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Offbeat partner: Heather, Office Assistant
Offbeat partner: John, Account Manager
Date and location of wedding: The Fox Hollow in Woodbury, NY (Long Island) — March 30, 2018
Our offbeat wedding at a glance:
If we had a theme, it would be pop culture and us. We just sprinkled touches of our personality everywhere to make it ours. You know what? It worked. I couldn't imagine doing anything differently. I even wore Converse shoes! I'm not a heels person and I never wear them, so why do so for the biggest day of my life?
We had nods to what we love everywhere. We had a Star Wars ice sculpture (half rebel alliance logo, half empire logo, and our first kiss was during A New Hope), Pulp Fiction cookie favors, a Game of Thrones donut wall, movie titled signature drinks…it was just us and things we love.
My favorite aspect was the flowers. I am not a flower person and while I do appreciate their beauty, dropping a few grand was out of the question. My maid of honor and I tried to think of ways to go around it. She came up with the idea of making paper flowers. Not just any, but to fashion them out of prints that tie to the bridesmaids/groomsmen.
For example, my fondest memory with my maid of honor, Ness, is when we met in North Carolina. We became as thick as thieves instantly. Her flowers were made out of maps leading from Long Island to NC. Mine were made out of every single album composed by the band Thursday. John and I met 17 years ago, because we were at a gathering with mutual friends. I noticed his Thursday hat, complimented it, and we were best friends from there. 10 years later, we got together!
Tell us about the ceremony:
Our reception was totally laid back, despite the setting. We originally wanted to get married outside, but the weather was against us. The venue set everything up beautifully and it was quite elegant, and we made it our own. They hung up a big banner with the logo from the band, Thursday. It was a wonderful reminder of how we met and came to be.
We wanted our guests to feel comfortable and to not feel stuffy, so we had a flower girl. Not just any flower girl, but more like a flower man. Our good friend Jimmy took on the role and he just nailed it. He walked in with such grandeur and grace and it was one of the greatest moments you could ever witness. You would almost expect him to start pulling ballet moves down the aisle, he was so graceful and that much into it!
I hate how stuffy ceremony readings can get, so we lightened up the mood by deciding who gets to read their vows first by playing a game of rock paper scissors. We tied at first, but I won!
My childhood friend Jesse was our officiant. He threw in some nerdy nods ("Good News, Everyone!" from Futurama) and won the crowd over by telling the story of how when we first met, I took a picture of John with a Kodak disposable, only it faced the wrong way! Jesse took pictures of us randomly during the ceremony and we couldn't stop laughing.
Tell us about your reception:
The reception was all party. We ran out to Say Anything's (edited) "Alive With The Glory of Love" and did our first dance to Maxence Cyrin's haunting piano cover of The Pixies, "Where Is My Mind?" After that, we jammed out to "Africa" by Toto as a gag.
There was a drinking war going on between table 1 and table 9 that got people placing bets and taking sides. Table 9 at one point iced table one, so they had to chug a Mike's Hard and the venue cheered them on.
The best was gathering our friends for a sing along to Dashboard Confessional's "Hands Down." I loved being in a big cloud of my closest friends and family while we screamed our hearts out to the lyrics.
We had fun with announcing dinner by playing "Misirlou" by Dick Dale (From the opening of Pulp Fiction) Tarantino is our favorite director, so we did that as a nod along with our favors. They were cookies designed in Mia Wallace and Vincent Vega's faces! Our thank you card box was a suitcase with a glowing gold light and a picture of Vincent and Jules with the big yellow "THANK YOU" splashed across. We also had MR. & MRS on our table in the Pulp Fiction writing.
Our centerpieces were birdcages. That was a nod to our friendship. Whenever one of us had a bad day, we would hang out and pop in a copy of The Birdcage and order food. My signature drink was named after the film! His drink was The F***ing Catalina Wine Mixer from Step Brothers!
What was your most important lesson learned?
The most important thing I learned is to not sweat ANYTHING. The little or the big. The day moves so fast and people don't care. So what if you ordered navy roses and they came out sky blue? Does it prevent you from getting married? No. Shit happens and the only thing you can do is roll with the punches. At the end of the day, you marry your best friend. The only perfect thing that happens is your change in status to married.
Also, the day flies by so fast. More even than people tell you. Take even five minutes to pull your partner aside and hide from the world. Take a breather and take the time to hold each other and acknowledge that it happened. The rest of the night travels by so fast, you would think that Barry Allen/The Flash ran by and caused a time jump!
My maid of honor also painted custom shoes for each member of my party. Each shoe was something they loved: Morrissey, Dogs, Mermaids, etc. I was very adamant about making sure every knew that I wanted everyone's personalities to shine, not just mine and John's.
We also got matching tattoos. We've always nicknamed each other Pumpkin and Honeybunny from Pulp Fiction, so we gave a nod to the couple by getting their nicknames tattooed on our ring fingers a few days before.
Vendors
Photography: Chris Romano Photography • Venue: The Fox Hollow • Donut Wall: Doughology Donuts, then assembled by my mother-in-law Kelly who made it look like The Wall from Game of Thrones. We also put a Funko figure of Viserion and The Night King on top! • Makeup: Paige Lucille • Hair: Dusty at Fire Monkey Hair Design •
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This is so completely what we’re trying to do with our wedding coming up in September!!!!! It’s amazing and I love everything about it and it gives me so much hope that ours won’t look like a cartoonish mess!! ????