Trekkies wed at Vegas ‘Star Trek’ convention
Even in a city that’s famous for outside-of-the-box weddings, the union of Amy Campbell and Mark Restucci was something you don’t see every day.
Or, even, every millennium.
Campbell and Restucci, both avid “Star Trek” fans, were wed Friday evening at the 13th Official Star Trek Convention at the Rio in a colorful, lighthearted and ultimately moving ceremony inspired, the couple says, by the cinematic wedding of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” fan favorites Deanna Troi and William Riker.
Members of the wedding party wore dress uniforms and “Star Trek”-inspired formal wear — both the original series and “Star Trek: The Next Generation” received their due — with a few noncanonical alterations (original series-style go go boots with pink dresses for the bridesmaids) and some perfectly Trekish touches (bridesmaids carried Tribbles rather than bouquets).
The wedding party, as well as the audience, also included Romulans, Klingons and other inhabitants of the “Star Trek” universe. Because it was an ecumenical sort of affair, even a Wookie and a Jedi knight from that other sci-fi franchise were in the wedding party.
Campbell and Restucci, of Phoenix, met while standing in a registration line at the 2012 Las Vegas Star Trek Convention and met again at the convention one year later. In October, Restucci popped the question — appropriately enough, on a mock-up of the bridge of the starship Enterprise — at the Arizona State Fair.
Witnessing Friday’s ceremony along with the couple’s family and friends were a few hundred conventioneers who applauded and cheered enthusiastically when “legal officiant”/bridesmaid Vicki Wells asked Campbell and Restucci to speak aloud their vows to love one another for as long as they shall remain “shipmates” on board “this starship we call Earth.”
Concluding the ceremony: “Starfleet Officiator” Eric Allan Hall, a friend of the groom, who, in the guise of Lt. Commander Data from “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” serenaded the newlyweds with the Irving Berlin standard “Blue Skies.”
Fans needed no explanation as to why the song and the singer were perfect for the occasion. For others, a viewing of “Star Trek: Nemesis” obviously is in order.
