British couple travels nearly 4,000 miles for Spam-themed wedding
The wedding was officiated by a "SPAMinister" at the Spam Museum in Minnesota.
— -- An English couple with a particular affinity for the world's most famous canned meat traveled all the way to small town Minnesota to tie the knot in truly "Spam-tastic" fashion.
On Tuesday, the Spam Museum in Austin, Minnesota, held its first ever Spam-themed wedding for Anne Mousley and Mark "I LOVE SPAM" Benson, who legally changed his name last year out of his enduring love for the legendary meat product.
The groom, who said his grandfather and uncle both worked for a Spam manufacturer in Liverpool, called the ceremony a "dream come true."
"Marrying Anne was amazing alone, and the icing on the cake was getting to say our vows at a place dedicated to the brand that I love and holds so much nostalgia for me," Benson said in a statement released on the canned-meat maker's press website.
The 80-year-old Spam brand announced the impending wedding via Twitter on Valentine's Day and promoted it vigorously on its social media platforms, including its Instagram, Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Spam, a subsidiary of Hormel Foods, used the ceremony as an opportunity showcase the breadth of its offerings and called it an "undeniably unique wedding."
The ceremony was hosted alongside exhibits that showcased "the iconic brand's pop culture influence, global affinity and historical relevance" and was officiated by a "SPAMinister," a term the company has trademarked, according to the company's press website.
The wedding also featured a Spam-themed wedding cake, blue and yellow bouquets -- a nod to the band's official colors -- and "SPAMatizers" snacks, according to the company, which gifted the newlyweds with a VIP pass to its 15th annual Spam Jam Festival in Hawaii.
Nicole Behne, marketing director of grocery products at Hormel Foods, said the opportunity was one that the company didn't want to miss.
"We know how truly special and fortunate we are that the Spam brand has such an enthusiastic community of fans and is a part of meals spent with loved ones for generation after generation," Behne said in a statement.
"We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make one of our most dedicated fan’s dream come true," she added.