Hell yeah I do

The Offbeat Bride: Emma, Movie Listings Editor (and tribesmaid)

Her offbeat partner: Kevin, Freelance Journalist

Date and location of wedding: Our two-story hotel room in Niagara Falls, Canada — June 7, 2012

:)

Our offbeat wedding at a glance: We set the date before getting engaged and didn't tell anyone. First, Kev and I wanted a wedding day. For us that meant getting married in the morning, then doing fun stuff all day long in our wedding outfits… and so that's exactly what we did!

Really happy

After the ceremony in our two-level hotel room by the falls, we went to Clifton Hill with our amazing photographers and took tons of awesome shots!

Glow in the dark mini putt

Next we went as a married couple to Ripley's Believe It or Not museum, we played glow-in-the-dark mini-golf, and had our wedding supper at the Rainforest Cafe.

8192794411 551ef7a58b c alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

After that we played at some old school arcade for hours at the Midway, and once it got dark, we finished the day in the tallest Ferris wheel in Canada.

Skywheel

Tell us about the ceremony: We wrote our ceremony from scratch with the help of some patterns and formulas I found online. We included many references to our life together and how it all began. Explaining that made for some really good conversation with our photographers afterward!

Real birds

We got married at 11:00am by the window of our hotel room, and the night before we slept separately (one on each level) and we didn't see each other until Kev started the song (“Grow Old With You” by Adam Sandler).

Go down the stairs

Instead of an aisle, I walked down the stairs to join him by the huge window (18 feet!).

Vows

We wrote our own vows separately, so we didn't know what the other was about to say. The ceremony was in English, but our vows were in French (it's our first language) so the officiant and the two photographers didn't have a clue of what we were saying. This moment was really just for the two of us. Our recessional song was “Life's A Happy Song” from The Muppets.

Racoon wife

Our biggest challenge: Keeping it a secret was really important because we figured that for the guest list it would be everyone, or no one. We chose no one because in our opinion, if no one was there, no one can be jealous and/or mad and/or sad for not being invited. Simple as that. That's why we decided to do it away from home without telling anyone, to limit the risk of some people surprising us and coming anyway. (Yeah, that could happen.)

Back of the skirt, is the back of the animals.

Also, being low-key people, for us, getting married was the most intimate conversation of our lives, and we didn't see each other having this conversation in front of our loved ones, as much as they are important for us. We brought cameras and made a little video of the ceremony. So, after coming back, we surprised them with not one, but three parties! Everybody got what they wanted: we got our very private and no-stress ceremony; and the others got their celebration! (That's also why it was really important to have the most amazing photographers on the planet.)

Love among the dinosaurs

My favorite moment: Besides the vows, I guess all the little details which represent our relationship and what we love individually and as a couple that I was able to include. For example, my earrings were sharks, because I'm obsessed with shark movies.

Walter lover

My Walter headband that was made just for me by a girl who does Muppets headbands, but wasn't doing him at the time. Also my skirt had a raccoon on it (raccoons are a big thing in our story). My petticoat was the one my mom wore at her wedding.

Rocky Racoon + Pen

In the same vein, our stuffed animal Rocky Raccoon was our ring bearer. We signed with the pen that we brought back from our first trip together, which we went on two years ago on the exact same date (no coincidence here, we chose the date for this reason).

Homemade boutonniere

I made Kev's boutonniere with comic books (I had to buy some because he didn't want me to cut in his precious!).

They were thinking I was in a costume and wanted to take a picture with me. :)

My funniest moment: Oh my, lots of fun! My outfit was not really traditional, so at one time in a candy store, several young girls asked me if they could take a picture with me in my costume. After laughing I told them that I just got married (a sentence I had to say a few other times that day haha!) and that I would do the picture with pleasure. Kirk was able to capture this moment, and it's one of my favorite photos.

title will remain secret

Another funny moment was when we were doing the photo shoot Kev and I started dancing but with no music. Our photographer wanted us to continue so I started singing the first thing off the top of my head, which was Justin Bieber's “Boyfriend.” Kev started laughing so hard, and technically “Boyfriend” is now our first song.

Vows

My advice for Offbeat Brides: Write your own vows separately. It's so powerful to hear what your partner thinks about you, your relationship and what they promise to you. It's like the best love letter of all time.

Homemade bouquet

A big wedding is not for everyone, but neither is a tiny one like our elopement. So take nothing for granted and of course be sure to discuss your options and be sure that the two of you are on the same page and that you really want the same thing for big questions like size and guest list, because that's the kind of thing you don't want (or you don't want your partner) to regret.

Life's a happy song

What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding? Being married is a serious thing; getting married is a fun thing. We've gone to several wedding after ours, and they were all amazing, but all confirmed in different ways that we made the right choice with ours. We did well listening to our guts.

It was supposed to rain

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Comments on Emma & Kevin’s Muppets-and-raccoon-lovers’ elopement day of fun

  1. Super cool wedding!! Great idea to just get away and do something that is right for you. Pictures are awesome too!! Congratulations!!

  2. The dress is indeed amazing, but I *must* know where I can get a pair of those fabulous glasses! They (and your wedding, of course,) are flipping fantastic!

  3. Oh wow! Thank you so much you all! 🙂
    The dress is in fact a three pieces outfit: I bought the vest at Forever 21, the tank top I don’t remember (Siren, or Stiches or something like that) and the Skirt on etsy (http://www.etsy.com/shop/newyorkcouture)The petticoat was my mother’s.The hotel was Marriott Gateway By the Falls. But the Marriott Fallsview and Spa have similar room I think.. For the glasses, you have to come in Montreal 😉 Thank’s for the love girls! 🙂

    • Hello, I’m so glad I finally found this article. A very good friend of mine is looking for a pair of your glasses from these photos. Is there any chance that you still have these, and are possibly willing to part with them, or could you direct me to where to purchase them? It would mean a great deal to me, to be able to find these for my friend and mentor.
      Thank you,
      Debra

  4. Love this wedding so cute. Also totally in love with the idea of going to Clifton Hill. The skywheel is actually where my fiance proposed love it.

  5. This wedding is amazing!! This is the perfect representation of the kind of wedding I want to have. My bf and I are both pretty private and have talked about how we want our day to just be about us with no stress and being together. Love how you got married in your hotel room and just spent the day doing fun things and going to cool places and just enjoying each other! The dress, headband, and glasses are wonderful and that picture of the bride prepping in the mirror is gorgeous!

    • Oh my you’re so nice! Thank’s a lot! It was really the best day. Do what work for you dear. If you do, it can’t be wrong. 🙂

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