When you think of the perfect location for your dream wedding ceremony, what places come to mind? A church centered around your faith? A white sandy beach? A garden or park surrounded by nature?
While these locations are common, couples typically don’t think of pledging their eternal love in a NASCAR pit stop, walking down the condiment aisle of a grocery store, or in front of 50,000 strangers.
However, the couples on this list opted for a much more unconventional route on their big day. From tying the knot in under ten seconds to tweeting their “I do’s” to eloping at a rock concert and even marrying a tree, here are 10 wedding ceremonies that were anything but ordinary.
Ten-Second NASCAR Nuptials
On August 8, 2023, Anheuser-Busch gave couples the opportunity to get married at “NASCAR speed” as part of the Busch Light Pit Stop Wedding Contest in honor of Kevin Harvick’s final race in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Tori Lindsay and Nick Brendel, committed NASCAR fans engaged at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, won the contest. On October 15, 2023, as Kevin Harvick made his pit stop during the South Point 400 NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the couple exchanged vows next to Harvick’s pit box in the “fastest wedding imaginable.”
Lindsay wore a white NASCAR racing suit with a veil and carried white roses decorated with Busch Light beer cans. Brendel chose a white button-up shirt, tie, and boutonniere under a NASCAR jacket and pants.
With actor Gerald Downey—the “Busch Guy”—as the wedding officiant, the couple said their “I do’s” in front of approximately 80,000 “guests” in just under 10 seconds. [1]
Tying the Knot on Twitter
Cengizhan Celik and Candan Canik of Turkey “wanted to have a little surprise” during their wedding ceremony, doing so in what is believed to be the first ceremony conducted via Twitter (now known as X).
Celik, a social media editor for the news website ensonhaber.com, and his bride incorporated the microblogging site into their ceremony on September 2, 2012, by having Mustafa Kara, the mayor of Istanbul’s Uskudar district, officiate the ceremony with a tweet to the bride and groom asking if they took each other to be husband and wife.
The couple then passed an iPad between them, each tweeting “evet,” the Turkish word for “yes,” sending their vows out into the void. The couple’s witnesses also used the social media platform.
While the couple proved that they needed less than 140 characters to express their love, the online ceremony culminated in Kara handing the couple a marriage certificate, which they later signed the old-fashioned way. [2]
Tree-Mendous Ceremony for a Good Cause
Sixty-year-old Karen Cooper of Fort Myers, Florida, heard that the city planned to cut down a 100-year-old ficus tree that has shaded Snell Family Park for over a century. Cooper was willing to save the beloved tree.
The tree has an 8,000-foot (2,438-meter) canopy that extends into a neighboring lot listed for sale at $1 million. It became the center of a neighborhood debate when the Fort Myers city staff began discussing cutting it down in 2017. In December 2017, the city’s public works department approved the tree’s removal. Then, in February 2018, the board discussed spending $13,000 to cut the tree down and replace it with smaller ones.
In an attempt to save the tree, Cooper held a ceremony on March 24, 2018, to wed the tree during a community event.
Cooper’s friend and maid of honor, Ann Cason, walked Cooper and her ring bearer, a dog named Little Bear, down a makeshift aisle to stand in front of the tree. As many as 80 people from the neighborhood came to witness the nuptials, where vows were read by the event’s DJ. Although there were no actual rings or priest present, the community celebrated as Cooper vowed “to protect and preserve and celebrate” the tree. The nuptials included flowers, music, a tree-decorated wedding cake, and mimosas.
The ceremony was a success. On March 27, 2018, the Beautification Advisory Board of Fort Myers decided to spare the tree. [3]
“Everlong” Love
Texas couple Belinda Marie Ramos and Tony Rosales credited the Foo Fighters hit song “Everlong” for sparking their relationship. Although they were just friends, the song caused a “rush of emotions” in Rosales, leading him to realize he was in love with Ramos.
Rosales proposed on January 1, 2018, and the couple set their wedding date for May 4, 2019, as they are also Star Wars fans.
However, after putting down a deposit for their venue, inviting guests, and purchasing a $2,000 wedding dress, the couple decided to elope at an upcoming Foo Fighters concert instead.
Ramos contacted Phoebe, who was ordained and agreed to meet them during the show, through the concert event page. The couple arrived at the concert on April 21, 2018, at the Starplex Pavilion in Dallas, Texas. Ramos informed the venue staff of the couple’s marriage plans, and they received a special pass for their officiant, Phoebe, to come to their VIP seats when “Everlong” was played.
As frontman Dave Grohl sang, the couple exchanged rings and got married in a sea of people. They then shared their first kiss as husband and wife as the crowd cheered. The romantic moment was captured on video and posted to Twitter, where the couple revealed their union was legal. [4]
Oh, Thank Heaven for 7-Eleven
Myrtle Bond and Owen “Jack” Tate had been friends since childhood and dated briefly in the 1980s. They lost touch for almost a decade until Tate walked into a Richmond, Virginia, 7-Eleven store at 3 am for coffee, where Bond worked as a cashier.
That meeting rekindled their romance, and after dating for a couple of months, Tate suggested they get married. Tate wanted to get married inside the 7-Eleven, where the long-lost loves had found each other again. Bond was initially hesitant but agreed.
On December 14, 1996, Bond was walked down the aisle of cereal, crackers, and candy by her manager Pat Stutz as Tate and Reverend Paul Richardson waited by the Big Gulp and Slurpee fountains.
The convenience store stayed open, with customers pumping gas and purchasing lottery tickets and cigarettes during the couple’s 10-minute ceremony. [5]
Wedding Bells and Sleigh Bells
Forty-two-year-old Eric Daniel, a videography teacher and former sheriff’s deputy, met 40-year-old Joy Richter, a registered nurse, on a dating app after years of being unlucky in love.
After their first meeting in 2021, Daniel knew he was going to marry Richter. And in May 2022, Daniel proposed after a Kane Brown concert in Tampa, Florida.
Despite the joyous occasion, Daniel and Richter “were not people who crave the spotlight,” so they opted for a quiet, private elopement in either Savannah, Georgia, or Charleston, South Carolina. However, their plans changed after speaking with their wedding officiant, Pastor Crystal Porter, who told them about a contest for a free wedding ceremony at Lakeland’s 41st annual Christmas Parade.
The couple won the contest, and on December 1, 2022, Daniel and Richter stood on top of a Christmas parade float with a preacher, their friends, and family. As the float passed the parade judges’ stand, they were pronounced husband and wife. The couple who planned to elope were married in front of an estimated 50,000 people. [6]
Here Comes the Bride, Down the Condiment Aisle
On August 3, 2021, Brenda Williams made a trip to the Fry’s Food and Drug store in Casa Grande, Arizona, in search of Miracle Whip. While searching aisle 8 for the sandwich spread, she found her future husband.
Dennis Delgado, who was getting olive oil mayonnaise, walked up behind Williams and made a witty remark. The exchange led to a 30-minute conversation, and the two later exchanged numbers.
Williams had lost her husband of 30 years to prostate cancer two years prior, and Delgado had lost his wife of 45 years a year prior. Yet despite his grief, Delgado joined Williams at church the following Sunday, and as the two grew closer, they helped heal each other’s broken hearts.
Then, in April 2022, Delgado proposed to Williams in the exact spot where they first met.
On November 19, 2022, 72-year-old Williams walked down the condiment aisle again, but this time to get married. Williams was hidden in the aisle next to the condiment aisle and then walked down aisle 8, where 78-year-old Delgado waited for his bride as the wedding march played over the store’s loudspeakers. The couple was joined by family, friends, and fellow shoppers for the ceremony, and the Fry’s staff even provided custom floral arrangements, which included Miracle Whip and mayonnaise.
Miracle Whip heard of the couple’s story and offered to treat them to a honeymoon. [7]
Ten-Year-Old with Cancer Gets Her Dream Wedding
Ten-year-old Emma Edwards of Walnut Cove, North Carolina, had one dream—to be a mom, start a family, and marry her childhood sweetheart, Daniel Marshall Christopher Williams Jr, aka DJ. The young couple had even attempted to hold a wedding ceremony on the premises of their elementary school, but the “wedding” was shut down by their teacher.
Edwards’s dream of getting married and starting a family seemed less realistic after she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia—a quickly progressing disease in which white blood cells are found in the bone marrow—in April 2022.
Edwards underwent treatments for leukemia for approximately one year, and her parents, Alina and Aaron Edwards, remained hopeful that their little girl would beat the cancer. But in June 2023, the doctors informed them that Edwards’s illness was incurable.
It was then that DJ and his mother suggested that the young couple get “married” and pledge their affection for one another during the time they had left. On June 29, 2023, a brief ceremony was held in Edwards’s grandmother’s garden with around 100 guests.
Sadly, on July 11, 2023, 12 days after the ceremony, Edwards passed away. [8]
Making the Most of the Last Day of School
After dating for 15 years, 56-year-old Jeff Vest, a social studies teacher at Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, and 49-year-old Kari Bordner, a guidance counselor at the same high school, finally decided to tie the knot.
Rather than making a huge deal or spending a lot of money, the couple opted for a last-minute “no frills” ceremony. The couple sent out invitations online the night of May 28, 2019, for their ceremony, which was to be held the following day.
On May 29, 2019, the couple exchanged vows at the half-court line in the school’s gymnasium. Not only was this their wedding day, but it was also the last day of school and Vest’s last day due to early retirement. So the couple certainly had a lot to celebrate. [9]
Drive Thru, Say “I Do”
Stephanie Garcia and Phil Hammond of Cambridge, Ontario, met in 2007 while working as McDonald’s crew members. Their relationship grew over the next 14 years as they welcomed four children, one they even named Little Mac in reference to the McDonald’s Big Mac.
While the couple wanted to get married, conflicting work schedules at McDonald’s, four children, and then COVID continued to push their plans further out of reach.
However, when McDonald’s offered a “Drive-thru Say I Do” contest giving couples a chance to get married under the Golden Arches, Garcia eagerly applied and was selected as a winner.
On August 24, 2021, the couple drove their Mustang to the first drive-thru window of a McDonald’s in Cambridge, where they said their vows and were pronounced husband and wife as family and friends cheered them on from the parking lot. They then moved to the outdoor patio area, where they shared their first meal as a married couple. Stephanie had a 10-piece chicken nugget meal, and Phil had a Big Mac and fries. [10]
These couples prove that love can be celebrated anywhere, in the most unexpected and creative ways.
Which of these unique wedding ceremonies surprised you the most? Leave your comment below!
