Offbeat partners: Amanda & Zac
Date and location of wedding: The Paper Box, Brooklyn, NY. 09/14/2019
Our offbeat wedding at a glance: We’d always planned to elope instead of having a full-on wedding, but once we were officially engaged and the excitement and congrats came flooding in we realized how much we really wanted to celebrate with all of our favorite people when it came time to say “I do”. We wanted the day to be done our way and to fully reflect who we are and the things that make us happy. Our small budget meant it was mainly up to us and our most trusted circle to pull the whole thing off, and it was absolutely perfect.
Our invites were designed by our very talented animator friend Rob Yulfo based on a bizarre photo I found and very poorly photoshopped with our faces years earlier.
The venue was an art and music space where the film company Zac works with hosted a festival where he secretly declared to my sister that he was going to marry me someday early into our relationship.
Rather than numbers, we used our favorite pop culture couples to label our tables, ranging from Kermit and Miss Piggy to Toxie and Claire from “The Toxic Avenger.”
We really wished we could have our fur son Seymour with us at the wedding, so we represented him in our cake toppers.
Center pieces were DIYed by Zac’s mom and my family and “bridal brain trust” set up all the decorations!
My bouquet was purchased at Trader Joe’s for 5 bucks with a touch of crafty magic from my sister.
Our favors were cream soda and fireball, a favorite cocktail of ours.
Tell us about the ceremony:
We broke tradition a little and held our cocktail hour before the ceremony which gave everyone including us a chance to mingle, grab a drink, some popcorn and some candy before settling into the backyard for the ceremony. The whole space was set up by my best friends in my “bridal brain trust” and my family along with the venue crew and it was such a nice surprise to walk in and see the beautiful work they’d done. Pictures of Zac and I were hung all over along with the decorations we picked out. My mom went above and beyond what I envisioned to give us a WELL-stacked candy bar that dreams are made of. Each table was adorned with beautiful red and black centerpieces made by Zac’s mom.
Bright, Colorful murals surrounded us in the backyard so very little needed to be done to dress us up that space. Guests sat in white chairs with different colored ribbons to wave during the processional.
Pops of red are peak glamor to me, so I sported red pumps with a knee length dress to show them off and a red lip. My best friend and my sister were my co-maids of honor and wore matching polka dot dresses to accompany me down the aisle. Zac coordinated with me in red plaid pants and shoes.
Music was one of the most important things to me, and our wonderful DJ Bernard did a great job playing to our tastes. We complied our favorite love songs into a Spotify playlist that played during cocktail hour to set the tone. Our wedding party and family walked down the aisle to The Vitamin String Quartets arrangement of The Beach Boys “ God Only Knows” , and my father walked me down the aisle to their arrangement of The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven”. At the processional The Beach Boys “Forever” played, an idea that started as a dumb joke about a classic “Full House” episode , but after listening to the non-Uncle Jesse version and finding ourselves all choked up we knew we had to choose it.
We kept our ceremony short, sweet, and personal . Zac’s best friend Vito who we lived with us early on in our relationship pulled double duty as best man and our wedding officiant. We could think of nothing better than to be married by someone who was pretty much there from day 1. We’re wrestling nerds, so he rocked a Macho Man Randy Savage cape to conduct the ceremony. Vito wrote a beautiful ceremony that highlighted our relationship and what love means to us, and then we each tearfully read our own vows to each other. Neither of us had seen the others vows prior to the ceremony or read what Vito planned , so we were just as in the moment as our guests.
Tell us about the reception:
After the ceremony guests filed in for the reception dinner, which was a build-your-own burger bar catered by Bareburger. We first bonded over our love of cats, horror movies, and burgers — so it only seemed fitting plus it was a very budget-friendly option compared to many more traditional wedding caterers.
We were able to fully customize our menu and provide vegan, gluten-free, lean protein, and low carb options so our guests could accommodate their dietary needs.
While we originally planned to have dining mixed with dancing like more traditional weddings do, during the set up we realized there was no space for a dance floor with all the tables out.
We made a quick pivot, and instead after dinner half the tables were taken out and the last few hours of our wedding basically became a giant dance party.
While it wasn’t what was planned, it was exactly what should have been. Our DJ played our favorites from obscure new wave and punk hits, classics 80s and 90s jams, Bowie classics , and classic rock. He even squeezed in a last minute request for a father daughter dance from my dad. O
ur photographer Casey Fatchett did an amazing job of capturing the joy and laughter that filled the dance floor that night, and the more tender moments too like our first dance to The Ramones cover of “Baby I Love You”. We ended the night with a big group sing along to Weird Al’s “Yoda”, a moment we hold dear in our hearts to this day.
What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding?
Remember this day is all about you and your partner. While I really wanted to do things my way, I also have chronic people-pleasing tendencies and overthought way more than I needed to. Things may go “wrong” come the day of no matter how much you plan, but if all is right you’ll be too swept up in the joy of the day to even notice— I know we were!
Vendors
- Photographer: Casey Fatchett Photography / @caseyfphoto
- DJ: Rockin’ it DJs
- Brides Maids Dresses and shoes: Pinup Girl Clothing
- Dress: David’s Bridal
- Grooms Pants and shoes: ASOS