SIMPLE WATERFRONT WEDDINGS WON’T INCUR FEE

By Jeannie Nugent/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF

It was only going to be a five-minute affair at the most, but Jefferson County Justice of the Peace Delton Wright was surprised when he was told that the bride and groom that wanted to be married on the waterfront at the newly unveiled Saracen Landing would have to shell out $400 before reciting their nuptials.

All the couple wanted, Wright said, was to walk up under the red-roofed awning and say their vows — guests, chairs, tables, and the white tulle that usually accompany such celebrations were not part of the plan.

He was taken aback when Pine Bluff Parks and Recreation Director Angela Parker told him that he would still have to pay the hefty rental fee, he said Thursday.

“It didn’t sound right to me, so I called one of the commissioners,” Wright said.

When Wright brought the issue before the Parks and Recreation Commission on Thursday night, Parker told the group that the fee was derived after consulting with the Little Rock Riverfront managers. That park charges $350 per day to rent the pavilion, but chairs, tables and electricity are extra.

“We thought $400 was a fair fee for all of it,” Parker said.

The Saracen Landing fee includes 200 metal chairs, 24 tables, electricity, water, public restrooms and covered parking.

It would not be fair, Parker said, to charge a rental fee to some and not to others.

“My thing is we’re telling people when they call and say ‘What are we going to have to do to get this facility?’ And we’re telling them it will be $400, but then they come by here and see somebody using it for free, they’re going to be ticked off.”

Wright maintained that Saracen Landing was a public park, funded by the taxpayers. He further argued that the Jefferson County Quorum Court had donated in-kind work and had put $10,000 in cash towards the project.

Commissioners directed that the rental policy be tuned up a bit. Simple waterfront marriages, with no set-up or decorations, will be allowed free of charge as long as they don’t interfere with reserved, leased events.

“If someone comes up here to have a picnic and if there is nobody there, they can have a picnic,” Commissioner Harvey Jacks said. “But if you want to reserve it then it’s $400 and nobody else can use it.”

Wright said he was pleased with the resolution to the issue, but was sorry that the couple lost out on the waterside nuptials.

“The bride wanted the Saracen Landing site because she thought it was romantic. It was different and something new,” he said.

Instead, the couple was married Thursday morning at the county courthouse.

Friday morning, however, Wright stood on the Saracen Landing pavilion with the fountain gushing water into the air behind him, said a prayer then recited traditional wedding vows for another young couple — all at no charge.

“I was happy, very happy at the outcome,” Wright said. “Some people like the romantic stuff. I just know that now if people want to go down there and get married then they can.”