Sarah & Davy’s love in the key of honky-tonk wedding

The Offbeat Bride: Sarah, Artist

Her offbeat partner: Davy Jay, Honky-Tonker

Date and location of wedding: Max's Place, Bloomington, IN — May 22, 2011

Our offbeat wedding at a glance: Having lives that in large part revolve around old-fashioned things in general, and old-fashioned honky-tonk in particular, it made sense for our wedding to be, well, old-fashioned! Sort of. It wasn't old-fashioned in the sense that it was held in a church or that any rice was thrown at us, but rather it was old-fashioned in terms of entertainment and decor.

The wedding was held at Max's Place, a favorite venue of Davy's (his band, Davy Jay Sparrow & His Well-Known Famous Drovers, perform there regularly) and the decorations were cowboy and southwestern-themed. The bands who performed at the reception (held in the same venue) were all throwbacks in their own right: Leon Chance (1970s outlaw-era country), The Tillers (1930s-era olde tyme string band), and The Vallures (1950s-era Motown girl group) all made the night a-swingin' and special time for everybody. Davy even got up to do a few songs.

Tell us about the ceremony: The most offbeat part of the wedding would have to be the ceremony, thanks in large part to the officiants. The Vaudevillian comedy duo Rembrandt & McGillicutty presided over the ceremony in full Tin Pan Alley fashion. Their performance came complete with a drunken preacher routine and a fantastic “Where's the ring?” bit. It was far from a traditional wedding, but it was certainly a fun and old-fashioned time for all.

Our biggest challenge: The biggest challenge came after our ceremony and before our cake. Poor Jack (our six-year-old son) ran into a table and started bleeding profusely from his head! All of those tiny blood vessels really made a huge, scary mess. Davy rushed Jack to the bathroom and cleaned him up but in the process got his brand new, tailored western shirt totally covered in blood! After a lot of soap, cold water, and cussing, he was actually able to clean it all out and there was not a single stain. We felt so bad for the little guy, we actually took him on our honeymoon.

My favorite moment: One of the most meaningful moments of our wedding day happened during the “Where's the ring?” bit of the ceremony. The officiants were searching for the rings, and our son Jack had them in a little sparrow's nest. He delivered his lines: “Excuse me sir, I found these two shiny round things in this nest. I believe this is what you're looking for!” It was too sweet for words.

Another moment came during our first dance to Leon Chance's rendition of Elvis Presley's “Love Me Tender.” We were showered with balloons at the end of the song!

My funniest moment: When the words “You may now kiss the bride” were uttered, McGillicutty (the drunken preacher), pretended to try to kiss me!

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?

• Photography: Tall and Small Photography
• Hair and makeup: Ash Vega
• Bands: Leon Chance, The Tillers, and The Vallures
• Officiants: Rembrandt & McGillicutty

Enough talk — show me the wedding inspo!

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