ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Every Valentine’s Day, Fleetwood’s opens their chapel doors to anyone who wants a “Fake as Hell” wedding: couples, best friends, or even cardboard cutouts.
“It’s a fun event. People come and marry all manner of things. Either their best friend or their leather jacket,” said Fleetwood’s co-owner Mary Kelley. “We had someone marry a cardboard cutout of Britney Spears one time, which was pretty funny.”
This year, the “Fake as Hell” Group Wedding ceremony will be held at 9 p.m., Friday, Feb. 14 at Fleetwood’s Rock & Roll Wedding Chapel, 496 Haywood Road. It will be followed by a dance party.
“Everyone gets Fleetwood’s marriage certificate as well,” Kelley said. “Then we just party. There’s music, people dance, hang out, have drinks. There’s refreshments. We’ll have a wedding cake and we’ll have champagne for toasting.”
The wedding cake will be whipped up homemade by Fleetwood’s very own Christi Whiteley. Whiteley and her husband, Simon, round out the three owners of the west Asheville bar.
“Oh, I’m making it. A heart-shaped cake with pink icing,” Whiteley said. “I like to do it when I can. I haven’t done that every year.”
Before the party, Fleetwood’s will be hosting its usual crop of nuptials. Couples who want to be married in the rock-and-roll chapel need to bring a North Carolina marriage license and grab a witness from the bar and they’re good to say “I do.”
Kelley put it more succinctly.
“We have real-as-hell weddings,” Kelley said.
On Valentine’s Day, Kelley and Whiteley are offering a special deal for couples looking to tie the knot: $99 for the venue, plus the officiant fee. Interested couples should email fleetwoodsonhaywood@gmail.com to make an appointment.
For the record, Fleetwood’s hosts fake weddings around the year as well.
“We do fake weddings anytime anybody wants to do one,” Whiteley said. “But the big fake wedding with multiple people is a Valentine’s event.”
For more information, visit www.fleetwoodschapel.com.
