Old-time photo studio opens across from Blue Swallow Motel

An old-time-style photography studio has opened across the road from the landmark Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, N.M.

The couple that opened those businesses also plan to eventually open a Route 66 wedding chapel in that space.

Here is one of the sets Mother Road Old Time Photos uses:

According to a story in the Tucumcari-based Quay County Sun:

Mother Road Old Time Photos opened its doors on Saturday, offering an opportunity to dress like a 19th Century cowboy or western lady, and pose for an old-time sepia-tone photo, carrying a period weapon of choice in a Wild West setting—the saloon or around the poker table.

The store will also offer holiday merchandise for the Christmas season, according to Rhys Williams, who owns the new shop with his wife Leigh.

Leigh Williams said by email that no firm date has been set for opening the wedding chapel, other than after the photo studio generates enough revenue to help pay for it.

People are welcome to supply their own minister and witnesses and we provide the venue. Once open we will have other add ons available,  such as bouquet,  photographer, motel/dinner packages. […] The wedding chapel is still in the plan, but not yet ready to open.

Tucumcari would be ideal to set up a wedding chapel for many westbound Route 66 travelers. That’s especially true for same-sex couples from the neighboring states of Colorado, Texas and Oklahoma, where same-sex marriage isn’t yet legal and Tucumcari is the first sizable town in New Mexico along the corridor. New Mexico legalized gay marriage in December.

The point being: Why should Las Vegas have all the fun with elopements?

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