Friday is Geek Pride Day! A day to celebrate the inner geek in everyone. At Lover.ly, we think “geek chic” is the new black — or rather, the new white in weddings! (We are a tech company after all…) So in honor of the pocket protector wielding, suspender wearing inner — or outer — geek in all of us, here is an ode to throwing a geek chic wedding that will make you the most popular kids in town!

Get Techy. In this digital age, don’t be afraid to incorporate a little technology into your wedding day. Starting with an e-mail save-the-date and a great wedding website, you’ll set the tone for your geek chic wedding. If you want something a little more tangible, a monogrammed zip drive or old school floppy disk (remember those?) with your save-the-date information printed on it is a festive way to share the news of your upcoming nuptials. When it’s time for the first dance, 80s funk band Zapp Roger’s “Computer Love” is the ultimate serenade to the digital-loving-duo.

Say Cheese-y. Where did you two lovebirds fall in love? Was it in homeroom in 11th grade? Or maybe you first set eyes on one another through the Greek mythology section of the library at your alma mater. Pay homage to your love with a themed engagement or wedding shoot that recreates your relationship’s roots. Remember the age-old saying: the couple that plays video games together, stays together.

Dress the Part. Gaze lovingly into each other’s eyes through thick bottle cap glasses that you can find from your local thrift store (if you don’t already have a pair, of course). For the guys, a great bow tie and suspenders can transform any run-of-the-mill suit into a Clark Kent-swoon-worthy ensemble! (Hide a Superman shirt underneath and your geek — and handsome! — factor will be upped tenfold.) Don’t forget your little attendants, too — your ring bearer just might swoop in to save the day!

POW! SNAP! Make Your Decor POP! Comic books are the ultimate modern nerdy couple’s literature of choice. Take inspiration from the bold and bright graphics on the pages of your favorite comic as you design your wedding, from seating cards to drink stirrers, your guests will having a SMASH!ing time with your comic-themed elements. To add an extra dash of chemistry to your already explosive love, use beakers as vases and test tubes for a dash of color on your table settings.

You Are What You Eat. Don’t forget to give your guests the opportunity to eat-like-a-geek! Incorporate your love for science into great cocktail concoctions for guests to sip on while they mingle. And a favorite video game-designed cake or Star Wars-themed topper will be a sweet and surprising treat to end the night.

Click through the slideshow below to check out some geek-chic weddings:

For more geek chic wedding inspiration and to build your own delightfully dorky Bundle, visit Lover.ly!

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Matthew Boggs has no problem with public speaking. As former disc jockey and member of the military support group Warriors’ Watch Riders, Boggs often is moved to make speeches at welcome-home rallies for troops. He can trigger tears in even the toughest veteran.

So when Boggs’ friends James and Christine Hodge asked him to officiate their wedding ceremony, he was honored — and a little excited. He’d known the couple since their courtship began two years ago while they were working at RadioShack. James had fallen for Christine on the spot. However, it took Christine a while to warm up to James.

On April 14, Boggs, of Concord, told the 130 guests gathered at the Brentwood Golf Club Banquet Center the story of how he had witnessed it, how James and Christine’s love eventually bloomed; best of all, he compared the momentous day to a baseball game. The couple are huge Giants’ fans.

“I loved everything about it,” says Christine Hodge, 25, of Concord. “It’s not something you would’ve gotten in a religious ceremony. He knew our senses of humor and what was appropriate for our families.”

Being ordained is as easy as clicking a mouse, which might explain why so many nonclergy are officiating at weddings these days. The wedding website The Knot polled its members on the subject in 2009 and 2010 and found that nearly a third of couples were married by friends or family members, according to the New York Times.

The trend has grown

in recent years because couples say they want their wedding to have a personal touch and don’t necessarily want a religious ceremony. Whether their big day includes blunders or Oscar-worthy moments doesn’t matter as long as the ceremony is authentic and meaningful, they say. Getting that type of ceremony starts with picking the right person for the job.

Not every amateur officiant takes the role as seriously as Boggs did. He sat down with Christine and James on numerous occasions to hear their expectations for the big day.

“I didn’t care if I stumbled on my words or looked good standing from the altar,” says Boggs, 34. “When they looked back at this, I wanted them to look at it with delight, not disdain.”

Cristina Rivera had known Leticia Salcido her whole life, so she knew what Salcido wanted in a ceremony when she married longtime boyfriend Marcus Tabangcura. The women decided over drinks three months before the April 2011 wedding that Rivera would officiate.

Online ordination

“I was so excited I registered (to be ordained) right there on my phone,” recalls Rivera, 41, of San Jose. Most people get deputized through websites such as Universal Life Church, which has ordained 20 million ministers. They complete the online application and print out their certificates. In California, ministers must sign and mail the completed marriage license after the wedding to the county clerk’s office.

When the big day arrived, Rivera says she was a bundle of nerves. She recited a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, but then instead of what she had planned — to tell the story of how the couple met — she blanked and turned to Tabangcura and asked if there was anything he wanted to say.

“She threw me off because she was supposed to have some big spiel,” says Tabangcura, 42, of Tracy. “But I came up with something and started talking about how tying the knot brings our 20-year commitment full-circle. I think from there we all got misty eyed.”

That included Rivera. Relieved, she wiped her tears and said a few words about how much she loved not just Salcido, but Tabangcura. “She did a fine job,” he says.

Stage fright is the first thing to consider when selecting a friend to officiate your wedding, says Marilyn Ambra, an Oakland wedding planner. “If you find out the person gets nervous in front of crowds, you can give them another honor,” she says. Other tips? Pick someone who is amenable to your ideas and collaborates well. Time management skills are also a plus.

Ambra recalls a wedding she planned where the bride’s brother officiated the wedding.

“He managed to keep the bride and groom on task and coached them with their vow writing,” Ambra recalls. “At the ceremony rehearsal the day before, he assisted by gathering the wedding party and co-leading the rehearsal with me. He kept the bride calm, the groom and guys focused and the mother-of-the-bride relaxed.”

Amazing honor

College friend and dorm buddy Al Simpson did the same thing for Adam OwYoung and Jennifer Bullock when he officiated their wedding ceremony in October 2011 in Saratoga. The three met while living on the same floor of Royce Hall at San Jose State University in the late 1990s.

“One of the great things about having your friend (officiate) is it makes you comfortable,” says Bullock, 32, of San Jose. “You’ve got your bridesmaids on your side and your parents looking out from the audience, and then you look at the guy saying all this stuff and it’s your buddy, Al.”

Every once in a while, you get lucky and that buddy is practically a seasoned professional.

Hector Marin and Tamara Wade didn’t know their friend Chris Esparza had officiated at six weddings when they asked him to lead their ceremony in a friend’s San Jose backyard last month.

“It’s this amazing, cool honor that’s been sent my way multiple times,” says Esparza, 45, of San Jose.

Over 15 years, he has perfected his craft. At one of his first ceremonies, a particularly emotional situation where the bride had experienced a recent death of a loved one, he cried so hard he had to wipe his eyes to see the words in his address. Now, he has learned to keep calm.

Staying in control

“If I know it might happen, I can control myself,” Esparza says. “I learned from that point on not to cry like a baby up there.”

He’s also learned to speak slowly, emphasize the right words and make eye contact with everyone rather than stare at his notes. His biggest lesson is that an officiant’s responsibilities are not limited to the ceremony.

Once, Esparza had to intervene when a meddling mother-in-law was being a bit too assertive about how she wanted the ceremony to go. Esparza felt he had to remind her and her husband whose day it was.

“I was hesitant to do it, but they listened to me,” he says. “I guess in that position you’re given a little bit of power and respect.”

whoM will you choose?

Want a friend to officiate at your wedding? To ensure your ceremony is as successful as it is personal, follow these tips from Oakland wedding planner Marilyn Ambra for making sure you pick the right person:

Pick someone who is special. Whether it’s your mutual friend from college or your camp counselor growing up, that person should have some connection to one or both of you.
Make sure they don’t have a fear of public speaking. You don’t need a motivational speaker, but finding someone who isn’t nervous in front of crowds is a good start.
Pick someone who is amenable to your ideas and collaborates well. The last thing you need is an officiator with his or her own agenda.
Make sure he or she knows both of you well. Pick someone who knows you as a couple and can speak about you as a team. Meet with that person at least three times to talk about the flow of the ceremony.
Pick someone with good time management skills. Since this person is the ceremony MC, he or she should be able to keep you on track with writing your vows and preparing for the big day.