“Hello baby, how you doing?” growls a topless drag Satan-meets-Elvis—dubbed “Hellvis”—as his piercing blue contact-lensed eyes peek around a blush pink door on New York City’s Lower East Side. It’s a Sunday afternoon, and I’m at Sure Thing Chapel, a Las Vegas-born drive through-inspired wedding venue founded by Amy Hybarger and Victoria Hogan that has just opened its first outpost in downtown Manhattan.
Anywhere else in America, elopements likely conjure images of Vegas—a spontaneous drunken night, flashing lights, the token Elvis impersonator. In New York, elopement has become, for lack of a better word, chicer, with couples staging stylish miniature rehearsals for the real thing—or forgoing traditional weddings altogether, in favor of a courthouse ceremony at City Hall and a deliciously long and boozy lunch at The Odeon afterwards. (You’ve probably seen as much in the pages of Vogue.)
But Sure Thing Chapel disrupts the city’s bridal Good Taste Industrial Complex. The concept is simple, yet tinged with the right amount of nostalgia: get hitched by a wonderfully eclectic cast of characters—ranging from Hellvis to Tillie the Clown—hop in a vintage photobooth, grab your photostrips, and drive off into the sunset. Or, in this case, take the train and celebrate your nuptials with all that the city has to offer. (Beer-shot combo at 169 Bar, anyone?)
Photo: Sabrina Santiago
Walking down the street, you can’t miss it. The entirely pink exterior (think the same shade as Pietro Nolita in its prime) immediately grabs your attention amid the service entrances of Russ & Daughters Cafe and Lucky Dog Bar—but it’s the window that stretches across the street-facing wall that draws you in. Over the course of the afternoon ceremonies, onlookers stopped, watched, filmed, cheered, and even knocked on the door to inquire how they could use the bubblegum space for their own photos. Despite the fishbowl feeling from the outside, the interiors have a cozier feel. Red draped curtains and a hanging heart form a charming backdrop while light pink chairs, disco ball pigeons, and a mirrored ceiling add a bit of that cheeky Vegas kitsch. And don’t worry, the aux cord is up for grabs.
