An emo wedding during a Coheed & Cambria cruise

Offbeat partners: Christine and Rich

Date and location of wedding: The Bahamas on the Coheed & Cambria Cruise – 10/27/2021

Our emo wedding at a glance:

We first met at the Warped Tour in 2018 – we're both musicians and huge fans of pop-punk. Right after we started dating in 2019, we booked a cabin together on the S.S. Neverender, a music festival cruise put on by my favorite band, Coheed & Cambria.

After quarantining together all through 2020, we got engaged. He bought me an aquamarine vintage-inspired engagement ring – my birthstone – and decided to make the cruise our dream emo wedding. Our “rehearsal dinner” was a deep cuts Coheed and Cambria concert, and we were in the third row. The guy next to us caught Josh's drumstick and gave it to us as a wedding gift!

We were married in a private ceremony on the beach in the Bahamas during our only day in port. I wore a short vintage-inspired dress with a lavender petticoat, he wore Star Trek cufflinks, and we both wore matching wedding converse shoes.

Another fan on the cruise did my hair and make-up, after meeting online and then making friends on the pool deck. I got in the water in my dress and danced in the waves after the ceremony.

When getting back to the cruise, we ran into the entire band and they shared their congratulations!

That night, we performed our first dance to “Landing Feet First” by Bayside during an onboard Emo Night, and bought a 60-person wedding cake to share with anyone who attended. A few weeks later on our dating anniversary, we both got anchor tattoos on our ring fingers to represent the cruise, as well as what we mean to each other as “anchor partners.”

Tell us about the emo wedding ceremony:

Rich's Vows (excerpt), lyrics from “Here To Mars” by Coheed and Cambria (of course):

“Honey, it's in the stars
And you're my everything from here to Mars
And every word I say I really mean
Dear darling, I hope I'm being clear that there's no one like you on earth who could be my universe”

An excerpt from Christine's Vows:

I vow to be your partner and teammate in all things, to share responsibilities with you as an equal, even the not so fun tasks.

I promise to be your safe haven, to always comfort you when you need it, to always approach you with empathy, and to always give you the benefit of the doubt.

I promise to nourish your passions, to share in excitement over all things that bring you joy. I promise to always be in your corner cheering you on, and always have your back in your pursuits.

I promise to strive to be my best self and to support you in continuing to grow, and to be the best version of you.

And most importantly, I promise you that this day, this vacation, and this weekend will not be our last or greatest adventure together. I promise to experience the all world has to offer with you by my side, and to always live a daring and exciting existence together.

I promise to be unafraid to go against the grain and make things up as we go along, and to create our own version of this thing called ‘marriage’. And I promise to allow our relationship to grow and evolve as we both grow and evolve as individuals.

Tell us about the emo wedding reception:

We didn't have a reception! But we did have our families join us when we got off the cruise. His parents live in Florida, and his siblings, plus my mom, sister and brother-in-law, uncle, and two aunts, flew in to join us.

We rented a house with a pool and hot tub where we spent time bonding and getting to know each other, had a family photoshoot on the beach, and went for a fancy dinner together. It was so nice to have our wedding day be spent just the two of us, doing whatever we wanted – relaxing, drinking, going to the pool, attending concerts – but also to have this special time with our families.

Having a casual weekend with our families was an intimate setting for everyone to meet and celebrate together.

What was the most important lesson you learned from your emo wedding?

Absolutely nothing is set in stone, and there's no right or wrong way to do any of it. There was a way for us to have a wedding experience that was just about us and fully represented and encompassed who we are as a couple, and we were able to do it.

I can't imagine anything more romantic together than running away together and getting married just the two of us on a beach, especially during one of the most magical music festival vacations of my life. The most important lesson was just to do us, enjoy ourselves, and not worry about traditions or expectations.

Emo wedding vendors

• Wedding Planner: Anne Marie Williams
• Family Photographer: Shaun Cruz IG: shauncruz

Emo wedding gallery