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BRIDES (special section) Newtown's Meeting House Offers "Pristine" Setting For

Inter-Faith Or Non-Denominational Weddings

(with cuts)

BY DOROTHY EVANS

When Bridal Consultant Sherry Paisley meets her potential "customers" --

meaning any couple visiting Newtown's historic Meeting House with a wedding on

their minds -- her eyes light up and she can't help smiling.

There can be no more beautiful place than this, she believes, for two people

to marry in the company of family and friends.

Especially when they are from different faiths, when it is a second marriage,

or when the couple wants to bring in an outside minister or a Justice of the

Peace.

"The sanctuary is really so lovely... pristine, I would say," Mrs Paisley

says, "and it can be decorated in so many ways to fit the tastes of each

couple."

As she walks down the carpeted center aisle of the building located within

Newtown's Historic District, she points out the many architectural features

that contribute so much to an overall feeling of elegance and simplicity:

elegant chandeliers overhead, wooden pews with comfortable cushions, tall

windows, sculptured pillars and ceiling moldings.

A low proscenium and clean, white wall at the back of the building's interior

is waiting to be decorated in whatever manner a couple desires, she points

out.

"Flowers look wonderful here. We have a large wooden cross that can be hung,"

she said, or a couple may choose to do something entirely different, such as

hang wreaths or greenery.

The wedding last October of Sandy Hook residents Morgen McLaughlin and

Nathaniel Smith, Mrs Paisley pointed out, was "a classic example of not

needing much to make the building look beautiful." With the help of Newtown

Florist, the couple used small wheat sprays wrapped with maroon bows to adorn

the end of each pew, while a large spray was set up on the podium in the front

of the sanctuary. Creativity by couples allows the building to be personalized

to their own style.

"Last spring we had a bride who wanted to put up a `Wedding Ring' quilt

because she was a quilt enthusiast," she added.

The Perfect Place To Say `I Do'

There are many other features that make the Meeting House ideal for weddings.

Mrs Paisley, who is working in cooperation with the Heritage Preservation

Trust of Newtown, Inc. (which has been given jurisdiction over the town-owned

building), is entirely convinced the Meeting House can serve a vital and

useful function to many couples living in the greater Danbury area.

According the Mrs Paisley, there are only two other similar buildings where

people can get married within a 150-mile radius. There is the Putney Chapel in

Stratford, located within the city's Booth Memorial Park. In Newburgh, N.Y.,

there is The Chapel of the Holy Name. The Newburgh building is set atop a

mountain, offering a lovely view, but it is available April through October

only, and it does not have restroom facilities.

Newtown's Meeting House, is centrally located opposite the flagpole on Main

Street, and though there are only five or six parking places in front, there

is ample parking nearby, Mrs Paisley said. Most wedding guests use the site of

the former Yankee Drover Inn, in the lot adjacent to the Meeting House, for

parking. Access into the lot is from Main Street or West Street, making entry

and departure to and from the "parking lot" very accommodating.

"The front parking area can be roped off, and it makes a perfect place to

`park' a horse and carriage," she added.

Also, the Meeting House is one of only a few places where couples can arrange

a wedding on fairly short notice, she added.

"You can't walk into a church these days and say I want to get married next

week. But we can usually accommodate people's needs."

She mentioned that the Meeting House could hold up to 200 guests, which was a

larger number than any other similar facility in the area.

"The Putney Chapel in Stratford is lovely, but it only sits 50. Most people

need a little more space that." The Putney Chapel is also unheated, which

prevents weddings from being held in the winter.

"And people want a center aisle to walk down. This place still has a sacred

feel," she added. Wedding parties also feel very special getting married in a

building that is on the National Register of Historic Places, another

distinction of the beautiful Newtown building.

The Meeting House has an operating pipe organ and a new, lower pulpit was put

in place.

There are chandeliers with up to 24 displays (in three tiers of eight) to

provide plenty of light during the service. They may be dimmed, if necessary,

by the use of a rheostat.

Up to three weddings a day may be scheduled at, for example, 11 am, 2 pm, or 5

pm, since "most wedding ceremonies don't really take that long," Mrs Paisley

said.

There are two rooms downstairs (one a meeting room with tables and chairs, and

one a fully equipped kitchen) below the sanctuary that may be rented for the

bridal party to gather, or to prepare food before or after the ceremony.

Only 188 Years Old

In the Colonial and post-Colonial villages of New England, the meeting house

was the centerpiece of everything that went on in town. According to Newtown

Town Historian Dan Cruson, a meeting house was frequently "the most imposing

building, but more importantly is was the social, religious, and political

center of the community." Mr Cruson wrote an essay for Newtown Historical

Society a few years ago detailing the background of the historically-rich

structure.

The present structure at 31 Main Street is actually the second meeting house

constructed by the Ecclesiastical Society of Newtown, according to Mr Cruson.

In 1718, Thomas Skidmore offered to build a meeting house measuring 50 feet

long and 36 feet wide for the sum of 45 pounds. His offer was accepted and the

structure was completed by the summer of 1720. The building was in continuous

use, Mr Cruson wrote, until the construction of the present building 88 years

later.

The meeting house was first built in the intersection of the Town Street (Main

Street today) and the Upper Cross Highway (West Street and Church Hill Road)

-- in the center of the road, where Newtown's famous flagpole sits today.

By 1792, the "ecclesiastical situation," as Mr Cruson calls it, had changed.

The Episcopalians needed to build a new church, but the meeting house was in

the way of the proposed building. So on June 13 of that year, "a body of men

.. moved the meeting house 132 feet to the west." In 1808 the Congregational

Society, which was by then in charge of the building, decided to build a new

meeting house.

Parts of the original, oldest building were retained and reused in the "new"

structure. These include the antique chanticleer (rooster) weathervane and the

original bell from 1768. During the building's original construction, "as much

material from the old structure as possible was salvaged to be used in the new

one," Mr Cruson wrote. Also surviving the reconstruction -- and a huge

restoration project in 1991, after the Congregational Church moved into new

quarters further up West Street -- were the massive granite steps that lead

into the front door.

It is hard to believe, Mrs Paisley said, that the "new" second Meeting House

has stood in that same place for 188 years.

But it only seems right and perfectly appropriate, she added, that the

historic and beautiful building, once a meeting house and then a sanctuary for

the Newtown Congregational Church, should continue to function as a community

gathering place.

And what happier gathering could there be than a wedding?

Anyone interested in speaking with Mrs Paisley about holding a wedding in the

Newtown Meeting House should call 270-8293.