Would you get married at a plantation? Or a castle? Or a prison? Or a cemetery?

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Photo of Eastern State Penitentiary wedding by Mike Allebach
Photo of Eastern State Penitentiary wedding by Mike Allebach

We featured a Filipino/Persian wedding that was held a lovely garden estate — that used to be a plantation. A commenter chimed in:

…not really sure if a Southern Plantation with slavery history is the ideal place for a wedding. I couldn't focus on the beauty of it knowing that it held such memories of immense suffering.

This comment brings up so many interesting questions — is a plantation's history simply too devastating to be a viable wedding venue? Does it make a difference if the couple getting married there is white or not? We kind of love that a place with horrible history is being redeemed. A nonwhite wedding at a southern plantation makes a statement.

That said, we've made the decision not to feature weddings held at plantations on the site again.

This decision got us to thinking… Does this mean that castle weddings are also less than ideal for a wedding? Their histories aren't the cleanest either, with their dungeons and battles and torturers.

Then there are the prison weddings — does that feel okay? Which prisons feel okay, and which don't? What about zoo weddings? Some animal rights folks can't even set foot in a zoo.

What about cemeteries? Some people see it as disrespectful, while others see cemetery weddings as a way to honor their ancestors and recognize 'til death do us part. How much does the identity of the couple getting married there factor in? Does it matter if you have family interred at that cemetery?

We don't have answers here, and we're not into policing other people's choices… but we're curious about how each of you draw the lines for yourselves.

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