From Kevin Smith to Kathy Griffin, Celebs Will Marry You
Ordinary couples are increasingly hiring celebrities to perform their wedding.
April 22, 2011 — -- Weddings used to be as tame as their de rigeur lily-white color schemes. Now, from "The Bachelor" and "Bridezillas" to Prince William and Kate, couples want weddings that reflect their own style. And when it comes to picking an officiate, they're looking beyond friends, siblings and Elvis impersonators.
Now they want celebrities themselves.
Forget Robin Williams, Edward Norton and Philip Seymour Hoffman -- they do it only in the movies ("License to Wed", "Keeping the Faith" and "Doubt," respectively).
We're talking B-List here -- Tori Spelling, for example -- or, in one case, "D-List": Kathy Griffin has worked the gig, though not without her signature earthiness.
"You may screw the bride," Griffin once said during a ceremony.
The real altar-ego belongs to movie writer-director-actor Kevin Smith, who's doing for holy matrimony what in the '90s he did for film comedy: make it more fun by making it more indie -- and a lot dirtier.
Smith's weddings take place in the 50-seat Hollywood theater he calls SModcastle. Each becomes part of a regular podcast.
"You put it on the podcast...and everyone gets to see it," he said. "The more interesting the people are, the better it is, and if you are getting married here, you are really interesting."
Take recent clients Michael and Scott, who had a hockey-themed wedding. The grooms wore hockey jerseys, and the invitations were designed as hockey game tickets.
"If you notice, it has the date 2011, the row is 2 and the seat is 12, so it's 2-12-2011," Michael said. "It's pretty ingenious."
The happy couple had been together for 16 years without an official ceremony.
"Nothing felt right. ... This fits; this completely fits," Michael said.
"We like doing quirky things, so that intrigued me," Scott said. "It just sound[ed] like a lot of fun -- something very different."
Their boldface-name officiant liked the idea, too.
"If you are getting married in hockey jerseys, and you are making me wear a referee jersey, and you are gay ... we are in for a great show," Smith said.
Kevin Smith Performs Couple's Wedding Ceremony
So they were. Michael and Scott exchanged vows sporting fake cuts and bruises that make-up artists had applied backstage. Like the grooms, the guests wore hockey jerseys.
When they faced the altar, Smith led them through an off-the-cuff Q&A that was as prurient as possible.
Then came the big moment, with Smith declaring: "By the power invested in me by the almighty Universal Life Church, which anybody can just [do] online by the way, and this here building being SModcastle, I now pronounce you and Scott married!"
At the reception, which was at their home, Michael and Scott were delighted by their decision to have a celebrity tie their knot.
"Normally you have to compromise this way or that way, and this was absolutely no compromise," Michael said. "It was exactly the way we wanted it."
So how much does it cost to have a "celebrity wedding" of your own? In Smith's case, not as much as you might think: The wedding ceremony cost $5,000.
"Show me another $5,000 wedding," Smith said, "other than an elopement."
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