Harley matrimony

View larger image Darryl Windham Jr. and Sally Brown, of Strasburg, kiss alongside their Harley-Davidson motorcycles outside their home. The couple plan to marry June 11 at Grove’s Winchester Harley-Davidson during the first Motorcycle Matrimony Day. Rich Cooley/Daily Recommend This Print This Get E-mail News Alerts Buy Photos/Page Reprints * Breaking News If local news is breaking and you know about it: * Call Us: 800-296-5137 * E-mail Us * Upload Your Photos View larger image Darry Windham, Jr. and Sally Brown of Strasburg stand alongside their Harley-Davidson motorcycles outside their home. The couple plan to marry June 11 at Groves Harley-Davidson in Winchester during Motorcycle Matrimony Day. Rich Cooley/Daily View larger image Darry Windham Jr. and Sally Brown ride their bikes along Lower Valley Road in Warren County. Rich Cooley/Daily View larger image Windham and Brown wear matching Harley-Davidson wedding rings they purchased at the Winchester dealership. Rich Cooley/Daily

Motorcycle couple plans to marry in ceremony at dealership

By Laetitia Clayton -- lclayton@nvdaily.com

STRASBURG -- Sally Brown and Darryl Windham Jr. have been on many motorcycle rides together over the past four years, but next week the couple will take the most important ride so far in their relationship -- one that first involves a trip down the aisle.

Brown and Windham will tie the knot with four other couples at a joint ceremony June 11 at Grove's Winchester Harley-Davidson, and they plan to ride off together on Windham's bike when it's over.

For Brown, the timing couldn't have been better.

"We'd been talking about getting married," she said. "So me and my daughter stopped over at the Harley store to look at [wedding] rings."

Barbara Groves, who owns the Winchester Harley dealership and came up with the idea for Motorcycle Matrimony Day, ran it past Brown, one of her regular customers.

"Barbara told me she was thinking about doing it," Brown said. "I went out in the truck and called Darryl, and we was the first couple to sign up for it. And I've been excited ever since."

The ceremony is a fitting one for the pair, who have both ridden motorcycles -- though not always Harleys -- for years, and whose second date was a long-distance bike trip to Florida. Brown is from Charleston, W.Va., and Windham is originally from Front Royal but lives in Fort Valley. They met online about 41⁄2 years ago, and communicated through webcam for three months, Brown said.

"I asked him if he wanted to go to Bike Week in [Daytona] Florida," Brown said. "Our first date was a week before that. He came down to my house, and we've been strong ever since."

"As soon as I met her, I said, 'This is it,'" added Windham.

Brown 51, and Windham, 60, are both divorced, and their children are grown, so Brown eventually left West Virginia and moved to Fort Valley to be with Windham.
She didn't own a bike at the time, but Windham had two.

"I rode that bike of his for a very short time," Brown said. "Then I went and got my learner's [permit], and took a safety class, and I've been riding ever since."

Windham bought his first Harley-Davidson -- a used Wide Glide -- in August 2006. He bought Brown her first Harley -- a Sportster 1200L -- a year later.

"It fits me better," Brown said of the Sportster, which is a smaller bike. "I didn't want a big bike that I wouldn't be able to handle."

Windham started out riding Hondas and Kawasakis, but said he finally decided to take the plunge into the Harley world.

"I bought my Harley because I wanted to find out what the big deal was," he said. "I think the Harley handles better, but to me a bike is a bike."

He knows, however, that many Harley owners would gasp at that last statement. Some are even snobby toward other Harley owners, he said. Once, a man was looking at Windham's Wide Glide and just shook his head, Windham said.

"I said, 'A Harley is a Harley, dude,'" Windham said. "And he said, 'Uh-uh, a Softail is the only Harley.'"

But even though the couple swear they aren't Harley snobs, they admit they are pretty much immersed in the culture.

The first clue is a sign for "Harley parking only" posted outside their double garage. Next comes the Harley welcome mat at the front door. There's a rug in the bedroom, too, Brown said. From their clothing -- he in a patch-covered black leather vest and she in a Harley T-shirt -- to lamps and cabinets and a Harley-Davidson truck parked in the driveway, Brown and Windham probably couldn't be more Harley if they tried.

The couple even bought matching gold Harley-Davidson wedding bands, and sent out wedding invitations with bikes on them. Brown said she made centerpieces using black and orange -- signature Harley-Davidson colors -- for a reception the couple will have at their home after the ceremony.

A reception also will be held at the dealership, said Jeanett Dillion, the marketing and events coordinator at Grove's. A large tent will be set up on the property for the event, she said, and the weddings will be performed simultaneously by a justice of the peace.
"We'll have cakes, a champagne toast and an acoustic guitar player," Dillion said.

Three of the couples are getting married and two are renewing their vows, she said, adding that all are Grove's customers and live in Virginia.

Dillion said Motorcycle Matrimony Day is the first event of its kind at Grove's, and it was an idea they came up with on their own.

"It was Barbara's idea, actually," Dillion said. "We just think of different events to do every year. We try to keep it unique, different and new."

The couples were allowed to invite guests, she said, and as many as 200 are expected.
"Sally alone is having 100," Dillion said.

She added that there is no charge for the event for the couples or their guests.

"We're doing this for them," she said. "Pretty much all of our events here, they are free."
After the reception, Dillion said the couples will ride off together on their Harleys.

Brown and Windham discussed taking separate bikes, but decided they would go on one instead.

"Darryl said we will become one after the ceremony," Brown said, "so he wants us to leave as a couple on one bike."

She still plans to wear a traditional, long white wedding gown and veil, even though that might make it difficult to climb on the back of a Harley.

As for Windham, he will stay true to his nature and wear black jeans and a T-shirt with a tuxedo printed on it and skull buttons down the middle.

"It's even got a bow tie on it," he said.

The important thing, though, is that Windham and Brown -- as well as the other four couples -- have a chance to combine their love of motorcycles with their love for each other. And the fact that it's all centered around Harleys just makes it that much more special.

"It's one of those things," Windham said. "Everybody wants a Harley."

Motorcycle Matrimony Day will begin at 1 p.m. on June 11 at Grove's Winchester Harley-Davidson, at 140 Independence Drive in Winchester. The dealership will be open for regular business hours.