Reverend Cliff Herring

After Reverend Cliff Herring married a couple on Coney Island’s Cyclone roller coaster, the NY Daily News called him “the Roller Coaster Reverend” and “a card carrying member of the American Coaster Enthusiasts.” Reverend Herring is member #18 in a club that now has six or seven thousand members. He has done well over 200 weddings in amusement parks on coasters as well as bumper cars, carousels, and drop rides. The ride signifies the ups and downs, the “for better or worse,” of married life.

In this 2021 oral history interview, Reverend Herring describes the essentials of a roller coaster wedding. “Sometimes we can go to the top of the hill,” he says. “Other times we will do it in the station. And a lot of times we'll do it in the station because family will want to watch the wedding, but they don't want to ride, especially, there are certain people who just don't like roller coasters. I understand that. So we'll do it in the station. And then we go for the ride.”