Shotgun Ceremonies masters the art of quickie weddings

Shotgun wedding has a new meaning in Seattle.

Bronwen Stevenson and business partner Sara Qureshi have turned their Pioneer Square space into the Shotgun Ceremonies wedding chapel, a new Vegas-style wedding ceremony venue. Bronwen said she got the idea from her own quickie wedding.

“I was married in Vegas 20 years ago, happily married, and it was a shotgun wedding. I was knocked up at the time,” she said.

The chapel comes outfitted with everything a bride and groom might need on their big day: alter, decorations, flowers – even a faux shotgun to play up the site’s theme.

“We have a shotgun, it’s hanging on the wall. It’s pink,” Bronwen said.

With or without the shotgun, a wedding runs $275. The duo will also host pretend ceremonies, for couples who want the experience of walking down the aisle without the real life commitment.

“We performed a wedding with a girl that was in love with Peewee Herman, so she brought in her Peewee Herman doll,” Qureshi said. The ceremony also included 30 of her friends and a cake.

Bronwen and Qureshi have a solution for any ceremony conundrum. Need a witness? They’ll just run across the street and grab someone. What about costumes? You bet. James Dean, Betty Boop. You name it. The owners even occasionally dress up. Qureshi and Bronwen admit to having worn everything from angel wings and a halo, to devil horns to ceremonies.

However couples choose to get married at the chapel, they still need a marriage license to make it official. But the shotgun? That’s optional.