Tiny, gold, and floral: this “cheez-y” weekday wedding in a diner wins

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 | Photography by Leah Fontaine Photography
Weekday wedding at a diner as seen on @offbeatbride
Photos by Leah Fontaine Photography

The Offbeat Bride: Holly Marie, Pastry Chef

Her offbeat partner: Judd, Buyer/Planner for a bike parts company

Date and location of wedding: The Bad Waitress Diner, Minneapolis, Minnesota — November 18, 2015

Our offbeat wedding at a glance:

We had the crazy idea to get married where we had our first date, two years to the day. Our first date was on a Monday, which meant our wedding would fall on a Wednesday, making it a weekday wedding. It also meant that due to the very small capacity of the coffee shop/diner we had to keep our guest list very intimate. While we got some serious side-eye over our wedding date, our family and friends were unbelievably cooperative with taking days off from work and doing whatever they had to do to be present. The people we love who we were not able to invite were also incredibly understanding.

Weekday wedding at a diner as seen on @offbeatbride

Weekday wedding at a diner as seen on @offbeatbride

When we approached the owners of the diner, I had prepared myself to be turned down but they responded so enthusiastically I was absolutely floored. We met with them in person a few times before the big day and they made it clear that this meant as much to them as it did to us, that they truly wanted to do everything that they could to make our day as perfect as possible, and they FUCKING NAILED IT!

Weekday wedding at a diner as seen on @offbeatbride

Weekday wedding at a diner as seen on @offbeatbride

"Yay internets" cake

We met on OKcupid and since pretty much the second we met in person, we've had this recurring dialogue/inside joke that goes, “WHERE did I get you?” “The internets.” “OMG squee YAY INTERNETS!” So that was our theme. We really just wanted everything to be as personal and sentimental as possible, because that's who we are.

Weekday wedding at a diner as seen on @offbeatbride

Weekday wedding at a diner as seen on @offbeatbride

Weekday wedding at a diner as seen on @offbeatbride

Weekday wedding at a diner as seen on @offbeatbride

Weekday wedding at a diner as seen on @offbeatbride

Weekday wedding at a diner as seen on @offbeatbride

Weekday wedding at a diner as seen on @offbeatbride

Tell us about the ceremony:

Our wedding was officiated by a longtime friend of mine, and she and I wrote the script together. By “wrote the script” I mean copied and pasted from an existing script we found on Offbeat Bride, favorite movie quotes (Big Fish & When Harry Met Sally), threw in some Carl Sagan, random lines from relationship articles, and Pinterest.

Weekday wedding at a diner as seen on @offbeatbride

Weekday wedding at a diner as seen on @offbeatbride

My/our daughters did a very adapted reading of “A Lovely Love Story” by Edward Monkton. We changed all of the adverbs to words that described us… “But he is so quiet and so awkward and so overly fond of video games!” “She has so many tattoos, and she is also a good mother which is a quality I much admire in a dinosaur.”

Weekday wedding at a diner as seen on @offbeatbride

Weekday wedding at a diner as seen on @offbeatbride

Judd was raised Jewish but is no longer practicing, but we wanted to incorporate some Jewish traditions. His mom read a beautiful, simplified version of The Seven Blessings. We had intended to stomp a champagne flute, and it was supposed to be sitting under his mom's chair, but when it came time to place the glass we realized it was missing. A friend came to the rescue with a pint glass. Mazel Tov!

Prior to the ceremony there was 20 minutes of a string quartet playing an assortment of modern love/pop songs. We walked down the aisle together to a beautiful string version of “Anyone Else But You” by The Moldy Peaches (when we met on OKcupid, he and I were literally the only people who listed “The Uncluded” (Kimya Dawson's side project) in our profiles and it was how we found each other), and our recessional was “Hey Ya!” By Outkast.

Weekday wedding at a diner as seen on @offbeatbride

Weekday wedding at a diner as seen on @offbeatbride

Weekday wedding at a diner as seen on @offbeatbride

Tell us about your reception:

The most emotional moment was after the ceremony while we were standing in the receiving line, I looked down and saw my youngest daughter clutching her new step-dad, with tears absolutely STREAMING down her cheeks. My favorite photo is not of her, but everyone's reaction to her tears.

Weekday wedding at a diner as seen on @offbeatbride

Weekday wedding at a diner as seen on @offbeatbride

Making the venue work for a wedding took an enormous amount of effort from everyone involved — wedding party and the gracious venue hosts. We had limited time between the closing of the restaurant after lunch rush until the ceremony began to decorate, pose for pictures, and rehearse. The owners rented a moving truck to store the tables in so the dining room could be open for the ceremony, and then immediately following had to set the table back up for dinner.

After the ceremony, Judd and I escaped to a cocktail bar across the street to revel in our married-ness privately. While we were away the guests were served cheese and olive plates and CHEEZE-ITS (which are a staple of our commitment to each other — I keep the cupboards stocked). We returned to Matt & Kim's “Hey Now” and had a champagne toast.

We had an amazing build-your-own burger bar that was as Kosher & vegan friendly as we could make it. I am a pastry chef, so I made the wedding cake, cupcakes, and cookies.

Weekday wedding at a diner as seen on @offbeatbride

Weekday wedding at a diner as seen on @offbeatbride

Weekday wedding at a diner as seen on @offbeatbride

What was your most important lesson learned?

I spent five solid months DIYing everything, from the calligraphy on the invitation envelopes to dozens and dozens of hand-lettered signs, 18 mini table centerpieces and faux bouquets/boutonnieres/corsages, machine-stitching hundreds of feet of gold and floral paper-punched garlands, making every detail as GOLD AND FLORAL AND VINTAGE as I possibly could. And while that stuff DID matter and absolutely WAS noticed and really did make it all feel so super personal, the thing that shined more than any of the details was (ah, CHEEZ-IT!) our love. And the amazing, warm, incredibly fuzzy glow of love from our family and friends.

Weekday wedding at a diner as seen on @offbeatbride

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Comments on Tiny, gold, and floral: this “cheez-y” weekday wedding in a diner wins

  1. You guys remind me so much of me and my fiance, for too many reasons to list! What a beautiful wedding, congratulations!

  2. absolutely GORGEOUS – love everything about this couple and their wedding. Congratulations & Felicitations Holly and Judd!

  3. Can we talk about the Bride’s tattoos? Oh my gosh, that arm of baking tattoos is AMAZING. You’ve got a great tattoo artist!

    What a wonderful, personalized wedding. Looks like it was a lot of fun and full of love.

  4. This is amazing! I was so happy to see someone else do a heavily edited version of “A Lovely Love Story” We did that too. We turned it into a mad lib and filled it back in with words that described each other / our relationship. We also changed Dinosaurs to Octopus because my husband loves Octopus.

  5. Goodlord I am swooning over here! Everything about this is so personal and intimate and goooooooorrrgious! The creatively is out of this world and the colors and style make me want to cry, it makes me want to know you guys haha. OH AND THAT DRESS, Modcloth gal, nailed it, nailed it sooooo good, Congratulations to your family!

  6. Would love to know where your custom cake topper came from. (Also, I love this wedding!!)

  7. This has got to be one of the most amazing weddings I’ve seen on OBB. Everything is just so RIGHT. Congratulations!

  8. I seriously love this. Way to rock it out! You guys did you and thats the most important thing in any wedding <3 Cheers! Yay internets!

  9. This is one of my favorite weddings I’ve ever seen! Gorgeous details and so much love! Congrats 🙂 🙂

  10. Stumbled upon this searching for intimate wedding ideas and this is absolute perfection. Exactly what I strive for…something that truly celebrates the couple and their story. Fantastic job planning and executing this gem of a ceremony. I wish your family many years of happiness!

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