Chris & Baxter's Old-Timey Gothic Karaoke Wedding
Posted by Ariel · Real Weddings: Western US

What was I just saying about bar weddings? Here's another one!

The offbeat bride: Baxter – writer (and OBT member!)

Her offbeat partner: Chris – Buyer at Amazon.com

Location & date of wedding: Discovery Park and Sunset Tavern – Seattle, WA (06-07-08) [Editor's note: Sunset Tavern, previously seen on OBB.com]

What made our wedding offbeat: Our ceremony was a short and sweet number is Discovery Park, overlooking the Sound with only family and a few friends in attendance. I wore a red corset top and a black skirt. He grew out his chops and wore a custom vest to go with his black pinstripe suit. A friend played "The Air That I Breathe" on acoustic guitar. Another friend officiated. We wrote our own vows which were basically love letters to each other, posed for some pictures and then it was on to the real party!

We met up with 80-some friends at the Sunset Tavern for a karaoke extravaganza with cocktail buffet. The affair had a playing card theme, mainly because we like the black and red color scheme but also because he proposed in Vegas. Instead of cake we had mini tarts decorated with the card suits.

We kicked things off with our first song: "Suddenly Seymour" from Little Shop of Horrors. The open bar helped eradicate any inhibitions that our non-karaoke inclined guests might have. My mother even sang a couple of numbers. The groom's parents wouldn't sing but happily danced all night.

Our biggest challenge: Initially, it was difficult to explain to people that we wanted to keep the ceremony small. We wanted only immediate family and a few close friends. Some extended family (and my mother) had a hard time understanding why we wouldn't want every single person we happened to be related to by blood or marriage to watch us get hitched (in a very untraditional manner). We overcame these issues through many phone conversations gently explaining our reasons behind this decision and that it wasn't meant to be a mean-spirited exclusion. We just wanted to keep everything small and simple.

My favorite moment: Our silly photo shoot in a rickety canoe in Discovery Park using umbrellas (sure it's June, but it's also SEATTLE) and all of our normally mic-shy friends belting out the tunes for us.

My offbeat advice: If you plan to have booze at your wedding and there aren't a lot of minors on your guest list, DEFINITELY look into renting a bar or tavern.

Sunset Tavern won out, but we had many affordable options for bar venues who were charging only a reasonable bar minimum for the use of the space. We could have a cash or open bar (we chose the latter) but either way, we needed only to meet previously agreed-upon a dollar amount. Also, they had all their own tables and chairs and since we liked the decor of the place the way it was, we didn't have to spend any money on decorations.

Also, try not to tell any of your vendors it's for a wedding until they've already given you a quote. "Parties" tend to be much cheaper than "weddings".

Enough talk — show me the wedding porn: Feed me, Seymore!