The Geek Wedding I just officiated. That’s what.
My previous experience officiating a wedding was for close family. It was a very small outdoor wedding, and incorporated traditional (being given away) nontraditional (no bridesmaids or groomsmen) and ooollldtraditional (handfasting and oathrings) aspects of the wedding ceremony.
This was another story. The bride works at Heartland Chiropractic, (the home of my daygig) and that’s how we met. When she was planning her wedding, and found out I am an officiant, I was hired on the spot. Boom.
But I didn’t know them very well. So I got to take the time, do my research, and ask questions. I had a lot of fun just watching. Paying attention. And of course, asking very deliberate and specific questions.
So we talked about their past, their future, and their present. I got to put together a ceremony that fit them. Neither one wanted a religious ceremony, but they wanted an element of reverence…and a whole lot of geek culture.
And that’s what they got.
I found this amazing reading on Offbeat Bride that compared getting married to avoiding zombification. It was perfect for these guys. After all, their invitations were a comic book about surviving the zombie apocalypse, designed by this guy I know…
Their wedding was at the City Auditorium. It was a great idea to have the ceremony and reception at the same place. The Bride wanted things as simple as possible. So décor was colorful but simple, there wasn’t a lot they had to do to transition from ceremony to reception. We followed a fairly traditional format. Processional with pretty songs, Invocation, Declaration, Vows, Rings, Unity Rite, Presentation, and Recessional.
Of course, that’s with Zombies, Super Heroes, and a whole lot of Mario Brothers in there. My favorite part of writing a wedding ceremony is incorporating the folks getting married. Their love for each other, and the things they love as individuals as well.
I love hearing the vows they make to each other.
I love their joyful tears.
I love the send off at the end. Rather than throwing seed or blowing bubbles, we sent them off with a great hooting and hollering. They took some photos, and then came back for the reception.
Where they cut the cake with a freaking lightsaber. Apologies for the blur…but wait. It looks like the lightsaber is about to cut off her hand. LARPers too? Oh the geekiness never ends!
Nor does the cake. Four different kinds of cake. Tasty tasty cake. Wedding cake is my favorite cake.
Cake.
And popcorn! There’s this shop called Mom’s Popcorn, with summa the best flavored popcorn around. And they do weddings. Yuh-um. I tried to make off with the leftovers.
Not really. I made it look like I was taking off with the leftovers.
Kinda like I did with the guest gifts.
The beauty of having a nontraditional officiant is that you get these sorts of hijinks. If you want them. Well, I suppose the benefit of having me in particular. I’m all sortsa hijinksy.
I can’t imagine living any other way. Effervescent laughter, big joyful smiles and talking about the things we love.
Like weddings.