It was December in 1997 and Con Air had just been released on VHS. My mom had taken my sister and I to Blockbuster to rent some movies for the weekend and one of those beautiful hard brick babies was Con Air. Cameron Poe was my first introduction to Nicolas Cage. At 8 years old, I was obsessed with the southern gentleman’s accent, the flowing locks of gold, and the way he said, “put the bunny back in the box.”
Fast forward to meeting my guy. I knew the minute I met him that he was my soulmate. We were both divorced, both had two dogs — he had a female husky named dutchess, I had a male husky named duke. It was that obvious.
A few years into our relationship, I opened a gift from my future father in law: a white water bottle with the phrase got cage? on it. From that point on every year someone in his family got me something Nicolas Cage themed. Coloring books, mugs, candles, backdrops, pins, stamps — they’ve caged it all.
Fast forwarding to our 9th anniversary, my guy pops the question with Time of My Life playing in the background. We wanted to get married on our 10th anniversary at Mountain Lake Lodge, where Dirty Dancing was originally filmed. We had been going there every summer since we moved back to the east coast.
The Nicolas Cage life size cardboard cutout was positioned at the altar. My husband’s bright idea because he said I deserved to have Nicolas Cage at my wedding even if the real one couldn’t make it. The next morning, before any guests arrived, a staff member walked into the barn, saw the silhouette of a man standing at the altar, and absolutely lost it. Full-blown horror movie scream. She thought Nicolas Cage was standing there in the flesh.
When they finally pieced it together that it was just a cardboard Nicolas Cage, the story spread like wildfire through the staff. Nicolas became the unofficial mascot of our wedding day. As guests arrived, he was passed around like an A-list celebrity. People posed with him for selfies, slow danced with him, even brought him to their tables.
The whole wedding was the most perfectly chaotic love letter to all the things we loved. I walked down the aisle to Adam Sandler’s I Wanna Grow Old With You. My husband made his entrance to Ric Flair’s Theme Song. We left the altar hand-in-hand to What Is Love. When we returned to the reception, we were dressed as Johnny and Baby from the final dance scene in Dirty Dancing.
Almost a year later, I found myself calling Mountain Lake Lodge for work. The second the manager answered, he goes, “Wait — is this the woman who had Nicolas Cage at her wedding?” I’m basically a minor celebrity every time I set foot on that property now.
Yes, Nicolas still lives with us. He’s a national treasure.
More Nicolas Cage Content You Need
- The Nicolas Cage Superman Movie That Never Happened
- FDA Approves Nicolas Cage Emotional Support Action Figure
- 5 Movies to Watch on National Talk Like a Pirate Day (Hook makes the list!)
1 thought on “A National Treasure – That Time Nicolas Cage Was At My Wedding”