the CV commitment chapel ~ celebration history minute

Welcome to the extended post and sources for the first episode of the Celebration History Minute! Below you’ll find the videos and photos used in my Instagram reel with credit and links, plus a little extra.

I can’t remember the first time I heard about the Commitment Chapel in my research, I think at some point I passed by a photo and bookmarked it to check out in the future. Digging deeper, this one-time feature from Celebration V is honestly so classic and quirky and one of the types of things that made the early Celebrations so cool to look back on.

According to screenshots on the Wayback Machine, this feature was announced for the August 2010 event in early June. TheForce.Net shared information about it in a news post from July 17. Looks like spots filled up fast and were totally booked by the end of July.

Here on the Wayback Machine you can see the final capture taken before the event, which lists a few more details and pricing. According to the event schedule which was posted on RebelScum.com, there were two time slots for the chapel per day, with one being the light side and one the dark side.

This article from Central Oregon outlet The Bulletin focuses on Celebration speed dating, which has been a repeated event and is a topic for another day, but about the Commitment Chapel, they say, “Located downstairs on the main showroom floor, the chapel consisted of a white trellis festooned with pink and white lights. When I visited it, a couple stood before an Obi-Wan Kenobi impersonator who was cramming as many ‘Star Wars’ references as he could into a semblance of wedding vows. (‘Remember, in relationships, size matters not.’ ‘But fear not, I sense much love in you.’)”

This video (not featured in the reel) shows a great example of what the experience was like for those who partook. For the videos that did appear in the reel, there’s this one which shows the exterior shot and some crowd footage, this video which features the engaged couple, this video of a dark side ceremony featuring a Palpatine and Trooper Elvis, a quick clip from this vid, and Maul hosting the ceremony is in this clip.

Now, I’m a little biased when it comes to Star Wars love…I’m getting married next month to someone that I met through a Star Wars Facebook group (eternal shout out to the Blast Points Super Chill Group) and I know how amazing it is to share Star Wars with the person that you love. But beyond that, I honestly think this is one of the most fun things that Celebration ever featured. It harkens back to the days of when Celebration did not take itself super seriously…of course, CV was PACKED with amazing stuff including appearances from George Lucas, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill, but I love that it still made room on the show floor for something as sweet as this that is ultimately just for fun.

I hope you liked learning about this if you hadn’t heard of it before! And if you were there or you know someone who had a ceremony at the Celebration Commitment Chapel in 2010, please tell them to e-mail me or send me a DM on instagram! I’d love to ask all about their experience.