Zombies, Vikings, and a hawk: Shelley & Eric know funny weddings

The Offbeat Bride: Shelley, Radio Personality/Pole Dancing Instructor

Her offbeat partner: Eric, Insurance Salesman

Date and location of wedding: Granby Theater in Norfolk, VA — December 13, 2014

Our offbeat wedding at a glance: We have humor in common (we are comedy writers), so that was the theme for our wedding — we wanted it to be hilarious. Our venue was an old timey, ex porn theater, with beautiful blue and red lights. The guys entered the stage to the HALO video game theme, since that's how Eric and I fell in love, playing HALO.

Instead of a traditional wedding march, a group of 20 zombies came instead of me, followed by five zombie survival team guys who started smashing heads and taking the zombies down. The music changed to The Walking Dead theme, and I emerged, with an ax in my hand, and I killed off the remaining zombies, and took to the stage where my father was waiting to give me away.

Eric is a hilarious writer, so he wrote a funny take on a traditional ceremony. We also had a hawk fly in as the ring bearer from the back of the theater. The ring bearer pretended that he lost the rings, put on a glove, and then summoned the hawk to the surprise and delight of the 200 people in attendance.

We had a traditional Viking sword exchange and “made it official” by updating our Facebook statuses on stage. Dinner was a burrito bar from Chipotle, and we cut the cake with a sword. The music was provided by guests on the RSVP. They each requested a song and we downloaded them to a random mix on our iPod. When we left the venue, everyone got a pair of Groucho Marx glasses with our names on it. Instead of throwing rice, they blew whoopie cushions at us. For our getaway vehicle, I rented the GamerBUS, which is a traveling school bus full of video game set ups.

Tell us about the ceremony:
We included the viking sword exchange tradition and we both carried drinking horns. We kept the ceremony structure traditional, but added our own jokes through out like, “Do you Eric, Take this Shelley, to be your wife? To have and to hold, to revive at all costs on Xbox, and let her get the last shot when fighting a boss level? In sickness and health, for richer or even more richer, and when the internet and power go out for as long as you both shall live?” It was very personal and funny.

My funniest moment:
It's hard to pick one, since we are comedy writers, everything was an attempt at funny! “You may now hand fart the bride” was a great line, since Eric and I have a party trick we do sometimes where we make fart sounds while holding each other's hands. Immature, yes, but also fun!

What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding?
Narrow your ideas down! We forgot to cue the fire dancer and she sat backstage all night. Also, looking back, the reception was wild and I felt like I was constantly needed somewhere else, so I couldn't give guests the attention they deserved. This was a huge regret. I wish I would have set up a photo booth and (instead of the traditional $1 a dance) done the $1 a selfie with guests. They donate $1 to the honeymoon fund, and they get a picture with you. That way, you get to greet everyone who came!

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?

• Photography: Hot Mess Photography
• Dress: All the Rage
• My hair and extensions: Abracadabra Salon
• Ax bouquet: made by the bride's friends
• Catering: Burrito bar from Chipotle
• Whoopie cushions: Party City
• Groucho Marx glasses: Identity Links
• Skull-covered garter belt: made by the groom's grandma
• Envelope box: made by the bride's friends
• Halo wedding rings: Boone Rings

Enough talk — show me the wedding inspo!

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