Couple Marries in Guerrilla Ceremony at Art Museum

Stacy Alan and John Poole’s civil ceremony wasn’t all that different from your typical wedding – except for the part where the couple made their way into the Art Institute of Chicago (along with their officiant) and held the quickie ceremony without the notice or permission of museum officials and guards.

In an October 29th post, The Chicago Tribune detailed the couple’s carefully-planned and flawlessly executed guerrilla wedding, which was held in front of Georges Seurat’s famous “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte” (also known as the piece that mesmerizes Cameron in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”) in Gallery 240 of the Art Institute of Chicago – all because Mr. Poole felt that a place filled works of art was the only place for he and his bride to be married.

“It’s kind of my church,” Poole told the Tribune. The 43-year-old playwright says he’s long been mesmerized by Seurat’s painting and it was just the backdrop for his and Ms. Alan’s wedding party.

Here’s how it went down (and please, don’t try this unless, you know, you’re sure you won’t get caught): this past Saturday, Poole and Alan entered the museum separately, making a beeline to the painting (joined by their minister). Friends were already waiting inside the museum in the Medieval to Modern European Painting and Sculpture section, where “La Grande Jatte” was on display.

Without preamble, the couple launched into their vows and, three minutes later, they were married. Friends began to applaud with some museum patrons joining in (although Poole says many don’t know what they were applauding).

Now, you can go through the museum directly and arrange for a wedding party, but according to a spokesman, many of these impromptu weddings happen all the time and, as long as they don’t disturb other patrons, the Art Institute is happy to look the other way.

[Header image: “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte“, Georges Seurat, 1884]