Car Insurance and a Las Vegas Wedding: Could it be an Award Winning Geico Commerical?
Posted: Saturday, February 28, 2009
by Teresa Ortiz
Freelance writer/Speaker
Monday, October 21, 1985, was the beginning of one of the craziest weeks of our lives.
We had been engaged for at least one year--well kind of engaged, if you call being told that you were going to marry someone while you were bagging groceries during your night shift job an official engagement, then yes, we were engaged. Oops, I'm getting side tracked.
As I was saying, on Monday we decided it would be better to buy a second car and push back the wedding. It wasn't that big of a deal and being I just graduated from high school a few months back, there was no big hurry. It was tough buying a car at 17, but it all worked out since I was the co-buyer and he, being 22, was the buyer.
Wednesday, October 23, 1985, found me calling every insurance company in the Yellow Pages. I could not believe our monthly premium was going to be the same amount as our car payment. I suppose we should have known given our age. "How much would it be if we were married?" I decided to ask--no harm in collecting data. "You have got to be kidding me!" was my response. Hmm.
Thursday, October 24, 1985, we celebrated my 18th birthday by having a nice dinner out. "So how is the insurance hunting coming along", he asked. "Well, it's like this…" He was just as stunned as I was. "Geeze, we should just get married now, our insurance will be so much cheaper!" "Seriously", he responds.
No harm in calling hotels in Vegas, you know, just to gather data.
Well, it must have been in the stars. After a few phone calls, our room was reserved, the chapel was called, and we had two days to let everyone know.
Friday, October 25th, 1985, and I have nothing to wear. My prom dress was out of the question, so my best friend, Patti agreed to dress hunt with me. I had a $40 budget to work with. As luck would have it, I found a dress on the clearance rack at Mervyn's for $35.00. After tax, I had a few pennies to put toward gas money for the drive to Vegas in our beautiful, brand-new, fire engine red-Nissan Sentra. Later this same day, we each had our makeshift bachelor parties.
Saturday, October 26, 1985: It was just past 6:00am and I had just gotten home. Don't be silly, I fell asleep at my girlfriends place. Do you really think I was out all night? After a quick shower, I threw everything in the suitcase and I was ready to go. Except for one problem; I didn't know where Art was. As I looked out of the window, I discovered that he was sleeping in his truck--how did I miss that?
By 7:30, we were on our way to Las Vegas in our brand-new, fire engine red, Nissan Sentra. All was well until we couldn't find the courthouse (We needed our license), and since we didn't reserve our room with a credit card, the hotel gave our room away. (This is another story.) After an hour of driving, we found the courthouse. This was a good thing because by now we are an hour late for what he refers to as our official "branding" session.
At last we arrive at the "Little Chapel of the West". The great thing about a Vegas wedding is that it doesn't matter what time you arrive. You just stand in the back of the line. Our ceremony lasted five minutes at the most. The only people we could gather in such short notice was his parents, my brother, and our best friends, Dean and Patti.
It was a good thing Dean and Art's dad were there as Art did not own a dress shirt or a tie. (Something we had not considered.) So, at the last minute he borrowed Dean's shirt and his dad's tie and wha-la, he was styling.
Like I said, it was an incredible week. We were married two days after my 18th birthday; we had a brand new car, and we got an excellent deal on our car insurance--are there any better reasons to get married?
This was almost 24 years ago--and by the way, I am still waiting for a romantic marriage proposal. Maybe it will come before we need to purchase matching motorized wheel chairs.
Just goes to show you, it's not how you get married it's that you stay married.
I'm thinking this scenario could send those cavemen back to their caves, but that's just me.
© Teresa Ortiz 2009
We had been engaged for at least one year--well kind of engaged, if you call being told that you were going to marry someone while you were bagging groceries during your night shift job an official engagement, then yes, we were engaged. Oops, I'm getting side tracked.
Wednesday, October 23, 1985, found me calling every insurance company in the Yellow Pages. I could not believe our monthly premium was going to be the same amount as our car payment. I suppose we should have known given our age. "How much would it be if we were married?" I decided to ask--no harm in collecting data. "You have got to be kidding me!" was my response. Hmm.
Thursday, October 24, 1985, we celebrated my 18th birthday by having a nice dinner out. "So how is the insurance hunting coming along", he asked. "Well, it's like this…" He was just as stunned as I was. "Geeze, we should just get married now, our insurance will be so much cheaper!" "Seriously", he responds.
No harm in calling hotels in Vegas, you know, just to gather data.
Well, it must have been in the stars. After a few phone calls, our room was reserved, the chapel was called, and we had two days to let everyone know.
Friday, October 25th, 1985, and I have nothing to wear. My prom dress was out of the question, so my best friend, Patti agreed to dress hunt with me. I had a $40 budget to work with. As luck would have it, I found a dress on the clearance rack at Mervyn's for $35.00. After tax, I had a few pennies to put toward gas money for the drive to Vegas in our beautiful, brand-new, fire engine red-Nissan Sentra. Later this same day, we each had our makeshift bachelor parties.
Saturday, October 26, 1985: It was just past 6:00am and I had just gotten home. Don't be silly, I fell asleep at my girlfriends place. Do you really think I was out all night? After a quick shower, I threw everything in the suitcase and I was ready to go. Except for one problem; I didn't know where Art was. As I looked out of the window, I discovered that he was sleeping in his truck--how did I miss that?
By 7:30, we were on our way to Las Vegas in our brand-new, fire engine red, Nissan Sentra. All was well until we couldn't find the courthouse (We needed our license), and since we didn't reserve our room with a credit card, the hotel gave our room away. (This is another story.) After an hour of driving, we found the courthouse. This was a good thing because by now we are an hour late for what he refers to as our official "branding" session.
At last we arrive at the "Little Chapel of the West". The great thing about a Vegas wedding is that it doesn't matter what time you arrive. You just stand in the back of the line. Our ceremony lasted five minutes at the most. The only people we could gather in such short notice was his parents, my brother, and our best friends, Dean and Patti.
It was a good thing Dean and Art's dad were there as Art did not own a dress shirt or a tie. (Something we had not considered.) So, at the last minute he borrowed Dean's shirt and his dad's tie and wha-la, he was styling.
Like I said, it was an incredible week. We were married two days after my 18th birthday; we had a brand new car, and we got an excellent deal on our car insurance--are there any better reasons to get married?
This was almost 24 years ago--and by the way, I am still waiting for a romantic marriage proposal. Maybe it will come before we need to purchase matching motorized wheel chairs.
Just goes to show you, it's not how you get married it's that you stay married.
I'm thinking this scenario could send those cavemen back to their caves, but that's just me.
© Teresa Ortiz 2009
This Article has been viewed 316 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)All right, Teresa!!. You and I got married almost exactly twenty years apart.I was married at 18 in Nov. 1965. Not in Las Vegas, though--we couldn't afford that--and no car, so insurance was not an issue. We married, road a bus to Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, and he left for Viet Nam two weeks later--I came back home to Mom and Dad for eighteen months.I liked your story much better. Thanks for deciding to share it with us.SandraHi Sandra, we have some great dates in common. Nov 1, 1980 was the day I met Art. :-)Your story sounds exciting, except for the vietnam part. And you are still married too! See, it is about staying married and not so much about how. Although, most girls want the dream wedding. Thanks for sharing a snipit of your story.Lord bless you always dear friend!Teresa
HA! I love it! What a story to pass on to the grandchildren ;)Thanks girlie, it would be a tale to tell, but I don't want any of them to run off and get married at 18! Yikes!!! We are in the clear with Britt, she is almost 21, J is 18 so.... :-)Thanks for reading. Glad you got a chuckle. hugs! T
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAA, Now this was funny, and who would have "thunk it", that you would have gotten married for those reasons...Of course, 24 years later.....who can complain....I love the part where you said..."Maybe it will come before we need to purchase matching motorized wheel chairs". hahahahahahaha, That was in reference to your romantic proposal....rotflmbo.....This was a great story...and why was Art sleeping in his truck? I had to ask!!! Great story, great read, and I am still laughing....Your fan, and friend in pen.....Gary.....I'm trying to get up to my silver again....for some reason I can't hang on to it....maybe I look better in bronz, lol.....thanks again!!!!Thanks for reading. glad you got a laugh. It sounds so silly now, but it made perfect sense then. I think I would faint if either of my children gave me those reasons. But then again, that was a different time. Art and I had incredibly different childhood's then our children did. Thank the good Lord for that!If you must know, Art was sleeping in his truck because his designated driver, left him there. What are best friends for.
Hi Teresa,Great and sweet memories of the past. A wonderful portrayal of writing skills. I learn each day as I read articles in Searchwarp.All I can say is I agree with your statment that it is more important to stay married. I love your sense of humour.God bless you,with love SwapnaHello again! Thank you for reading :-) I am glad you enjoyed my little tale.I can see we have some things in common. When I return from my trip, I will spend some time catching up on your work!Blessings to you!Teresa
What a GREAT story! We were going to do a Vegas wedding but her family would not have been able to attend, so $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!But what a blessing she is, and I'm sure Art would say the same about you.Write On, Sis!!!!It sounds to me like God blessed you with an amazing wife. I was thinking just yesterday about how God's grace works. It seems for every bad thing that comes that is out of our control, God sends several blessings at the same time. Ways of escape, so to speak. And he does this long before we even realize how much he is with us. I am thinking about writing about this.Your story is inspiring me.
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