A Backyard Wedding in Wyoming Comes Full Circle

Stewart and Carol Creelman couldn’t have imagined in 1975 when they moved from Wyoming to Massachusetts that they would return more than 40 years later because their granddaughter would be getting married in the backyard of their former home. But this summer, the Creelmans came back to their old haunts in Ohio which they had left so many years before.

The extended Creelman family celebrated Clara Sage and Mega’s wedding on Central Terrace. 

It all came about when Clara Sage Daims and Mega Crawford, both living in San Francisco, were visiting family in Cincinnati and they blindly knocked on the door at Clara Sage’s grandparent’s former home. Dan and Peggy Izenson opened their door on Central Terrace and invited the women in. Clara Sage wanted to see the home where her mom, Aimee, and their close-knit family once lived.  

Two months later, the Izensons received a letter. “The beautiful hand-written note in a hand-crafted envelope caught our attention. Clara Sage and Mega said they were getting married and asked us if we would consider letting them have their wedding in our backyard,” Peggy said. Without hesitation the Izensons agreed knowing it would be a special place for their ceremony because of the family history.

Carol and Aimee Creelman, on their front stoop on Central Terrace, heading to the May Fete Coronation in the 1970s.

The Creelmans and their four children lived on Central Terrace in the early 1970’s until Stewart took a job on the east coast. Brit, Aimee, Steven, and Marna, all primary school students when they left, have fond memories of Wyoming. They loved walking to Hilltop School and they loved May Fete. The house, originally built in 1922, has gone through some changes since the Creelmans lived there but it still felt familiar to them. Brit, the oldest, had fun seeing his former bedroom on the third floor. He instantly recognized the clawfoot bathtub and the angular closets in that attic room. The family’s favorite room was the cherry-paneled den with the fireplace. The original leather window seat is still there.  

Brit, Aimee, Steven, and Marna Creelman in front of their childhood home on Central Terrace.

On a hot weekend in July, the entire Creelman crew returned to Wyoming for the wedding. One hundred guests from all over the country attended including former Wyoming Mayor David Savage and his wife Judy in addition to Aimee’s childhood friend Mimi (Schaefer) Welter who lived next door. The beautiful trees in the yard where the Creelman kids once played provided much-needed shade as they celebrated Mega and Clara Sage’s marriage.  The reception was held at the Wyoming Fine Arts Center where Mega, a Finneytown High School graduate, took violin lessons.  

It was a memorable day for all the families involved. And it was a beautiful celebration of love. 

   

It was a beautiful day for a backyard wedding on Central Terrace. 

The wedding party!  On the far left is bride Clara Sage with her mother and sisters in shades of blue. In the middle are the chaplain and his partner from North Carolina. And on the far right is bride Mega with her family in shades of red orange.