A Sweet Budget Wedding
August 31st, 2009
The happy, doughnut-lovin' couple
The bride was beautiful, the groom looked dapper … and the price tag was microscopic. That’s because the wedding we’d inadvertently crashed was taking place at Voodoo Doughnut Too, where a legally binding ceremony — including doughnuts and coffee for 24 guests — costs just $200. Voodoo Too is the eastside sibling to downtown Portland’s weirdest and most popular doughnut shop (Voodoo Doughnut), where the pastries come in crazy flavors and the décor is, naturally, voodoo-inspired. The shop’s owners are Universal Life Church ministers, making it legal for them to marry couples in all 50 states. But they prefer their home turf: inside the hot-pink Voodoo Too building, standing beneath the autographed velvet painting of Kenny Rogers (who, incidentally, has nothing to do with voodoo).
On the afternoon we stopped by to pick up doughnuts, the groom, dashing in top hat and tails, was waiting expectantly with several friends. The bride arrived a few minutes later with her coterie of bridesmaids. Her crinoline-skirted, ‘50s-style blue dress was perfect for the setting. The ceremony itself was quick and lighthearted, but still touching enough to bring tears to our eyes. Throughout it all, customers wandered in and out of the shop, purchasing doughnuts and marveling at the scene.
The happy couple was Australian. Who knows how they’d heard about Voodoo Doughnut. As we shouted our congratulations and ducked out of the shop, the wedding party was happily eating doughnuts and dancing to the rock ‘n’ roll classics emanating from the jukebox.
Tags: Budget travel, budget weddings, culinary, Quirky, Voodoo Doughnut
