Getting Married by the Books

By Edward Nawotka -- Publishers Weekly, 8/14/2007 6:08:00 AM

This past Saturday, Amanda Marie Traphagan, a 24-year-old third year law student at the University of Texas, and Stephen Michael Gray, a 39-year-old web designer, were joined together in holy matrimony on the second floor of Book People bookstore in Austin, TX. The ceremony incorporated numerous passages from novels by Douglas Coupland, the couple’s favorite author, who is indirectly responsible for bringing them together.

Traphagan explains: “Coupland was supposed to have a reading at Book People on Sept. 13, 2001, but cancelled. I heard that he had rescheduled, but not very many people knew about it. After I went, I posted a message on a Douglas Coupland message board describing the event, Stephen wrote back to say he was sorry he missed the event. We started emailing, and eventually dating.”

The couple met Coupland last year during his tour for his novel Jpod, which once again brought him to Book People, and thanked him for bringing them together.

This is the second marriage that was performed at the bookstore: two years ago, Brian Anderson, a former manager at the store, and his girlfriend were also married in the store in a private ceremony. The Traphagan/Gray marriage was anything but private. In addition to the 60 guests, the couple requested that the store remain open and the area not cordoned off to customers.

“They wanted their wedding to take place in a functioning bookstore,” said Alison Kothe, events coordinator for the store, who is herself getting married later this month and, sympathizing with the bride, offered the venue for free. “We loved their story,” said Kothe, “And we wanted to do something nice for them.”

The couple walked down the “aisle” accompanied by music from an Ipod connected to speakers and exchanged vows before their friend the Reverend Annie Lawrence, an interfaith minister they also met on a Douglas Coupland message board.  The main reading was a passage from Coupland’s novel “Microserfs,” p. 57. It begins with reference to the television to the television show Get Smart and eventually ends with a riff on the wedding ceremony itself:

“...when you meet someone and fall in love, and they fall in love with you, you ask them, ‘Will you take my heart—stains and all?’ and they say, “I will,” and they ask you the same question, and you say, “I will,” too.”

“People were very respectful of the ceremony,” said Traphagan, “especially since it took place next to the children’s section and a lot of people were there on a Saturday afternoon with their kids.”

Asked why the couple chose to acknowledge Coupland’s influence on them by holding their wedding ceremony in a bookstore, Traphagan said: “Not everyone who isn’t a hardcore Coupland geek will understand, but there is a certain spirituality to all of [Coupland’s] work. It’s not always traditional, but is connected to modern life. He connects traditional spiritual notions with an awe of the modern world.” She added, “And we really enjoy bookstores. Browsing in bookstores is one of our favorite things to do.”