Video: Couple gets married in Indian restaurant to celebrate buffet opening
Local wedding officiant Jon Hill was so excited when New Krishna announced the reopening of his buffet that he started offering free weddings there.
New Krishna, an Indian restaurant in Sharonville, revived its popular all-you-can-eat buffet on August 1 after being closed for four years in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
People were excited about the news. So excited that Jon Hill, an ordained minister of the Church of the Latter-Day Dude, offered free weddings at the restaurant to celebrate the reopening of the buffet.
A couple decided to accept his offer.
Yes, the buffet at this small family-run Indian restaurant in the northern suburbs served as the venue for Cheyenne and Rigaud Chostel’s wedding ceremony.
Hill thinks New Krishna has the best Indian buffet in town. He went to the restaurant every week with his friends before the restaurant switched to a menu-only policy during the pandemic, and he has mourned its absence for several years.
He felt that the reopening of the buffet required a dose of generosity and love, so he decided to announce that he would be conducting free wedding ceremonies at the restaurant on the day the buffet reopened.
“Half joking, half serious, I said, ‘I’m offering a free wedding to anyone who wants to get married,'” Hill said. “I didn’t think anyone would take me up on that, and someone said, ‘Yeah, definitely.'”
Hill performed the ceremony at the restaurant dressed in his “Big Lebowski” costume – an orange robe, striped pajama pants and matching HEYDUDES slippers. He said he occasionally performs unconventional costume weddings, just for fun.
He opened the ceremony with a monologue peppered with puns about Indian food.
“Before we start, we need to make sure you have enough naan, right? Because we’re going to need it to soak up all the tears of joy we’re shedding,” Hill said.
The couple then said “I do” and sealed their marriage with a kiss.
Soon, the couple were sitting across from each other just a few feet from where they had been married. Their month-old daughter sat on Rigaud’s lap as they ate from plates laden with the North Indian specialties for which New Krishna is known.
Her family sat nearby, chatting, eating and rejoicing.
The couple recently decided to marry as Rigaud dedicated himself to his faith. He said he realized there was no better time than now to marry his partner of two years.
They were looking for affordable wedding options and came across Hill’s services online. They got in touch and the timing was perfect. Hill offered to marry them for free if they agreed to one simple condition: hold the ceremony at New Krishna. They had never eaten at the restaurant before their wedding day.
“It definitely has sentimental value now. This will be our date night spot for a very long time,” Rigaud said.
