Summer slides in with baseball-themed wedding at Pacific

Beaverton pair takes wedding vows at Forest Grove ball park while spectator guests cheer them from grandstands

By Nancy Townsley

The Forest Grove News-Times, Jul 1, 2010

Chase Allgood / News-Times

Gary McVey and Tabitha McDonald walk toward Pastor Randy Schutt to take their vows during a baseball-themed wedding June 26 in Forest Grove.

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Say “I do” and pass the Cracker Jack.

That’s exactly what Beaverton residents and Aloha High School graduates Tabitha McDonald and Gary McVey did when they got married last Saturday on Bond Field at Pacific University in Forest Grove.

Their whimsical union took place just five days after summer officially arrived in the Willamette Valley on an afternoon sporting blue skies and temperatures in the high 70s.

Gary, 23, asked for a baseball-themed wedding when he got engaged to Tabitha, 22, by asking for her hand on a baseball field in Astoria. The fun-loving couple planned an all-American ceremony complete with baseball attire, vows at home plate and guests who cheered them on from the grandstands.

“The minister used all the bases to perform the wedding,” said Tammy McDonald, Tabitha’s mother. Randy Schutt, pastor of Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church in Beaverton, got into the spirit of things by donning a black baseball cap with a clerical collar attached.

Right around 2 p.m., nearly 300 friends and family members seated in the bleachers rose to their feet and sang the National Anthem. After the final note, the bridal party “lineup” was announced – and the marriage ceremony was on.

Six groomsmen wearing vests emblazoned with their last names on the back and red, black and white Nike tennis shoes met six bridesmaids in black dresses and high-top sneakers.

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