Matt and Julia had planned to get married In Hawaii this coming July, with their reception to follow in their hometown in August. But with the current uncertainty around the COVID-19 pandemic, they weren’t sure if their dream wedding would still happen the way they planned. Voicing concerns to Julia’s co-worker, who happens to be a licensed officiant, she offered to marry the couple at the tattoo shop Julia works at before their state went into lockdown. “I think one of my friends summed it up best by saying ‘you got married at a tattoo shop, by a tattoo artist, in the middle of a pandemic; that’s the most punk-rock thing I’ve ever heard!’” said Julia.

The couple met while working on a production of Green Day’s American Idiot, and their song has always been Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by the band. “This whole thing truly gave new meaning to the lyric ‘something unpredictable, but in the end it’s right.” 

With four day’s notice, their friends rallied around to help them pull it off. Their photographer, Tiffany, did their engagement photos and is set to shoot their wedding in Hawaii, whenever it ends up being. Julia’s bouquet was made by a friend, and decorative flowers were put together by the officiant’s wife. They also used elements that they were planning to use for their Hawaii wedding; Julia’s outfit was supposed to be for her bridal shower, which got cancelled, and she paired it with her original wedding veil.

They pulled in meaningful props too – an American Idiot heart hand grenade from the stage show that they met at, was also used in their engagement photos, so it felt right to use it in their wedding photos too. Matt wore his Hawaiian print shirt, their officiant wore a Hawaiian shirt, and her wife decorated the whole tattoo shop with Hawaiian inspired decor. “They even cranked the heat up to feel tropical, played Hawaiian music, and burned coconut candles to make it feel like we were in Hawaii!”