IAN MAUREEN INVITE FINAL1

This comic book meme wedding invitation went MASSIVELY viral in 2009

At a Glance

When your proposal gets interrupted by Admiral Ackbar and a watercolor Kanye West. This 2009 custom comic announcement is a high-key tribute to peak internet meme culture and Hylian romance. Check out how Ian and Maureen claimed the best wedding of all time.

IAN_MAUREEN_INVITE_FINAL

Gaze upon the greatness that is Offbeat Bride member Reenie’s geeky, silly, timely, comic book-style wedding invitation!

The narrative kicks off with Link (complete with green tunic and a tiny Hylian shield) dropping to one knee at the Rhinecliff Hotel. Just as Zelda is about to seal the deal, the scene is hijacked by a panicked Admiral Ackbar shouting the immortal warning: “Link it’s a trap!”

Before the Mon Calamari leader can elaborate, a watercolor-washed Kanye West leans into the frame with a microphone. He’s there to inform the Triforce-holding couple that while he’s happy for them, Ian and Maureen actually had the “best wedding of all time” on January 1, 2010 [PHOTO]. It is a very specific, very 2009 brand of chaos.

Repelling love of that magnitude

The comic takes a turn for the surreal as a giant, wide-mouthed creature (reminiscent of the Shoop Da Hoop meme) blasts Kanye right out of his sunglasses with a beam of pure energy. The caption? “We can’t repel love of that magnitude!”.

We eventually settle into the real-world versions of Ian and Maureen, who appear in the final panels. Maureen, sporting glasses and a tactical-looking cloak that would make a Sith Lord jealous, delivers the final blow to the fourth wall with a classic “All Ian’s base are belong to us.” It’s a masterpiece of “Insider/Outsider” humor that celebrates the couple’s specific digital subculture without apologizing for the niche references.

Reenie says: “The wording [on the back] is my favorite part. It reads: ‘[We] request the honor of your presence as two geeks save the princess, resist the dark side and pledge their lives (extra, or otherwise) to each other.’ And we snuck a Hyrulian crest in there too!”

With adorableness like that can you believe she actually had doubts about using these invitations!? Mostly for fear that the older generations wouldn’t “get it.” But then she realized, “if people don’t like the invites then they probably won’t get the ‘Mario Kart Love Song’ that plays on our wedsite, or the lightsaber duel mid-ceremony, or the gaming stations or my Death Cab for Cutie inspired wedding tattoo, or any of the other stuff that is ‘us.’”

So in featuring these invites we both hope that it inspires someone else to let their inner geek flag fly!

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