Naming Rights Cross New Hurdle

William Rossley and Melissa Finsterdom worked for months planning their wedding.  She bought dresses, designed invitations and decorations, made arrangements for services in an historic church, rented space in a downtown hotel, hired a band and a videographer, and engaged caterers.  He spent nights playing poker with friends.  Then the bills started to come in.

“It added up to more than $80,000,” recalls Melissa with William, now her husband, by her side. “We couldn’t afford that. Mom was a janitor and Dad a seamstress.  It had already wiped out their savings just sending me to finishing school. And sure, Bill’s family’s rich, but we didn’t think it right to ask the groom’s family to pay.”

“Absolutely not,” agrees William.  “That’s should be the responsibility of the parents of the bride.”

Then, coming home from Gillette Stadium one evening after a monster truck rally, they had a brainstorm. “Naming rights,” says Melissa.  “If the Krafts can do it, why not us?”

And after a few inquiries, the couple found what they were looking for. “It was a special moment,” says Bill, remembering the wedding day. “Everyone was seated and then the MC came to the mike and said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. and Mrs. William Texaco!’ You should have seen the look on their faces.”

Texaco paid almost half of the wedding cost.  “That plus the second mortgage my parents took out on their house covered everything,” says Melissa.  “Everything worked perfectly, although we did have to make some changes to the decorations.” Each table was adorned with a big red star and the wedding cake was shaped like an oil tanker.

“Plus, beer was poured out of a spigot that looked just like a gas pump,” Bill says.

The Texacos say they are pleased with the new family name and look forward to a large brood of little Texacos.  Indeed, Bill reveals, “The Mrs. already has one in the oven – or maybe that should be ‘in the tank.’”  The pregnancy is well along and the couple says it will be a boy.

“Still, babies are expensive,” says Melissa. “Diapers, formula and baby carriages really add up. But we’ve found a solution.  We’re going to be naming him ‘Walgreen.’”