Skulls and pugs and top hats oh my at Julia & Max’s wedding

The Offbeat Bride: Julia, Graphic Designer

Her offbeat partner: Max, Chef/Nutritionist

Date and location of wedding: Gold Coast Railroad Museum, Miami, FL — February 22, 2015

Our offbeat wedding at a glance:

I have always wanted a non-traditional wedding. Actually, I never wanted a wedding at all, but marrying into a latin family means… yup, you're having a wedding. So our compromise was that we have a wedding, but it is a strange and weird and awesome one. Lots of trains and skulls and some heavy metal… oh, and our pug!

If there was a theme it was skulls. The groomsmen all had black ties with white skulls, Max and our pug had white ties with black skulls, and dad had neon green tie with black skulls. Max's cufflinks were skulls, our logo was a skull, my shoes had spinal columns for heels, the cake was a skull (which I made myself the night before the wedding!), and the cupcakes all had homemade white chocolate skulls.

I had a black dress and an AMAZING top hat. With a degree in fine art, I made sure to find a fine art photographer who understood the aesthetic that I was looking for, and I found the PERFECT ONE in David Built (and assistant Isis C.) who specializes in abandoned buildings but is amazing at weddings, too.

Tell us about the ceremony:

Our ceremony took place at Gold Coast Railroad Museum because I love the look and feel of it, and I'm also a history buff. My mom and I made all of the decorations ourselves, and honestly I could not have done it without her help (Thanks, mom!). We had the railroad gather all of their mismatched chairs off of the trains for seating and leave their '50s music playing on the overhead speakers. They also brought over some carts with vintage luggage as a photo op. The trains remained open for guests to take in some history before the ceremony.

I brought a simple speaker for the processional and connected my iPhone. Ron Magill, a personal friend and hero, married us. He was instructed to make everyone laugh so hard they cried and anything goes in the ceremony. His response was, “I got this.”

I walked down the aisle to the Apocaliptica's instrumental of “Nothing Else Matters.” Ron gave the most amazing ceremony — he had us all laughing so hard. We had no vows so he had some special ones ready for us to repeat. we almost forgot to exchange the rings we were laughing so much!

Tell us about your reception:

The reception was held at Angelique Euro Cafe in Coral Gables, Florida where Max is executive chef. We had no tables for sit-down dinner, but rather had finger foods and alcohol. I drove us to the reception in style in Sully, my neon green VW Beetle alongside Betsy Anne, my friend's blue VW beetle and they both served as picture backdrops parked in front of the restaurant.

We were announced to Coheed and Cambria's “Welcome Home” and the party began. The speeches were hilarious from my two maids of honor and the best man. We were both laughing and crying in both.

The dances were memorable to say the least since WE CANT DANCE. Our pug, Chubbs, was the life of the party in his tuxedo and top hat — everyone took a turn dancing with him (and feeding him) and he had a blast.

Vendors

• Photography:David Bulit
• Top Hat: The Olfactory Company
• Ceremony Venue: Gold Coast Railroad Museum
• Reception Venue: Angelique Euro Cafe

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