This Valentine’s Day, you can declare your love at Powell Gardens or help set a record

What’s the saying? There’s no one way to love?

Well, this year in the Kansas City area there’s no one way to make an undying profession of that love.

As Valentine’s Day approaches with a small bout of wedding fever, local wedding officials, companies and landmarks are borrowing a few of Cupid’s arrows and taking their best shot at catering singular, significant and stress-free nuptials on love’s greatest day. From a zippy wedding that gets lovers in and out in an hour to a ceremony that might literally save a life, those looking to take the aisle less traveled will revel in these 2017 Valentine’s Day options.

Powell Gardens chapel

Powell Gardens, the area’s biggest botanical garden, is offering couples the chance to wed at an iconic local landmark with its new “One-Hour Weddings” Valentine’s Day package.

For $550, couples are allotted a 60-minute ceremony (wedding or vow renewal) in the Marjorie Powell Allen Chapel with live violin, bouquets and boutonnieres for brides and grooms, event photographer, garden carriage ride and champagne toast.

“In general, weddings can get really expensive and stressful,” says Kalie Hudson, Powell Gardens’ marketing and sales manager. “For us this was a way to offer our venue for people to use at a bit of a discounted rate but still with a few extras.”

The ceremonies will begin at 10 a.m. on Valentine’s Day and are sponsored by Two-Hearts Weddings, a Blue Springs-based non-denominational bridal consignment and customized wedding company. Interested couples must move fast, however. Only two of the eight slots remain.

“It’s an opportunity to have one of the most special days of your life at one of the most beautiful, iconic venues in Kansas City,” Hudson says. “People are excited.”

To learn more visit powellgardens.org

Weddings for a cause

Local wedding officiant Leigh Phillips has three big goals for Valentine’s Day: Legally marry or renew the vows of as many as 800 couples in Missouri and Kansas, break a Guinness World Record in the process and, most importantly, raise money for the National Kidney Foundation. She’ll try to tackle all three with “Weddings for Kidneys,” a two-state event aiming to marry 400 couples in Missouri and 400 in Kansas, with 100 percent of the ceremonies’ proceeds going to the kidney foundation.

The idea came to Phillips in November as she thought of her 13-year-old niece who, three years earlier, received a life-saving kidney transplant.

“This is my personal way of giving back and giving to the Kansas City community,” Phillips says.

The single-day event, which is being organized by Wedding in KC, Phillips’ wedding officiant business, will consist of two mass ceremonies: on the Missouri side at 9 a.m. at the Madrid Theater; on the Kansas side at 2 p.m. at the Reardon Convention Center in Kansas City, Kan. Each event will feature a DJ, wedding photographer, photo booth, wedding day snacks and “a ton of giveaways.”

Registration is $30 per couple; guests can attend for a $5 donation each. Both venues, the DJs and more than a dozen vendors, sponsors and workers are volunteering their services. Both ceremonies will be family-oriented as well as LGBTQ-friendly, handicap-accessible and sign language-interpreted.

Phillips is also aiming to enter “Weddings for Kidneys” into the record books as an event with the most people married by an individual.

“If you are a person who is freaked out by the planning of a wedding, that part’s done for you,” Phillips says. “If you are the kind of person who enjoys donating to a great cause and having a great time, this is your event. It simply can’t not work.”

Learn more and register at team.kidney.org/event/weddingsforkidneys

Married at the market

For the 10th year, the City Market will hold “Tie the Knot,” its annual Valentine’s Day event offering free wedding, profession of love and vow renewal ceremonies every 15 minutes from 2 to 5 p.m. “Tie the Knot” is inside the heated farmers market pavilion, which will be transformed into a wedding chapel.

Reservations are currently full with 12 registered couples, but those still interested are encouraged to RSVP in case of cancellations. The ceremonies are officiated by the Rev. John Navarre and will feature live music from guitarist Ted Luce. Each ceremony is private but open to the newlyweds’ family and close friends. A marriage license is required for couples seeking legal marriage.

For more info contact Sue Patterson at spatterson@thecitymarket.org

The Hallmark experience

Couples looking for an all-out, elevated wedding experience without the elevated stress can have their cake and eat it with the Westin Kansas City at Crown Center’s “Hallmark Weddings” package.

The full-service package offers a team of Hallmark wedding specialists who are able to incorporate Hallmark’s various Crown Center complex amenities for every aspect of your ceremonies. Specialists are available to scout and book wedding venues, suites and guestrooms, as well as assist with customizing a wedding menu, fulfilling stationery needs and working with Hall’s department store to curate gifts, a wedding registry and special in-store events. Outdoor packages start at $1,000 to book a venue with catering. Indoor packages at $2,500.

And because enough is really never enough, there’s a premium package (VIP check-in for bride and groom, enhanced welcome amenities and personalized Hallmark Weddings gift and premium room upgrade) and a Newlywed Perks package that continues the festivities with a post-wedding brunch for friends and family as well as the opportunity to use earned Starwood Hotel starpoints toward honeymoon stays.

To learn more about the Hallmark Wedding’s package options and prices visit westincrowncenterkansascity.com/hallmark-weddings

This story was originally published January 27, 2017 at 1:08 PM with the headline "This Valentine’s Day, you can declare your love at Powell Gardens or help set a record."