The entire world is buzzing over the royal wedding of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry  which will be held on May 19 in Windsor and will include two wedding receptions and a carriage procession, as well as the service.

Royal weddings are international events that stir up our imaginations with kings and queens, princes and princesses and storybook tales that become reality.

You may not know  it, but over the years Forest Lawn has also been the site for thousands of weddings. It all began on a beautiful Saturday afternoon back in 1923, when Archie Milton Howes and his bride-to-be Miss Cora Wills took a leisurely stroll through the grounds of Forest Lawn-Glendale. They stopped by the Little Church of the Flowers and were immediately impressed by beauty and intimacy of the chapel. They had never seen a church that perfectly integrated Old World charm with an indoor garden and cheerful singing birds.

After several visits to Forest Lawn and more strolls through the grounds, Cora  finally popped a question of her own to one of our memorial counselors—could she and Archie have their wedding at the Little Church of the Flowers?

That was a question that we hadn’t heard before, but we knew the answer right away. Yes!  Because Forest Lawn was more than a cemetery—it was a memorial park designed for the living—weddings on the beautiful grounds perfect sense.

Since Cora and Archie exchanged their vows, more than 70,000 people have held their weddings within the confines of Forest Lawn chapels, including future president Ronald Reagan, who wed actress Jane Wyman at the Wee Kirk O’ the Heather in Glendale on January 26, 1940.

Today, weddings are nothing out of the ordinary at Forest Lawn. In fact, weddings at Forest Lawn are extraordinary. With beautiful churches and chapels, immaculate grounds that are perfect for wedding photos, convenient locations throughout Southern California for guests to easily get to, and close proximity to banquet halls for receptions, it’s no wonder so many people have chosen to celebrate their special day here.

Do you have wedding plans in the near future? Or have you been married or attended a wedding at Forest Lawn? We’d love to hear from you about your experiences.