The Time My Wedding Was Featured In The New York Times Vows
And what it taught me about getting my comedy out to a bigger audience
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In 2013, my husband and I began planning our wedding. We didn’t have a lot of money at the time, but we wanted to do something special. I came up with the bonkers idea of dressing up a horse like a unicorn and riding it onto the beach.
Instagram was just beginning to really get popular, and I sent out an invitation to all my friends to sign up so that they could all be my unofficial wedding photographers. Some of them had still never heard of “Insta” before, but are still on it, using it faithfully to this day. To them, I apologize for robbing them of so many free hours that, let’s be honest, they probably would have robbed themselves of once they found out about it from someone else.
On Etsy, I found a lady who made unicorn horns and sold them. Together, we concocted a scheme to affix one atop of a horse’s head in a steady, photo-worthy manner.
Next, I hired a white horse named Pebbles to usher me into my wedding, and turned her into a unicorn.
Though I hadn’t attended Yale, had a middle class upbringing, and didn’t have a memorable last name, I pitched the story to The New York Times Vows, that I, comedian Jessica Delfino, would be getting married on a unicorn, and would they like to attend?
They bit (no pun intended), and sent a photographer and journalist out to cover the story.
The day was absolutely glorious. It was freezing cold out (why did I plan a beach wedding in March!?), but the sky was pink and blue, and provided a beautiful backdrop for the dozens of Instagram photos of my unicorned wedding.
The photos still live on Instagram to this day, and the story still lives on The New York Times website—one of at least four New York Times articles about me, and one of dozens of articles in The New York Times that I appear or am mentioned in. (It came out in print, too.)
In the article, I talked about my husband’s and my true love story; how we met on Craigslist after I shared a listing seeking a good boyfriend, and how he was one of hundreds of “applicants” who responded. I had written a sort of magical spell in the form of a song seeking a boyfriend, but that it hadn’t worked, and so I turned to Craigslist to give it a try. The turnout was phenomenal, with hundreds of guys responding to my ad, and one of them ended up being the man I’d marry, buy a home with, start a business with, start a family with, and still love, to this day.
Not a bad ROI!
It was also a really wonderful, unexpected opportunity to talk about my comedy. I was able to be quippy, cute, share my “brand” (quirky Lower East Side dirty folk rockin’ comedian), share details about my comedy life and the comedic music I wrote, and more.
You never know what press opportunities are going to give you a chance to share your comedy, and that’s why you should try to take them all, and also, to seek them out. One article can reach so many more people than any bar show ever could, and it only takes one person to change your life, comedically or otherwise.
If you aren’t sure how to reach out to the press, take my PR for Comedians course. It’s free for all subscribing members, and it’s chock full of fun details about how to get the press’s attention.
And if you want to find a paramour, maybe try Craigslist?
Daily musings:
My true love story in Vows | The New York Times
My love spell in a song - Classified Ad | Spotify
Comedian Karith Foster discussing comedy + politics today | Fox & Friends
Comedian gets press after trashing Biden staffer | Daily Caller
How To Fill The House PR course | YouTube
Etc.:
“I Wanna Be Famous,” the album Classified Ad is on | Spotify
6/8’s Poconos Underground Comedy is my bday show! | EventBrite
16k+ comedy-loving eyeballs for $40/wk (assuming ea. of my 8k+ readers has 2 eyes) | jess delfino at gmail dot com
For $7 / month or $70 / year you get your own comedy coach | Subscribe
Hire me as your very own comedy consultant | email jessdelfino at gmail.com
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