June wasn't the only month of the year where couples got married, merely just the most popular one. Weddings could be had at any time of the year. For example, Anton and Marlysa were just celebrating their third anniversary. Placing a wedding date so close to a major holiday was unusual, but not unheard. Some may say it would be an easier way to remember when the anniversary was. But most people wouldn't put their wedding dates so close to Halloween. But then there was a certain couple who did not fit the definition of 'most people'.
Beacon, previously Beatrice Deacon, had considered an actual marriage with Allura to be superfluous. Not that shi didn't love hir. In fact, shi loved Allura so much that shi didn't see the point in getting officially married, especially since their dual-gendered natures would make a traditional wedding complicated. But as Miss Vivian pointed out to her, there were legal ramifications if they weren't officially married. Anyways, Mayor Clara had the authority to officiate Animalian marriages of every pairing. So Beacon thought that if shi was going to get married, she may as well have a unique wedding.
It was a rather small ceremony, mostly friends who attended. Almost all of them were members of Project Hermaphroditus. Pretty much the only non-herm people there were Anton and Marlysa and they mainly showed up because the anglerfish couple were going to share their anniversary date. They had almost showed up at the wedding in their swimsuits because of the wedding's theme, which was naturally undersea.
Deacon and Allura made a rather unusual bride and groom respectively, not just because of being hermaphroditic anglerfish. Their marital outfits looked more like classic ghost bride/ghost groom costumes. Though instead of like fake stab wounds or fake weapons sticking out of their bodies, the fake seaweed, barnacles, and other ocean detritus made it looked like they had drowned. There were misters that constantly let out a spray to keep the couple wet.
"I'm still surprised they're doing it this way," said Marlysa, wiping away condensation from her face.
"I hear zombie-themed weddings are quite popular these days," said Anton, "Especially in New Orleans. And I suppose it's not that hard to believe that a drowned person can become a zombie. In fact, there are many ghost stories in which a waterlogged corpse rises from its watery grave to seek vengeance on-"
"Anton, please stop," said Marlysa, "I want to have pleasant dreams about you, not nightmares about water zombies."
The ceremony itself was nice, even if everyone got a little wetter than they expected. What mattered at the end was that Allura and Beacon were husband and wife, er, spouse and spouse. The pair planned to have a nice long honeymoon at Mieni Atoll, during which Allura planned to put as many eggs as possible in Beacon. But that would be after Halloween and Spookyville's 'Blackwater Freaks' exhibit.