Village People: Vegas Wedding Officiated By Group Members (PHOTOS)

After nearly 35 years of making music, the Village People thought they'd seen and done it all. Everything except perform a wedding ceremony, that is.

But on Friday, Nov. 11 -- 11/11/11 -- the veteran disco stars did just that at the Riviera Hotel's Starlite Theatre in Las Vegas.

Eric Anzalone, the "Biker" from the group, and Felipe Rose, the "Native American," performed the marriage of Austin, Texas, couple Frank Goldsmith and Elberta Smoak at the end of their concert on Friday.

The Village People, Anzalone told HuffPost Weddings, were flattered to be asked to be a part of Goldsmith and Smoak's Big Day: "[We're] happily surprised and honored to have been asked to do this," he says. "Becoming a member of this group 16 years ago ... [I never thought] that before I sing 'YMCA,' I'm going to pronounce two people husband and wife."

The band members decided to officiate the wedding after receiving a request via email from Goldsmith. Anzalone says they thought it was a great idea from the start: "They're getting married by a guy in leather and a guy in feathers and war paint," he says. "It's such a Vegas story."

In order to perform the ceremony, Rose and Anzalone had to become ordained into the couples' religion, the Universal Church. So on Tuesday, Smoak and Goldsmith, who were able to ordain the band members themselves, arrived at the Starlite to meet the Village People face-to-face for the first time: "Felipe and I kneeled in the aisle there of the Starlite showroom. They put their hands on our shoulders, said a little prayer and that was it!"

Though the couple was thrilled with their wedding, Goldsmith says he never expected the band to agree to do it: "I saw that the Village People were playing [in Vegas] and thought, 'Wouldn't it be great if I could email them and get a little rejection letter that said, "We can't do your wedding, but we're so happy for y'all"?' I'd frame it and give it to [Smoak] and say, 'Hey, the Village People are happy we're getting married,'" he told HuffPost Weddings. "But instead of getting a rejection letter, I got a letter back saying, 'Hey, that's really interesting, can we talk about this?'"

"It was never on my bucket list, but it's definitely one of those cool things I can say that I've done," Anzalone said. "It's just going to be one of those things where I can say, 'Yeah, I performed at Radio City Music Hall. Yeah, I got a star on the Walk of Fame. Yeah, I've actually married somebody.'"

All photos by Stephanie Hallett

Comments

[rjdjld]

04:29 PM on 11/13/2011

How Fun!! Congratulations Berta & Frank.

[Ira Meyers]

01:58 PM on 11/13/2011

I hope I do not live to see the day they are performing at nursing homes. Nothing says a good time then a "biker" in a walker.

[luciadulu]

01:37 PM on 11/13/2011

I have known this couple for over ten years, and you could not ask for kinder, sweeter friends in the world. Yay, Frank and Berta! Love you!

[Jeffrey Marks]

07:40 AM on 11/13/2011

The irony of this is that at thousands of wedding across the country, the DJ plays YMCA, an anthem to cruising a YMCA and looking for tricks. They have no idea what the song is about and many are not in favor of marriage rights for the men who sang this song.

[v650]

06:55 AM on 11/13/2011

If the groom insisted on having them you might want to rethink your wedding vows.

[scriibe]

06:03 AM on 11/13/2011

I'm sure Michelle Bachman is opposed to this (which means it may be a good thing.).

[studana51]

05:40 AM on 11/13/2011

This would be worse than that green acid at Woodstock.

[beardown]

02:19 AM on 11/13/2011

Wouldn't want the Village people at my wedding. Need to have some morals!

[gremlin1]

04:13 AM on 11/13/2011

It's a fun story and all you can do is cast aspersions on the Village People? How sad.

[beardown]

05:07 AM on 11/13/2011

I think its great!

[Boobuzuela]

10:54 AM on 11/13/2011

Just dancing and having fun isn't enough. You've got to throw some judgememt in there, huh?

[Wendy Stewart]

11:00 PM on 11/12/2011

I saw them perform in my hometown years ago. I loved the native american. Brings back great memories.

[TheBestLackAllConviction]

10:52 PM on 11/12/2011

Anything, as in ANYTHING is a step up from the visual and aural disater that was "Can't Stop the Music"

www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/v/village_people/cant_stop_the_music.html

[PRONESE]

08:13 PM on 11/12/2011

I was IN the Navy at that time (Mid - Late 1970's).
No one I knew owned or played their music.
Only heard them on the radio.
Glad they're still performing though.
R/ PRONESE

[Zenith1959]

07:39 PM on 11/12/2011

I recall sometime in the 80's when a Seattle nightclub had the Village people for their opening night party, the ads said, "Really, this is not a joke".

[Boobuzuela]

06:51 PM on 11/12/2011

In real life:

The fireman took an early retirement with a back injury
The Cowboy fell in love with another cowboy and settled back east
The Indian won a 5 figure settlement from BLM and now owns a casino
The cop is still out there today beating up OWS protestors
The construction worker is in Folsom for bid-rigging

Oh, and the YMCA was remodeled into 5 high end condos, a dance studio, a couple of botiques and a bagel shop owned by a couple of Palestinians.

[seehowtheyrun]

06:38 PM on 11/12/2011

Cool!

[RU Mad II]

06:32 PM on 11/12/2011

If the Village people were my wedding band?

My soon to be wife would be left at the altar!