm. Todd, in blue jeans and a white shirt hanging out, wore a blue tie that matched Sarah's sash.
The bridesmaids wore black sun dresses of their own choosing. They entered from the back garden gate, a black dog with a yellow pop-bead necklace ambling beside them.
Some traditions were upheld.
Sarah's Dad, Don McGregor of Jonesborro, also in a Hawaiian shirt, walked her down the aisle between the rows of white folding chairs beneath trees decked with white Japanese paper lanterns.
Rings were exchanged and placed on each other's ring fingers.
Gunderson, speaking for Sarah, told Todd," And please note that I'm placing it on your ring finder and not your middle one. I know you wanted it there, but, honey, that's just too weird."
After declaring the couple married, Gunderson said," You may now totally smooch each other."
Which they did.
The Clinton wedding was a bit more traditional, but Starr also described it as brief and un-ceremonial. It was followed the next day by a larger reception, the combination of events being a compromise between the big wedding bash Bill wanted and the no-fanfare wedding Hillary preferred.
Vic Nixon, a minister and a Clinton supporter, performed the ceremony.
Like Sarah, Hillary wore a white dress. Tradition has it that she bought it the day before, off-the-rack at Dillard's.
The Clintons' reception at the home of Ann and Morris Henry "quickly turned into a political pep rally," with friends urging Bill Clinton to run for office, Starr reported.
The Gills' reception, like the wedding, was non-traditional.
"As far as food and drinks, we're just going to do what we would like. We're having pizza and Cracker Jacks and margaritas. We sort of have a carnival foods style theme except we wanted to have margaritas, which doesn't really go; but, we don't really care," said Sarah.
Also on the menu were corn dogs, cotton candy, circus peanuts, salt water taffy, fruit and vegetable plates, cheese and cracker and nachos.
A framed poster invitation, silk-screened by an artist friend, hung behind the tier of cupcakes which were the couple's wedding cake.
That combination of food ties into Todd's explanation of his love for Sarah.
"She is incredibly creative. I've always been drawn to those kind of people and she's the most creative person I've ever met," he said last week.
"For example, she took this small budget for our wedding and instead of making it look cheap, she chose this county fair / carnival theme. Now we can buy corn dogs and cotton candy and it seems appropriate."
"He's honestly the funniest person I ever met and the sweetest, too. And, to me, that is the best combination. Very caring, sweet and hilarious," said Sarah.
Their story to the Times of how they met did not include the Timberlake CD.
Todd said they met at an amateur wrestling event in Memphis where he was filling in on guitar for the country-rock band Lucero.
Sarah said she is no musician but she likes music and she knows what she likes.
"The first time I saw him, I said, ' I'm going to marry that guy. ' I'd never said it before," said Sarah.
She doesn't know what possessed her to say that.
"Mostly, I think I thought he was cute," she said.
Todd remembers it this way," She actually gave me her phone number. I thought that was quite bold. I found out later that was the only time she ever gave her phone number to anybody."
Todd was seeing someone else at the time, so they didn't start dating until a few months later and will have been together four years this November.
"Somehow I convinced her to follow me to Fayetteville. I wanted to come back home," said Todd.
The Clintons met in 1970 either at the Yale library or in a civil liberties class.
One account of the Clintons says that Hillary, like Sarah," followed her heart "to Fayetteville.
Bill Clinton went on to serve as governor of his home state for 12 years and as president of the United States from 1993 to 2001.
Hillary Clinton is the senator from New York and is currently a presidential candidate and a front-runner for the Democratic ticket.
Todd Gill is continuing his music career. Sarah Gill runs her own business, an online vintage clothing store called Bittersweet Styles.
They will begin their married life, as the Clintons did, in a little house they bought in Fayetteville.
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