Slideshow

Love Me, Tenders: Ten Spectacularly Tacky Fast-Food Weddings

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The beginning of a spicy romance.

Last week, a Denny’s in Las Vegas built a restaurant wedding chapel so customers can get married and get Moons Over My Hammy–related indigestion at the same time. But they’re not the first crappy restaurant chain to enter the matrimonial fray: In February, Pizza Hut introduced an engagement package for the key demographic who loves greasy pepperoni and has $10,010 to spend on a proposal; in Hong Kong, meanwhile, McWeddings at McDonald’s are all the rage. And through careful research, Grub Street discovered that fast-food weddings are a long, storied, and thrifty tradition. And now, here are ten couples who said, “I do … want fries with that.”

In 2009, Paul and Caragh Brooks got hitched at an Illinois Taco Bell, where the bride wore a $15 hot-pink gown. As for their first fight as newlyweds, well, we’re guessing it involved who got to use the bathroom first. Photo: Joe Raedle/2003 Getty Images
George “Bubba” Mathis and Pamela Christian met working at Waffle House. When the groom couldn’t get time off on his wedding day in 2008, the flexible duo got married over hashbrowns and maple syrup. “Waffle House is as much a part of our lives as our kids are,” said the bride. Sweet?
Clinton Smith and Rosemary Coones made it legal at the world’s largest White Castle (which is in Kentucky) in 2009. They landed the venue in a radio contest; naturally, their cake was shaped like a burger.
Gareth Pritchard and Kalli Buchan sealed the deal at a KFC in Great Britain in 2011. Cholesterol-infused weddings are a family tradition; the bride’s parents were married at McDonald’s.
Last year, Seattle couple Samantha Jo Howard and Bo Hardwick exchanged rings at Burger King. A local radio station sponsored the fête in honor of the British royal wedding. We’re pretty sure William and Kate didn’t answer questions like this one, scripted by the DJ: “Will you be kind and crispier than a dutch apple pie?” 
In 2009, a Pennsylvania Dairy Queen hosted their first-ever wedding reception. Employee Toni Walker and her beau James Manzano said “I do” before an unsuspecting audience of customers. And hopefully she got overtime.
In February, Ohio couple Christina and Kyle Underwood got married at Wendy’s on their first anniversary, with the groom keeping things fast-casual in a tuxedo T-shirt. The two reportedly enjoyed a “hamburger honeymoon,” going to work at the same Wendy’s later that day. Photo: unknown
Texas sisters Judith J. and Jacqui J. held dual receptions at Whataburger in April, the same place their parents and grandparents celebrated. In fact, Judith is such a Whataburger fan that she once had a burger mailed to her in Germany. Hubby has competition.
In 2010, Alice Sannachan and Brent Michaud got married at a Calgary Tim Horton’s, where they vowed to keep each other as “warm as fresh cups of coffee forever.”  Photo: unknown
Dairy Queen’s blog tells the tale of Matt and Karen, who love ice cream almost as much as each other. On their wedding day in 2009, they stole away to DQ. “The nerves of getting married diminished our appetite, but not our craving for ice cream! We posed for pictures as we ate, even linking arms to eat our treats!” they recall.
Love Me, Tenders: Ten Spectacularly Tacky Fast-Food Weddings