You know the type. The couples who crave a unique wedding.

They want their benchmark celebrations to be loud, or outlandish, or supremely elegant, maybe Halloween themed.

Their singular motifs usually achieve their purpose, in ensuring the memory is forever implanted in participants' minds.

Winter brides are in luck.

Journey Ministries has a one-time-only wedding option that might generate some interest.

On Dec. 12, the Coeur d'Alene church is staging a mass wedding that any and all couples are welcome to join.

"We'll get as many people as we can get to do it at one time," said Associate Pastor Debra Coppernoll.

The plan is pretty basic. Coppernoll and two other pastors will line up the participating couples, harvest all the names, conduct a prayer for them all, then have the lovebirds go through their vows one at a time.

Then they will exit as husbands and wives, a procession of giddy couples that would put the ending of a Jane Austen book to shame.

"You always see the flash mobs? Instead of a flash mob, it's a flash wedding," said Coppernoll, who said she has never done this before. "It'll be fun."

The church picked the date, she said, because it will be the one chance ever for couples to be wed on 12-12-12.

"It's a novelty and it's the last time it's ever going to happen. Kind of an end of the year thing," Coppernoll said. "There can't be a 13-13-13."

She had a couple get married last year on 11-11-11, which seeded the idea. The notion of a group wedding came from her own husband, she said.

The church is pretty spacious, and can hold a crowd a brides and grooms, she assured.

"If we find out we have more than we're able to house, we'll get another venue," she said.

The church doesn't have a designated charge for weddings, she said. Anyone interested in joining the event should call Coppernoll to reserve a spot, at 691-4067.

No one has signed up yet, she said, but word isn't out yet.

"People like to do something that's different for their wedding," said Coppernoll, who has married about two dozen couples. "This is something not everybody is going to get to do. It's a story they can tell their grandchildren."

If you do

To participate in Journey Ministries' mass wedding on Dec. 12, call Debra Coppernoll at 691-4067