January 7, 2010 in City

Pair approach nuptials with can-do attitude

They’ll recycle receptacles to fund wedding dreams

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Dan Pelle photo

Andrea Parrish and Peter Geyer have collected about 4 percent of their 400,000-can goal. They plan to use recycling proceeds to fund their wedding. They have about 120 pounds of cans in the living room of their Spokane home, which they share with their cat, Smudgie.
(Full-size photo)

They traditionally play a small, but significant, part in the American wedding.

Cans, that is.

You know: The clattering things that get playfully tied to the back of the “just married” getaway vehicle.

But now come Andrea Parrish, 25, and Peter Geyer, 29, with a new idea.

Last month the Spokane couple set up a Web site – www.weddingcans.com – asking the cyber world to help fund their July wedding with the proceeds from recycling 400,000 aluminum cans.

So far these lovebirds have received the equivalent of 18,441 cans, or 4 percent of their goal.

Oh, you crazy kids and your Internet.

“My parents have always thought I was nuts,” Andrea said with an explosive laugh.

On Tuesday I dropped in on Pete and Andrea’s north Spokane home to see what I could do to help these two accomplish their unorthodox quest.

What a sight. Half of their living room was piled with can-stuffed plastic sacks.

Pete pointed to a couple of bags containing about a thousand hangovers’ worth of crushed Busch Light beer cans. The guy who donated, Pete joked, “claims he has a bunch of friends.”

I once had a neighbor who had a lot of empties scattered in his front room. Marital discord was the only thing he got out of those.

But getting back to Andrea and Pete, you can drop cans off at Instant Sign Factory, Second Avenue and Post Street. That’s where Pete works.

The pair will also pick up your recyclables if you contact them.

Or you can recycle cans no matter where you live and donate the money through the PayPal account on the weddingcans Web site.

Their idea struck me as pretty clever and creative when a co-worker told me about it the other day.

Or maybe I’m just in a wedding bell sort of mood. Believe it or not, I am writing these words on my 37th wedding anniversary.

That’s right. I married my lovely bride, Sherry, on Jan. 6, 1973.

That still stands as the best thing I ever did.

The mutton chop sideburns and hot pink ruffled shirt I wore to my wedding, alas, haven’t stood the test of time.

Before our vows could be exchanged, however, I had my own daunting task to fulfill.

See, my mother-in-law didn’t exactly take a shine to me. For reasons that were completely lost on me, she believed her daughter could do better than to marry an itinerant musician who dropped out of college to go play on the road.

So she told me I had to save $1,000 before we could get hitched with her blessing.

A thousand bucks. Man, that was some serious scratch back in 1973. But love, as they say, conquers all.

I did what any motivated young man would do. I sold some personal items. I squirreled away every dollar I made from playing or teaching trumpet and guitar.

I hit my Old Man up for a loan.

In the end I had a savings account with a balance of $1,000 and change.

Will Andrea and Pete reach their mark?

It’s too early to tell. We’re talking about 5 tons of aluminum, which, in today’s depressed recycling market, yield about $3,800.

That’s not much of a nuptial nest egg. According to one online source, the average USA wedding is a shade under 30 grand.

Yikes.

But as it turns out, the union of Andrea and Pete is about as unconventional as their recycling pitch.

The two plan to get married in a castle in Hope, Idaho, on July 31. The ceremony, they said, will be a “handfasting.” This, I’m told, involves braiding cords over and around the held hands of the bride and groom, but not in an S&M bondage way.

Let me explain: Pete and Andrea are active in the Empire of Adria, a Spokane club dedicated to re-creating medieval lore and lifestyles.

I know. It sounds confusing.

But this is all you need to know about the wedding of Andrea and Pete.

After the ceremony, the bride will fling her bouquet at the crowd via a sort of catapult device called a “trebuchet.”

Hmm. I’m beginning to think Andrea’s parents have a point.

This doesn’t sound like a wedding. This sounds more like an episode of “MythBusters.”

Doug Clark is a columnist for The Spokesman-Review. He can be reached at (509) 459-5432 or by e-mail at dougc@spokesman.

10 comments on this story so far. Add yours!

• 

  ShannonSullivan on January 07 at 6:15 a.m.

  Congratulations Doug and Sherry!!!!!!!!!

  She must be a saint……Just kidding!!

  Your a good man Doug Clark, don’t always agree, but almost always laugh!!!!

  37 years is nothing to sneeze at, and with celebrities such as yourself, doesn’t usually happen; your no tiger woods!!! :) How refreshing!!!!

• 

  Axe on January 07 at 8:28 a.m.

  They should also have a lot of “bottled” up pention.

• 

  ChefGus/ John Olsen on January 07 at 9:59 a.m.

  Mr Clark… thanks for this.. i got an email from my daughter and her wife from San Francisco about this yesterday… best gus

• 

  uptowngirl on January 07 at 2:16 p.m.

  I’m in NYC where we have a 5 cent refund on cans - 400,000 cans would be about $20,000 in refunds! Maybe I should get married again and have a nicer wedding!

• 

  Apostrophist on January 07 at 3:12 p.m.

  I know these kids! They are really cool people. I wrote a story about them, too. http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2010/01/07/wedding-cans-started/

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  kdmas58 on January 07 at 3:41 p.m.

  It would be nice if they could donate the tabs to the Ronald McDonald House. That would be a win win situation. We collected cans for a trip for my daughter and gave the tabs to help the kids at Ronnie’s. Just a thought.

• 

  gigacat13 on January 07 at 4:48 p.m.

  In Oregon we have a bottle bill where each aluminum drink can has a $.05 deposit. The $.05 is returned to you when you bring the can back to the store. That translates to $20,000 for 400,000 cans. Too bad you two don’t live in Oregon. Maybe you could start a campaign to have a bottle bill in Washington. We just recently extended ours to cover bottled water. Good luck and keep fighting the good fight.

  gigacat13

• 

  cwiseazcougfan on January 08 at 3:44 p.m.

  Great story! I’ve known Peter since high school. Congratulations!

• 

  westboundorbust on January 12 at 12:15 a.m.

  Lame!

• 

  RichardF44 on April 26 at 11:52 p.m.

  Well, the story is really unusual, as for me, though, very interesting. I really enjoy when people find out some uncommon approaches to common things and events. This fact proves that some people don’t want to live in a boring world with boring people concentrated on the monetary problems and constantly searching for the additional funds in a form of online loans or cash advances in order to be satisfied. A lot of people just stopped noticing the REAL life with its real beauty. It is really upsetting and I really grad for this couple.