Goinnng...to the Chapelll...of Looove
"I get married in the Chapel O' Love?!" - Elizabeth Shue as Jennifer Parker in Back to the Future Part II
THIS WEEK:
Wedding season
BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD: Drawings from new comics
WHERE ARE THEY NOW? The maternity ward
WHAT DO YOU RECOMMEND: Devin Tormey Art
BEHIND THE PAY WALL: Alone for the Holidays book updates
We’ve left the season of life where all of our friends were getting married and there are multiple weddings to attend each year. We went to two last year but have none for the foreseeable future. Now we’re just waiting for Gen Z to grow up. I am excited we’ll get to stay on the dance floor for a few rounds when they tell everyone who has been married for x-number of years to sit down until all but the longest married couple has been eliminated.
We may also be exiting the “everyone we know is having kids” season. Three new babies are about to be added to our family though (not our immediate family… good heavens, that would mean triplets).
This week, let’s go to some weddings and visit the delivery room.
DiPerri: Two things stand out to me about this strip: Romeo is wearing my dad’s 1970s hairstyle and a cummerbund; and I’m really proud of the sparse cleanliness of the groom’s character design.
Frega: I would love, love to know what Buddy and Romeo felt was an appropriate dollar amount to give as a wedding gift.
DiPerri: Speaking of character design, this woman! This is another character I want to see more of.
“I don’t even know your name! How will I find you!” - Prince Charming in Walt Disney’s 1950 film Cinderella
DiPerri: See all the music notes pouring off of her bracelets? Remember the thin wire charm bracelet craze from 12 years ago? As women accumulated and accumulated them, I wondered what they would do with them all when they inevitably fell out of fashion. I know of a couple people who kept wearing them long after the fad had ended. More power to them, getting their money’s worth. Those things were expensive. It was a piece of wire!
Frega: I got a few of them as gifts over the years, but never wore them. Not once. I still feel guilty about it…. maybe you can re-melt the metal and turn it into some other type of jewelry? I’m just not a bracelet person. I think they draw attention to my hands, which I’m self-conscious about.
DiPerri: I guess I’m here for the fashion and seeing the sights this week. Buddy showed up to this wedding dressed as a cowboy? I think Romeo actually looks pretty good with his diamond-tipped bowtie.
Frega: Well, that’s the answer to my earlier question! I had a friend who once removed the check they’d previously put into a wedding gift envelope after the reception had started, citing that the wedding was “tacky” and thus the couple didn’t really deserve such a generous gift. We’re not really close anymore, in case you’re wondering.
DiPerri: My gosh — Buddy really came as a cowboy to this one!
DiPerri: I went to a wedding that forced me to use a valet. I had a back and forth with the valet before finally surrendering my car to try to be a respectful guest and not cause a scene. They were leaving everyone’s keys on the tires! I spent most of the reception looking out at my car to make sure it hadn’t been stolen.
A couple years later, when Frega and I were first dating, we went for dinner with a few of my friends she was meeting for the first time. I sneered at the restaurant’s valet and parked a mile and half away. When we finally arrived at the restaurant, my friends and their wives were horrified and (privately amongst themselves) decided I blew it and they’d never see this girl again.
We still laugh about that today, mostly (thankfully) because they were wrong.
Frega: I should clarify that it was not a literal mile and a half. I also enjoy a brisk walk, so the joke’s on them!!!!!
DiPerri: How can you invite Buddy and Romeo to a wedding and not acknowledge the real soulmates in the room?
Frega: DiPerri wanted to significantly under-buy cupcakes for our wedding (our dessert, instead of a traditional cake). At the tasting, he said, “Do people even really like dessert? A lot of people will probably skip it.” I’ll give you a second to let that sink in.
Luckily, he deferred to my judgment… and there was not a single crumb left over. Some guests later reported that they’d had 3 or 4 cupcakes!
If you’re enjoying yourself at Buddy and Romeo’s expense so far, please subscribe and share this Substack with your friends. As always, thanks for reading!
Bring your friends!
Aside from revisiting the long gestating fourth animated short last week, work continues on brand new comics for our upcoming book Buddy and Romeo: Alone for the Holidays. Join us behind the paywall for updates and drawings from the latest comics. Here are zoomed in previews of your favorite failures.
Our unpublished cartoons from 2021 and 2022 have landed on CartoonStock. Like this one, which was written when we were in the hospital for the birth of one of our kids.
And here’s one I wrote while we were in the hospital for the birth of one of our other kids.
For this and more Frega DiPerri cartoons, visit CartoonStock.
If you’re enjoying yourself at Buddy and Romeo’s expense so far, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. You’ll get exclusive comics and commentaries; behind-the-scenes drawings and project developments; and access to this entire Substack archive. Plus, the more coffee we drink, the more we’ll create.
Are you getting married in 2025 or 2026? Do you live in New England (or near New England)? Do you have a life event (anniversary, milestone birthday, etc.) you want to commemorate? We recommend Devin Tormey. Devin is a live wedding painter who has been painting newly weds on location at their wedding ceremonies and receptions since 2022. She has made multiple appearances on both Boston’s Matty/Billy and Lisa in the Morning (including her first call-in appearance that kicked off her career overnight) and several guest segments on WBZ News Boston. She has painted over 50 weddings to date and is listed on The Knot and Wedding Wire. And, many years ago, she was one of DiPerri’s art students!
Check out Devin’s website and follow her on Instagram.