Courthouse Weddings Are Not Boring – Jen Sulak on Making It Personal

Kevin Dennis (0:0.902)

All right, folks, welcome to another episode of Now That I'm Engaged, How Do I Get Married? As always, we have our wonderful co-host, August, with us. But we have a very special guest here, Jen Shulak, or Shulock. I think I said it right the second time. So here to talk to us about courthouse weddings are not boring. So I'm really excited to kind of jump into this. really, because I've never been a part of a courthouse wedding. So I feel like I'm here to learn.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (0:14.105)

you

Kevin Dennis (0:29.006)

and just learn with everyone else as we go. So Jen, can you tell us just a little bit about yourself? How did you get here today? And then we'll jump into some questions.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (0:39.513)

Well, hi everybody. My name is Jen. I'm with Weirdo Weddings Photography. And how I ended up here today? Well, you know, it's been a long time going, 17 years in now.

I'm four years into my newest brand called Weirdo Weddings and it has just been such a pleasure to see couples out there making decisions, getting married, but it all started with also me becoming a bride as well and never hiring a photographer, having zero photos that I really liked. I maybe three, okay? I like maybe three photos. But so, know, 19 years ago, totally different landscape and photography, but I just figure I'm going to spend the rest of my life making sure people get the memories they want. So that's kind of how I

Kevin Dennis (1:7.394)

Mm.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (1:20.255)

ended up here and now I'm out here talking about topics that are a little bit on the abstract side, not necessarily always in the, you know, the normal pathway. I like talking about things that are different and I like living things that are different too, especially with my couples.

Kevin Dennis (1:34.743)

That's exciting. just out of curiosity, how did we come up with the name Weirdo Weddings?

Weirdo Weddings Photography (1:40.587)

Okay, so Weirdo Weddings came out of my fine art community that I've been a part of for years. And we always call ourselves weirdos because we have conceptual work we do, we have weird ideas, we go execute those weird ideas. And sometimes they come out in weird formats of all different kinds of mixed media. And so I thought to myself when pandemic happened, I was like, well, I still want to serve my people, but I don't know really who they are. You know how they tell you in business, you need to find your people, find your people. And I was like, but I don't know who they

Kevin Dennis (2:8.012)

Mm-hmm.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (2:10.713)

And the more I thought about it, I've already been working with a whole bunch of weirdos and I'm just like, I might as well just call it what it is. absolutely. And as you know, that word could be 50 % thinks I'm a little nuts and 50 % like you're my people. And that's what I'm here for is just to meet the people that I know I'm supposed to meet under this brand. So it's super fun.

Kevin Dennis (2:15.465)

Hehehehehe

August Yocher (2:17.720)

You want them to gravitate towards you.

Kevin Dennis (2:28.011)

Yeah.

Kevin Dennis (2:33.652)

I love it. No, I totally get it. I'm an Apple nerd and that's why I have a bunch of friends that are Apple nerds and we call ourselves the nerds of the Apple world. anyway, yeah, so I totally appreciate it. So, all right, as we jump in to questions here, the biggest one is I'm really kind curious is why do you love courthouse weddings so much?

Weirdo Weddings Photography (2:43.551)

Yes!

Weirdo Weddings Photography (2:56.599)

You know what's great? Being the photographer, the aspect of the courthouse wedding is as short and sweet. And a lot of times the ceremonies, even if the judge is really talkative, he's going to be done in 15, 20 minutes. And then you're like, well, what do I do now? Now that you're married? Well,

Kevin Dennis (3:3.330)

Mmm.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (3:15.189)

I like to come in and say, let's go across the city, let's do a photo shoot, let's go have maybe set up a dinner or something. So I love them because they are super short and sweet. there's, you know, for me, I live in the North Texas area. So I feel like I get the access to certain architecture I wouldn't normally get access to.

Kevin Dennis (3:22.796)

Hmm.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (3:35.553)

You know, like it's a, you know, it's a city building. It's got, you know, the courthouse area. It's sometimes the architecture on the outside is really awesome. And then you can work with the city that you're in, the city that you're getting married in. But I love it for that reason. That's why, that's the reason why I love weddings is because I'm doing four to five different kinds of photography during a wedding. So even if it's a courthouse wedding, I'm already thinking, okay, huh, how about the building? How about the area?

Kevin Dennis (3:45.558)

Mm-hmm.

Kevin Dennis (3:56.961)

Hmm.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (4:3.331)

How about this idea? How about this idea? And especially if the couple is already familiar with the city and they already do things in the city, then that's a great opportunity for me to say, let's take an hour to an hour and a half just to do a photo session of all the things that you love about your city.

Kevin Dennis (4:18.306)

Yeah, especially in Dallas there, the downtown area is so beautiful. It really is pretty, so I can see. Yeah. Yeah.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (4:23.115)

Yeah, there's endless ideas down here. Yeah.

August Yocher (4:26.564)

And do you feel like with courthouse weddings you kind of get a more intimate relationship with the couple because you're kind of going off on your own instead of to a wedding reception?

Weirdo Weddings Photography (4:36.503)

very intimate and what I've noticed is folks that decide to get married at a courthouse they'll either invite nobody or they'll invite 20 plus people depending on how much the courtroom can hold.

Kevin Dennis (4:45.054)

Oh really?

Kevin Dennis (4:49.314)

Mmm.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (4:50.184)

So in that respect, I do love the intimacy of it because you're in and out. You're not worried about your reception. If you have a reception plan, that's different. But a lot of the times the folks going to the courthouse literally just want to get to the courthouse, have that celebration moment, and then they're done for the rest of the day and they can go do whatever they want, however they want with whomever they want.

August Yocher (4:53.808)

Mm-hmm.

Kevin Dennis (5:14.048)

I totally love that. How can couples make the courthouse wedding more personal?

Weirdo Weddings Photography (5:19.299)

So I like to say start with whatever outfits you want to put together. Now me as the photographer, I'm thinking about you expressing yourself because obviously by, if you're watching this, you see that I express myself. I don't expect everybody to express like me, but when you show up to your wedding and a little sun dress and winter time, that's fine. Okay. If you want to get married in a blue dress, that's, know, whatever, in a suit, whatever, like I, I like starting with the, outfits.

August Yocher (5:25.296)

Hmm.

Kevin Dennis (5:26.657)

Mm-hmm.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (5:49.383)

first because you know whatever you're gonna wear is what I'm gonna photograph and that's gonna make what we consider a very boring courtroom cute because I haven't I have yet to see a cute courtroom now it's like I can make it cute with my my you know weird ways but if you take if you bring your ideas for your attire I think it's super fun to make it that's

August Yocher (6:0.440)

Yeah.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (6:16.407)

the personalization as well as not just the vows that you might read when you're in front of the judge, but he's, or I say he, anybody, any judge is gonna guide you through your own like vows per se. And then you bring your own personal effects to it.

August Yocher (6:32.890)

I mean, I feel like that probably is the best way to add color to a courtroom like that. Do you see couples a lot of times get excited about their outfits beforehand and share them with you before the day of?

Kevin Dennis (6:36.831)

You

Weirdo Weddings Photography (6:37.197)

Seriously.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (6:44.265)

I always ask them, I'm that person, I'm that photographer that says, could you please send me all of your things? Because then I'm nerding out with their ideas. And I feel like I just finished one, not a courthouse wedding, but I finished one this last weekend that had little Star Wars implements put into it. And I thought to myself,

August Yocher (6:48.272)

You're like, I wanna know.

August Yocher (6:54.895)

Mm-hmm.

Kevin Dennis (7:2.634)

awesome

Weirdo Weddings Photography (7:4.427)

If you have something in your outfit, you have cuff links, you have a saber, you have all this other fun things that you could do that represent galaxy and celestial and Star Wars, then why not take that to your courthouse wedding and make it more interesting? I had somebody do a courthouse wedding in a full on wedding ball gown. So she was not shy. She was not shy to just show up as you would at maybe a church or a big event center or, you know, all of these wonderful venues out here. I personally think that

August Yocher (7:21.914)

Have

Kevin Dennis (7:22.934)

Yeah

Weirdo Weddings Photography (7:33.515)

I'm like, just give me all the details so I can conceptualize before we even get there. That would be fun, but it's not always required. I sometimes already know the courthouse and then I'll walk in and I'll like, oh, let's just go do this, this and this and we'll make your outfit work with it.

August Yocher (7:48.266)

Mm-hmm. Have you seen any other fun ideas kind of similar to Star Wars that couples have brought into their weddings?

Kevin Dennis (7:49.474)

Well, that's funny.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (7:56.409)

I'm trying to think. Not necessarily overly thematic right now. That's another reason why I wanted to talk about this is because I don't think people realize that they can do that at a courthouse. And that's the reason why I started this topic is like, it's not boring because it's you guys. You guys made the decision to go make it official. You can make it as eccentric and awesome as you want. The point is, is somebody gonna be there to capture it?

Kevin Dennis (8:7.599)

Hmm.

August Yocher (8:15.397)

Mm-hmm.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (8:22.123)

So I haven't had anything super overly thematic, but like I said, I had the ball gown. I had one lady who was in more like South Dallas. We went to the courthouse and she had these beautiful flowers, beautiful flowers. And not only that, she had a flower crown made at the same time, all the same flowers.

August Yocher (8:39.588)

So cute!

Kevin Dennis (8:40.114)

Oh wow!

Weirdo Weddings Photography (8:41.409)

had a beautiful gown with a flower crown and matching flowers. And I think they just invited the parents. That was like three people that showed up. so we know the group photos were like, you know, took 10 minutes. But I like that when people they don't let themselves be defined by the courthouse when they go beyond what I feel like they would do instead of just showing up in their casual wear. When they take it up a notch. I mean, the possibilities are endless, honestly.

August Yocher (8:52.481)

Oh yeah.

August Yocher (9:8.098)

Mm-hmm. Do you feel that sometimes like couples come to you and you can see that they want to express their individuality but are a little scared to do it and you definitely seem like someone who values self-expression. Do you have ways of kind of bringing out people's, you know, getting them out of their shell and getting excited about their courthouse wedding?

Weirdo Weddings Photography (9:30.177)

Yeah, I kind of, I, I do a lot of talking with them about what they really want. And then I, I first I start there because I don't want to encourage them to do something they're really uncomfortable with. Like if they're a kind of person that does not want the attention on them, they may not want anything else besides just showing up. But what I have noticed with all of my clients is that I just let them talk to me about things they're genuinely interested in. And it's usually ideas that they've been thinking about for a while.

August Yocher (9:35.600)

Mm-hmm.

Kevin Dennis (9:42.274)

Hmm.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (9:59.531)

And so I just kind of talk it out with them and see if it works for me, photographically. I'm always going to try to infuse something in there, but if it doesn't work logistically with your day, then we have to talk about it more. But those are for the traditional weddings, but for a courthouse wedding, I feel like you can infuse a lot of different things and ideas into that little bit of time slot that we have together.

to make it their own. And I think that's really what I do is just sit and listen. And then I, you know, if I, if I hear something that sounds really good visually, then I'll kind of encourage that because I can tell them the possibilities in my head, what I see. And then if we all start to see the same thing, then it's like, yeah, let's go do that.

August Yocher (: 10:41

the excitement builds up a little bit, yeah.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 10:44

Yeah, yeah. And it's very similar when it's very intimate and you're not having to cater to 30 different opinions versus the couple and the photographer putting in an opinion, you know?

Kevin Dennis (: 10:51

No.

August Yocher (: 10:56

That's funny you say that, Jen. We've been talking about that a lot on the podcast recently is figuring out how to manage, you know, the 30,000 opinions that come with the day of. I guess this is a great way to kind of, you know, get around that.

Kevin Dennis (: 10:57

Yeah.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (11:1.464)

Yeah?

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 11:11

Yeah, you're gonna get, you're gonna get people telling you what to do no matter what you decide to do. So even the courthouse wedding, especially if you run off in a lope to the courthouse and nobody knows, they're gonna be like, they're gonna yap at you because they weren't there. And then you're gonna, you know, slap back at them like, no, I really wanted it to just be us. I don't want any attention whatsoever. And so it's kind of like, it goes back and forth, you know, you just, every couple is so different.

August Yocher (: 11:15

That's fair, yeah.

August Yocher (: 11:22

Mm-hmm.

August Yocher (: 11:34

Mm-hmm.

Kevin Dennis (: 11:36

So why do you think courthouse weddings get a bad rap for being boring?

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 11:41

I think one of the reasons for sure is I don't think people see the beauty in simplicity.

August Yocher (: 11:49

Mmm.

Kevin Dennis (: 11:49

Hmm.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 11:50

They want to go over the top. This is not something against all the people that want to do the over to the top weddings with the hundreds of people or the big venues and the all inclusiveness of everything. I think there's this beauty and simplicity that it's okay. And I think we haven't embraced that. We tend to forget that. We can just kind of throw it off to the side as not an option. As to where I like to keep it in the mix.

Kevin Dennis (12:9.538)

Hmm.

August Yocher (: 12:15

Mm-hmm.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 12:19

If you really just need to go somewhere and get it done. And I can't tell you how many couples this year have already gotten married and then they had their wedding later.

August Yocher (: 12:28

I was gonna ask you about that. I've seen a few friends like I used to go to school with and then they had this like super cute like Vegas photo shoot just for the elopement and it was was darling it was really cute and then later on they had the bigger party.

Kevin Dennis (: 12:28

Yes!

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 12:38

Mm-hmm.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 12:45

Yep. And that's been happening a lot this year for me, for my clientele. They have either gotten married already and then they planned the wedding later or, know, there's, there's all different ways they've approached it. And I think that, you know, the courthouses, well, number one, like I said earlier, they can be a tad ugly on the inside. They can be, feel very like almost like the, the same feeling as going to a hospital room. You're like, Oh, this is so uninspiring. But I like to think that.

Kevin Dennis (13:4.639)

Mm-hmm.

August Yocher (: 13:10

Mmm.

Kevin Dennis (: 13:11

You

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 13:15

If you're there with your partner and you're really in love and you're just, can make it what you want to. And I think the wedding industry, you know, also needs to remember there's a wide, a wide spectrum of, of events and ways to get married that we can't discount the courthouses because those can be very beautiful, intimate ceremonies. And I love that.

Kevin Dennis (: 13:31

Mmm.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 13:40

you know, again, people can make it however they want. They can make it as big as they want. They can get married and have a party later. They can get married and have a wedding later. Like, get married and have a dinner. I mean, my friends, my friends in Fort Worth, they got married and they had a dinner. These are the people that invited like 20 to 30 people. And I was like, well, they're like, what are we going to do? And like, they got a cake and everything. I mean, I'm telling you, like,

Kevin Dennis (: 13:48

Mmm.

Yeah.

August Yocher (: 13:58

Mm-hmm.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (14:4.917)

you can do these things. And it, as a photographer, I'm like, wherever you want to get married is where I will show up. Right? It's like my job. Not everybody gets to be a part of a courthouse wedding. And maybe that's why it gets a bad rap is because you're not going to use the planners and the designers and, the DJ. mean, like you're just, there's certain wedding vendors that might not get to participate in that, but that doesn't mean that you couldn't be.

Kevin Dennis (: 14:13

Yeah. Yeah.

Kevin Dennis (: 14:25

Mm-hmm.

August Yocher (: 14:30

Mm-hmm.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 14:33

at the after party. That doesn't mean you could be at the after wedding. I mean, even I had a after wedding reception because I didn't fight for my dream cake and so I got a sheet cake because I was tired of planning my wedding. But you know, that's the kind of stuff. Like, you know, it's all good. Like courthouse weddings are a legitimate way to get married.

August Yocher (: 14:45

Yeah

August Yocher (: 14:55

And I feel like there's, oh sorry, go ahead, Kevin.

Kevin Dennis (: 14:55

Well, no, was just going to say it's weddings are not one size fits all. And the more the more we kind of been peeling back the onion, so to speak, it's like, you know, everybody needs everybody's different and everybody wants, you know, a different outcome. Not everyone's been planning of that big, amazing, beautiful wedding. So it's amazing. Yeah.

August Yocher (15:1.156)

Mm-hmm.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (15:3.289)

you

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 15:14

Yeah. Yeah, and you have the people that, you know, sometimes get married several times, you know, for various circumstances. I had people get married in, you know, in their 60s and they were both widowed. I mean, that was the most beautiful love story. And they chose a big wedding instead of running off to the courthouse because they wanted to celebrate because they didn't get to do that with their previous spouses. It's like all these little things that you can do to celebrate it your way. I think, yeah, and it's a very good way to

Kevin Dennis (: 15:26

Mm-hmm.

August Yocher (: 15:28

you

Kevin Dennis (: 15:36

Uhhhh

August Yocher (: 15:40

That's really sweet actually, yeah.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 15:44

just gauge where you are as a couple and if a courthouse works for you, I can help you make it look cute.

August Yocher (: 15:53

Well, and there's almost like, I don't know, like a touch of romance just being there, the two of you, you know, without a big crowd watching you. I know we talked about intimacy, but it definitely adds a touch of that to the day.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 15:59

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (16:7.125)

Yeah, because you're not distracted. Let's just be honest. Like you're not distracted. you know, recently I was walking through a few of these weddings and, I've had people just be, it's not so much that they were DIY, but they were hands on. And when you're hands on in your own wedding day, sometimes you don't get to enjoy it.

August Yocher (16:9.262)

Mm-hmm.

August Yocher (: 16:24

Mm-hmm.

Kevin Dennis (: 16:25

Your stress, the F out.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 16:27

You're stressed, you're, throwing things together. Even if you had people helping you, you're still like involved, heavily involved. And I've had some people walk up to me after, you know, almost the one, their wedding is over. They're like, I don't even think I enjoyed it. It just, it just flew by. And I'm like, I felt terrible about that because I was like, Oh, I'm so sorry. Like, you know, how do we, how, how do we help people slow down to enjoy their own day? I mean, that's just, but a courthouse wedding, you have all the time in the world after you get married.

August Yocher (: 16:41

Aww.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 16:56

married or even when you first get there you can take some time to just sit with each other and I don't know, like it is very romantic and sweet.

August Yocher (17:9.582)

Definitely. Well, and I know today you kind of wanted to talk about not only courthouse weddings, but just elopements in general. Have you seen some like unique elopements recently, like locations or fun ideas?

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 17:25

Yeah, so a good chunk of what, and I'll tell you a small backstory about how I started Weirdo Weddings too, is that in order to get new content and fresh content quickly, I started doing styled shoe elopements because for me, I had never explored the world of elopements before because I was always waiting on the clientele to inspire me. And then I was like, wait, I'm the photographer.

Kevin Dennis (: 17:38

Mmm.

August Yocher (: 17:39

Mmm.

Kevin Dennis (: 17:47

Hmm.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 17:51

I'm not a wedding planner or an event coordinator or anything like that, but I can come up with ideas of where people can get married. So there's a lot of different people that will just run off to a park, right? Parks are not boring either. And then I found recently some of my most favorite ways to run off is to these little art pop-ups. Yeah, they're super fun. One of my first styled shoots that I put together was over here at an art pop-up in Dallas. And I thought people could get married here.

Kevin Dennis (18:3.926)

Mm-hmm.

August Yocher (: 18:10

Hmm.

Kevin Dennis (: 18:10

Oh.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 18:21

people could totally get married here. And there's, you know, visual spaces and rooms and that's another, a style of elopement where you can go by yourself or you can invite 10 to 15 people. And you show up and you do a fun photo shoot and you get, yourself a package that allows you some snacks and drinks and you're good. But yeah, there's, there's, those are the ones that I really enjoy the most is like, where can you get married that it feels like, first of all, like you second of all.

August Yocher (: 18:32

Mm-hmm.

Kevin Dennis (: 18:32

Mmm.

Kevin Dennis (: 18:40

amazing.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 18:50

you know, can you get married there? You know, use it as a package. Because sometimes an elopement literally is just an elaborate photo shoot for the couple, you know, you know, sometimes you just need an officiant to make it official and then that's, then that's it. Right. And then, you know, it's pretty neat that you can take an officiant just about anywhere and get married. And so some of my most favorite are the places that people don't think of.

Kevin Dennis (: 18:52

Yeah.

August Yocher (: 18:54

Yeah.

August Yocher (19:6.586)

Mm-hmm.

Kevin Dennis (: 19:12

That's true. Yeah.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 19:20

And

Kevin Dennis (: 19:20

When you said that I was saying so I I'm I'm I'm a weirdo because I am from California But I'm a huge Texas Rangers fan and so I I proposed to my wife at the at a game when we were there At the ballpark. Yeah, so and we and we go yeah, we go every set and the more you thinking about I'm like I would have got married at the old ballpark I love the old ballpark, know, yeah, you know cuz that's that's me and that's personal to me. So

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 19:27

Oh, how funny.

August Yocher (: 19:40

You

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 19:41

Yeah!

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 19:46

I mean, my husband proposed to me on Kid Kratik in the Morning, which is a local radio show here. So I was like, honey, you have two choices, Blue Man Group or the Kid Kratik in the Morning show. Well, Blue Man Group is not in Dallas, so we opted for the Morning show. And then we just recently did our Val renewal on the air as well.

August Yocher (: 19:51

Cute, I love that.

Kevin Dennis (: 19:56

Hehehehehe

Kevin Dennis (20:1.192)

Yeah, there you go.

Kevin Dennis (20:7.636)

Oh, that's amazing!

August Yocher (: 20:11

I love that it's so unique and like I'm sure such a fun story to share with everybody too.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 20:15

Yeah, I mean imagine if you have something that you really truly love and you call them up and ask. There's nothing wrong with asking. You know, if you have a favorite theater show, you have a favorite area of your city. Possibilities are endless. Just ask. That's all I'm gonna leave people with. Just ask.

Kevin Dennis (: 20:22

Mm-hmm.

August Yocher (: 20:25

Mm-hmm.

August Yocher (: 20:35

I was just gonna say, I feel like, since we've been talking today, like, I feel like a whole new world has opened up, you know? Like, it's just stuff you wouldn't think about.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 20:42

That's my job. was like, yep, that's my job. I like, I want people to think a little bit bigger because I'm of the opinion that I like doing a variety of weddings. I like photographing tons of different styles and themes and locations and lengths of time. I'm like, let's just be done in an hour, an hour and a half. And you've got your pictures and I've got a big smile on my face.

Kevin Dennis (: 20:43

Hehehehe

August Yocher (: 20:54

Mm-hmm.

Kevin Dennis (: 20:59

Mm-hmm.

August Yocher (: 20:59

Mm.

Kevin Dennis (21:5.120)

Exactly. That's cute. So what do you wish couples would know about having a courthouse ceremony or allotments going into it? What do you wish they would know that they don't know? I guess some kind of hurdles and roadblocks that you come up with.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 21:24

Um, really it's getting past, you know, the fact that you don't think it's special enough. Like you don't think it's extravagant enough. I'm, I'm going to go back to simplicity is beautiful because yes, the courtroom may be a little bit on the ugly side, but there's also a lot of cool historical elements that you can bring to your courthouse wedding and just.

Kevin Dennis (: 21:31

Mmm.

August Yocher (: 21:34

Like the stigma of it all.

Kevin Dennis (: 21:38

Mm-hmm.

August Yocher (: 21:38

Mm-hmm.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 21:50

And just kind of like have that thing in your, back of your mind of we're going to get married here and this is why, and there's nothing wrong with it. And quite frankly, a lot of it's from the other voices telling you that it's stupid or it's boring, which is why I love the topic that I came up with because I was like, everybody thinks it's boring. And I have, I've had friends call me after they got married at the courthouse saying, well, we just got married at the courthouse. And I'm like, but do you realize you could have made it into something

August Yocher (22:4.240)

Mm-hmm.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 22:20

than just a JP.

Kevin Dennis (: 22:22

Mm-hmm.

August Yocher (: 22:22

Mm-hmm, like don't minimize that. Yeah

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 22:25

Yeah, because I'm like, they're like, oh, we just did it. And I said, yeah, but it's like a monumental moment. And me, like, I'm like, it's a monumental moment. We need to capture these things. Don't throw it under the rug because it wasn't a big, glorious celebration. I said, to me, any celebration. And if you're standing in front of somebody to make it official, that's a celebration. Yeah.

Kevin Dennis (: 22:45

100%. Well, yeah, it's just I think people lose sight of that. It's everybody's love story is different. So, you know, and yeah.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 22:51

Yeah, and don't let everybody talk you out of it. Like, it's like, you can make your own decision and otherwise you're gonna just be, you know, trying to please all of the family and friends and you're gonna hurt somebody's feelings. That's one thing that people may need to realize is that they may get their feelings hurt.

Kevin Dennis (: 23:11

Mm-hmm.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 23:12

Okay. And it's all right because then you can tell, you can talk with them and say, listen, this is where we are as a couple. This is how we want to do it. And I'm sorry, your feelings are hurt, but this is how we wanted to do it. And then just tell them you'll have a party later.

August Yocher (: 23:27

Yeah, yeah, it's a good way to shut them up, huh?

Kevin Dennis (: 23:27

There you go. And you can help me plan it.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 23:31

Yeah, I mean, I mean, it's like, I know parents are having their expectations and dreams for their kids, right? And it's like, why not just, you know, understand that they might be a little hurt, but it's a navigation of emotion that you can walk through together. You don't have to completely ignore them, but don't always listen to them too. It's like,

August Yocher (: 23:46

Yeah.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 23:55

Make your own personal decisions and I think you can make it as fun as you want to and when you're navigating friends and family just know that communication is going to be the top thing you're going to work on anyway.

August Yocher (24:7.652)

Well, and as a couple too, I feel like you don't want to look back at your wedding day with any type of regret. So, like if you have to hurt a few feelings along the way, you know, sometimes that's just what you have to do.

Kevin Dennis (24:7.660)

No, out.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 24:13

Yeah.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 24:19

Yeah, and for those of us recovering people pleasers, it's really hard to not let the guilt follow you into the room as you're standing there in front of your judge saying, oh, I wish so and so was here. You know what? You should have brought so and so there. It's OK. You know, call whoever you feel comfortable. Because my thing is, like also for couples needing to navigate this is like, who do you want there to support you anyway? Do you want somebody there to support you?

August Yocher (: 24:24

It's real.

Kevin Dennis (: 24:43

Yeah.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 24:45

You know, do you want it to just be you two or, know, however you're setting it up? You know, I think about the people that feel obligated to invite certain people because they're family. And I'm, I'm of the opinion now that like, just invite the people that really truly love and support you. Cause otherwise they're going to bring that energy in there with them. And you're just going to be thinking about it the whole time.

Kevin Dennis (25:7.232)

Yeah, you don't want baggage following you. I mean, that's what a lot of people just with, know, when you have the big weddings, it's like I had to invite aunt such and such or I had to invite this. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And they're all stressed out about it because there's some kind of bad blood there and you know, it's not worth it.

August Yocher (25:9.348)

Mm-mm.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (25:9.526)

Yeah.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 25:16

I to fight my fifth cousin, you know? Yeah.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 25:25

You spend more time trying to diffuse all of the situations than enjoying your own wedding. And I've just never, I never have understood that, but I understand how it leads up to that. But I'm like, it just doesn't sound like fun to continually be diffusing things on your wedding.

Kevin Dennis (: 25:40

No.

August Yocher (: 25:42

Nope.

Kevin Dennis (: 25:44

I was, and the whole time you've been thinking about this, I've been thinking like TV and movies have not done the courthouse weddings justice, I feel like, because you know, it's like TV is a movies, I think, give it that bad stigma that we were talking about and don't glorify what it is.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (26:1.985)

Yeah. Yeah. And I, I used to do a whole, we did a whole talking series back when we were all doing clubhouse endlessly for hours. were talking about wedding movies. Yeah. Yeah. Wedding movies we love. And we would, we would go over every single movie and talk about the wedding. And you're right. Like it's not a prominent topic of discussion in certain movies and culture. Like we, just don't talk about it. And I think it's very interesting now that you brought that up too.

August Yocher (26:9.998)

Oh, I forgot about Clubhouse. Oh my gosh.

Kevin Dennis (: 26:22

Yeah.

August Yocher (: 26:29

When you think nowadays, like, you know, 2024, would be something we've kind of gotten past and talked about too.

Kevin Dennis (: 26:29

No.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 26:36

Yeah, and I know that everybody was freaking out when the lockdowns were happening, happening because, you know, people couldn't have the big, big weddings, right? And so people then were still opening up their minds to the smaller things. And I was already working in the smaller things. So, you know, I'm working in these weddings that are, you know, they're more Renaissance festival where they're they show up, they get married and they have their

Kevin Dennis (: 26:53

Yeah, and it's...

Weirdo Weddings Photography (27:2.807)

you know, however many people they want, but they also do the quick and easy get married in the garden and you're done. You know, it's just, it's just fascinating to me how many people were really didn't have that, you on their radar because they're so used to doing the bigger things.

Kevin Dennis (: 27:20

Well, yeah, and I think COVID forced everyone. mean, especially here in California where we're from, I mean, the world ended. mean, you guys, at least in Texas, got to do a little bit of stuff more than we did. But I mean, we went almost a whole year without being able to do anything, you know? And so, yeah.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 27:36

Uh huh. I know. I heard everything. Yep. I heard all the things from my friends. We were constantly talking about the state of the industry over a clubhouse too. We were talking about everybody from coast to coast. And that's how I really learned the different, you know, all the different

Kevin Dennis (: 27:45

Yeah.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 27:52

wedding vendors out there, how we all handle things, how we all work different kinds of events, and they're all very valid and wonderful events. And that's what I found as I was locked in my house too with everybody. I was like, oh, I really like working weddings. I think I'm going to keep pursuing that.

Kevin Dennis (28:9.780)

Yeah. You mean you didn't want to become a real estate agent like everybody else did in the wedding industry?

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 28:13

Noooo

August Yocher (: 28:17

That's too real.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 28:19

Now I've done data entry for most of my career as well in a different format. I was working data entry before I got laid off years ago. So I was like, I just don't see that as a long lasting profession for me. It's not very creative.

Kevin Dennis (: 28:32

No, I totally get it.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 28:36

Ah.

Kevin Dennis (: 28:37

That's so funny.

All right.

August Yocher (: 28:43

we want to get into our top tips.

Kevin Dennis (: 28:43

think we're... I was like, tips. was like, yeah. mean, the one I think I took out of it is I think you need to make it your own. You know, go in there, like that Star Wars thing or, you know, whatever you're into. I think you make it your own and make it more personal and not just, you know, next, you know, rinse and repeat. Don't do the same thing over and over again. So that, mean, that was kind of my biggest thing when Jen was talking. Like, I'm like, make it your own, make it fun.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 28:45

Woo!

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 28:55

Yeah.

August Yocher (: 29:12

I think I kind of took away the don't be afraid to ask aspect of things. Like you kind of talking about, you know, anywhere can be a venue really as long as you ask. mean, the worst they can say is no, right? So if it is a place or, you know, a radio station, whatever is special to you, play around with the idea, I think, and, you know, involve your photographer in that because I'm sure they're probably very excited about the prospect as well.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 29:18

Yeah

Kevin Dennis (: 29:18

Hmm.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 29:26

Yeah.

Kevin Dennis (: 29:37

Mm-hmm.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 29:43

And am I supposed to do my takeaway too? Okay. So yeah, my takeaway is to remember that simplicity is beautiful too. Just keep it simple. Keep it simple and sweet and the more personalized is really, it's just you showing up to your own space and you showing up as you and embracing all of who you are. And especially when you're making the one of the biggest commitments you'll make in your whole life to be with your person for

Kevin Dennis (: 29:45

Yeah, I was gonna say if you got a tip, let's give it.

August Yocher (: 29:45

Yes. You'll be number three, come on.

Kevin Dennis (: 29:52

Hmm.

August Yocher (: 29:53

Mmm, yeah, I like that one.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 30:13

ever and ever.

August Yocher (: 30:14

Aw, yeah.

Kevin Dennis (: 30:16

Very cute. So I'm really excited to ask you this question because we ask everyone what's their favorite part of a wedding. But I feel like your favorite part is going to be totally different than everybody else's. So maybe or maybe not. But I'm just I'm very curious, Jen, what is your favorite part of a wedding?

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 30:28

Maybe.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 30:34

Okay, so I really do love the actual ceremony part, like, you know, the vows and I do a lot of hand fastings. So I really love when they're doing a hand fasting. I love watching the hand fasting. So I love that part of the wedding, but also if they've got cake, I'm ready for them to cut that cake and slice me. Give me a slice of your cake, please. So that's two of my favorite parts of the wedding.

Kevin Dennis (: 30:45

Hmm.

Kevin Dennis (: 30:52

Ha

August Yocher (: 30:53

Yeah.

Kevin Dennis (31:1.818)

There's a photographer I used to work with for for many many years and she would live for the same thing She was she goes. I'm only here for the cake. I'm really you know she's like I can't Yeah That's great all right, so Jen how would someone get in touch with you and how can they find you?

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 31:11

I photographed it, you know, once I photographed it, it's time to eat it. I mean, like, let's just go.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 31:19

Bye!

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 31:27

Absolutely, you can find me at Weirdo Weddings Photography on Facebook and Instagram are my easiest, but I also have a beautiful website that's for all you weirdos out there. And it's, know, under weirdoweddings.com. You can find me easily. I have a great system where I consult with you and talk about your day and see if we're fit. And also, I just I love meeting other nerds. So

August Yocher (: 31:51

You're finding your people.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 31:53

I am one of my last couples this last weekend. got married in little dino suits. It was adorable. I can't wait to post more. I will. They are adorable.

Kevin Dennis (: 31:54

I think we're.

Kevin Dennis (: 31:59

Oh, how cute.

August Yocher (32:1.178)

feel like you're gonna have to send us those photos. I feel like I need to see that.

Kevin Dennis (32:7.788)

That's hilarious. We just went to a Halloween party and all the little kids walking around in their dino suits. It was cracking me up.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 32:14

So cute. So cute. I win as weird Barbie meets Jigsaw the clown, the Billy clown.

Kevin Dennis (: 32:20

Oh, there you go.

August Yocher (: 32:21

Okay, I wanted to ask you that because like for those who are watching and not listening, I feel like Jen, you're very weird Barbie today.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 32:29

I very, I do Weird Barbie. She's on my website now. I will come in character as your photographer to your wedding as Weird Barbie if you want me to. Yeah?

August Yocher (: 32:36

That's amazing, I love that.

Kevin Dennis (: 32:40

Alright, I gotta eventually watch this Barbie movie so I know all the references.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 32:44

Just one, that's all the one time. The one time, that's all you need.

August Yocher (: 32:45

It will change your life.

Kevin Dennis (: 32:49

Yeah, because my daughters talk about it all the time and I'm still I'm I'm Yeah

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 32:52

And you'll see what I mean when you see Weird Barbie. You'll understand.

August Yocher (: 32:54

We all moved on from Barbie too fast. We need to go back to Barbie. It was so good, so good.

Kevin Dennis (: 32:57

Hehehe... Hehehe...

Weirdo Weddings Photography (33:1.945)

It's true, it's true. I wanna do a whole presentation on just Weird Barbie alone, honestly, so I'm working on it.

August Yocher (33:8.366)

You should do a styled shoot for Weird Barbie too.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 33:12

I did kind of a, I did a steampunk styled shoot sort of. Yeah, I did a steampunkish kind of Barbie thing at Lizzy Gator that I work with a lot, but yeah, I haven't done, I haven't done that yet, the styled shoot.

Kevin Dennis (: 33:12

Who plays Weird Barbie?

August Yocher (: 33:15

Kate McKinnon

Kevin Dennis (: 33:17

Oh, yeah.

Kevin Dennis (: 33:26

How funny you should. Yeah.

August Yocher (: 33:27

I like the jigsaw mix though, that's fun.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 33:30

It was really fun. I drew my first spirals on my cheeks. And I've done, I've done Weird Barbie Meets the Crow from the original 1994 movie. And I've done Weird Barbie Meets, oh crap, what was it? There was one more. I like meshing ideas. If you haven't noticed, like as a photographer, especially for your theme weddings, I want to see you mix themes. And so I love mixing themes. So you'll see me do that a lot.

August Yocher (: 33:33

Oh yes, yeah.

Kevin Dennis (: 33:34

Oh.

Kevin Dennis (: 33:38

Oh.

August Yocher (: 33:38

Hmm.

Kevin Dennis (: 33:56

Have fun. All right, well, Jan, we... Oh, Beetlejuice is right now. Beetlejuice is all the rage. We actually had to watch the original with our kids so they can watch the second one.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 33:58

Oh, I Beetlejuice. Yeah, I WeareBarbie Beetlejuice.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (34:4.024)

Yup.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (34:8.599)

Oh, I forgot one more. Weird Barbie and Wednesday Adams.

Kevin Dennis (: 34:11

Oh.

August Yocher (: 34:13

I wanna see that one, that sounds awesome.

Kevin Dennis (: 34:14

Yeah.

love me some Wednesday. That's a good show. All right. So Jen, we can't thank you enough for being here and enlightening us on Courthouse Weddings. I I had no idea about... I just didn't even think about it. So I appreciate you enlightening me and all our guests. And I want to thank all our guests for being here. I want to remind everyone to go out and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcast out there. don't forget, if you have a question, go ahead and email us at podcast at fantasysound.com. We're happy to...

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 34:18

It was cute.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 34:30

See.

Kevin Dennis (: 34:46

tackle that question or a topic you want us to cover, we'll get on that right away. So Jen, thank you so much. can't thank you enough. Bye, everyone.

Weirdo Weddings Photography (: 34:54

Thank you!

Kevin Dennis (: 34:59

and