Vintage Glam Spider-Man Wedding

With Captain America Civil War being released this weekend, a lot of buzz has been happening around Spider-Man making his debut as an Avenger in the movie. What better way to celebrate than to show off the wedding of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson imagined by {two geeks in love} Caroline & Evan Photography. The vintage glam vibe and handmade details make this gorgeous inspiration for all. And how fun to imagine some of your favorite superhero characters getting married?

From Caroline & Evan: We have always wanted to do a wedding series imagining the weddings of our favorite superhero/comic book couples. It’s a hard concept to explain to people because they picture pop art and capes and possibly cheesy props, similar to what you might find in a cosplay wedding, but what we wanted to do was very different. We wanted to create a real world wedding exactly as it would happen, protecting the identity of the heroes. Many of these characters do tie the knot in their stories and we wanted to style shoots based off of the actual stories from the original comic books and the character’s personalities. Spider-Man was always going to be the first in our series as Peter Parker and MJ’s love story is familiar. Planning out the details of Peter & Mary Jane’s wedding was very intricate- we wanted to make sure we stayed true to Peter’s humble profession and didn’t have over the top details- we wanted them to be manageable on a freelance photographer’s salary. On the other hand, MJ is quite a bit more glamorous.

In The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21 where they get married MJ’s wedding gown is gifted to her by fashion designer Willi Smith so we felt like those bridal details could be more extravagant. Her gown was the first detail we secured, we wanted a sweetheart neckline and mermaid train like the comic but in a more updated style (the comic book came out in 1987!) MJ’s makeup is kept very classic but bold- both for her as an actress and model but also because she is a comic book character, our makeup artist translated this beautifully with a graphic eyeliner and a bright lip. While MJ carries just a single red rose in the comic we wanted to include that detail in the design while doing something more wedding-y so we had a composite bouquet created to give the look of a single flower while being something much more Mary Jane.

The comic book wedding takes place on the steps of City Hall in New York City- with this location in mind we immediately knew Le Meridian Tampa would be the perfect backdrop with the large steps leading up to what used to be the old courthouse, (the challenge was to make it not look like Florida). The original comic book wedding reception was a small dinner so we styled a sweetheart table for Peter and MJ that included paper flowers and vintage books. We wanted to keep it modest so we had simple decor and cupcakes instead of a lavish cake. We wanted nods to both of their professions, so we included a vintage camera for Peter, and a program designed after a Playbill for MJ. Many elements of the story line were included among the paper products- like their actual address in Chelsea and Flash Thompson listed as the Best Man. Every detail in the wedding was inspired by something from Spider-Man’s long history including the date itself. We kept the shoot simple with not too much casting, but we did want to have Aunt May present for the vows as well as MJ’s Uncle Spencer who marries them. Other guests in attendance are listed on the typewriter guest book. Maybe one of the most important details was the In Memoriam for Peter’s parents and, of course, Uncle Ben which we included along with a scripture from The Bible that to us was a perfect reference to the “With great power comes great responsibility” quote. One of my favorite details is the hidden “Hey Tiger” message on the cupcakes. Our other ring shot on the typewriter next to “finally” is because this was a much anticipated wedding in the storyline.

Capturing some of the story during the styled shoot was important to us and something people don’t usually do for a styled shoot. We also wanted to include a few family formals as well as specific frames depicting the story from the book, like their vows and MJ surprising Peter with a honeymoon to Paris- but also without any of the drama (they’re both actually late to the wedding in the story). In the end we put a ton of effort into each and every detail- I can’t wait for everyone to catch some of the subtle things and we hope Stan Lee will be proud.

Please visit CarolineEvan.com/blog to see a behind the scenes experience including side by side comparisons of frames from the original comic book.