Groves Chamber Provides Venue for Elopement Day, Vow Renewal
Published 3:32 pm Tuesday, June 23, 2026
GROVES — Three couples celebrated their nuptials courtesy the Groves Chamber of Commerce & Tourist Center and local vendors recently.
Free elopement or vow renewal day was held June 19 at The Courtyard Cafe and featured all of the accessories associated with weddings.
The newlyweds are Nathan and Amber Hebert and Ashley and Caityln Howard. Billy and Ronda Rich celebrated the renewal of their vows after being married for 51 years.
The call was made for couples seeking to elope or renew their vows and three couples signed up to elope and one to renew their vows. Groves Chamber of Commerce & Tourist Center Executive Director Letha Knaus said the event was originally to showcase Celebration Park as a venue. The park at 4401 Lincoln Ave. is under the purview of the Chamber and in the past has been a destination for weddings.
The Chamber took over the operation of Celebration Park in January 2025 and since then has spent almost $8,000 for a fence to be completed at the back of the property and is tasked with maintenance.
“We only rented it a few times in the past year for weddings. We found people don’t know much about it (the park) if they’re not in central Groves. We needed to get the word out,” Knaus said. Some years ago the Chamber learned about elopement day and sought to find a way to make it a Groves event. Knaus spoke with Justice of the Peace Brad Burnett who, she said, jumped at the idea of taking part in the nuptials.
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But due to the weather the elopement day/vow renewals was moved to The Courtyard Cafe and “turned out beautifully,” she said. Merchants and vendors in Groves who are part of Love on Lincoln, a push to showcase the work of businesses in that area, provided the accessories needed to make a wedding special. Flowers, lighting, cakes and more were provided for the couples.
