Geek out over this nerdy fandom wedding

Offbeat partners: Melissa & Greg

Date and location of wedding: Art Factory Studios, Paterson, NJ — 09/04/2021

Our nerdy fandom wedding at a glance:

Our theme was all of our favorite nerdoms that would make for what we considered our best day ever. We basically wanted a party with a little wedding thrown in. If we closed our eyes and created our perfect staycation, what would we want represented? Doctor Who, mead, Harry Potter, all the nerdy places we could think of…

Tell us about the ceremony:

The groom and important males (we didn't have a wedding party) wore custom boutonnieres that were Lego characters (like Gandalf, Green Lantern, Batman, Indiana Jones, etc), and the groom's was a sonic screwdriver made by an amazing British Etsy seller. The sonic screwdriver even made the noise!

At Art Factory, they have a room which they call the Vault. This room is built against the side of a mountain and used to house the materials used in the factory. A little moody, but definitely interesting!

We had social distancing (capacity of 35%), temp checks at the door, and mead at the ready that we brewed our selves. All of our signage had Easter eggs, or nerdy hints to them (the social distancing wristbands referenced Vulcan salute and Comic Con), and our wedding sign was the cameo images of Han Solo and Princess Leia.

We had a nontraditional ceremony where Greg's brother started with some words of welcome and explained that he would be presenting the wedding in the language of Darmok from Star Trek. His girlfriend then translated everything that he said afterwards so the guests all understood.

After the welcome and words from Brian, our friend Carly did another speech where she included quotes from all of our favorite fandoms and ending with “May September the fourth be with both of you”

Greg's brother then came back up and explained that we would be rolling for initiative and taking turns speaking vows from Doctor Who. Click here for our inspiration for alternating our vows. 

Once complete, we then had a Viking mead ceremony because we brew our own mead (and had three different types for guests to sip on during the ceremony!). A friend had a cymbal in the back of the ceremony location, and every time Jordan (Greg's friend) gave the signal he would bang together the cymbals. 

Here is the script of our mead ceremony:

[Nine shot glasses of mead lined out on a small table between the couple]

Before us, we have this. Mead. Honey wine. The drink of heroes. The drink of the gods. Ancient and venerable, it is believed by some to be the oldest alcohol in the world, with signs of it pointing back nearly ten thousand years. It is a drink steeped in history, from ancient China to the pages of the Epic of Beowulf. In Norse tradition, mead brewed from the blood of the man Kvasir was said to turn those that imbibed it into scholars or poets, tapping into the vast well of knowledge held by Odin himself. Here, today, we use this mead in the style of a world long gone.

Drink with me, to the dawn of your marriage.

[Cymbals bang together, Officiant, bride and groom drink together]

Drink with me, and seal the pact of your marriage.

[Cymbals bang together, Officiant, bride and groom drink together]

Drink with me, for the third time’s the charm.

[Cymbals banged together, Officiant, bride and groom drink together the final shots]

After that we had guests open a bag that was labelled “I open at the close” which had kazoos in them. They used the kazoos to play us out to the Star Wars theme as Darth Vader and a Storm Trooper escorted us back up the aisle!! On the way out, because the Storm Trooper couldn't see well, he actually stepped on my veil and there is a hilarious photo of me trying to not fall backwards!

Tell us about the reception:

Greg and I wanted ALL the things at our reception and had to par it down a little lol.

Our guestbook was Cards Against Humanity cards, where we asked guests to write a funny quote, memory or story they share with us.

We had two signature drinks: Death Eaters Rum Punch (A gingery take on jamaican rum punch) and Bantha Blue Milk, plus a game lounge area which was actually really popular, where we had over 25 games to choose from.

We also took inspiration from another couple on here and added achievement cards to our wedding as well.

Each table was named after a place in some of our favorite movies, video games, comics, etc. We even added a QR code to each one with our favorite quote or scene on Youtube.

We had a great Etsy designer create the sign for our coffee cart which was Picard hugging a cup of earl grey tea. Our signature tea was the london fog (my favorite!).

Our seating chart was branded Time and Relative Dimension In Space (TARDIS) and the Storm trooper and Vader walked us in.

Neither of us like the spotlight on us, so we made sure to tell guests that when the beat drops to our first dance they should immediately come out to the dance floor and dance with us! Thank god they did, because it segued perfectly into dancing as a big group for 20 min!

My mom made all of the cake cups, including the ones we gave as favors and we tried to combine our cultures by having West Indian, American, and other foods represented.

What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding?

At the end of the day you will barely remember anything, so make it what you want it to be! We went in knowing we wanted a really great party and we did just that. The things that we were excited about were the exact things all our friends were talking about for weeks!

DIY only the things that were super important to you and don't let it take over your life!

Also expect that something will go wrong and take it in stride!

Nerdy Fandom Wedding Vendors:

• Photographer: Blue Jar Photo
• Coordinator: Amanda Virga Weddings
• Hair: Klips Haircare
• Makeup: Jennifer Navas Artistry
• Boutonnieres: MaddisonRocks
• Coffee Cart Sign: Cat Farris
• Massive d20: 0InsideOut
• Venue: Art Factory Studios

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