When Tammy Lehman gets married in a couple of months, it will be a “Jedi-style” affair.
Her gown will be a combination of a traditional Jedi robe with a wedding train. She will march down the aisle to the uplifting score from the “Star Wars” films. And her husband will wear a black Jedi-in-training tuxedo.
“I’m paying for the wedding, so I thought, ‘Why not do something we both love?”‘ she said, while standing inside the United Artists Colorado Center theater.
Like hordes of “Star Wars” fans across the country and around the globe, Lehman was waiting in line to see the final episode in the six-film saga, “Revenge of the Sith.”
For many fans, “Star Wars” has been more than just a fantasy escape. It has been the foundation for friendships, family bonding and even marriages.
When Kathy Bodnar’s husband died of a stroke in 2000, she looked for a way to stay connected with her son.
The “Star Wars” films provided that bridge.
“It was something outrageous we could both do, and it was a great outlet for a 12-year-old,” she said. “That was my original motivation, and then it kind of spiraled away from there.”
Spiraled, indeed.
Now, Bodnar is one of the leaders, or The Mistress of Mayhem, for a local “Star Wars” fan group – Order of the Grey. She also has studied sword fighting and made herself an Aayla Secura costume from scratch. Her son was planning to join her in line Wednesday after he got out of school.
Of course, he was going to be dressed as Luke Skywalker.
The “Star Wars” films were something Denise Lenz, 27, and Brent Lenz, 32, had in common when they worked at a movie theater in Aurora. After a couple of dates, and many nights watching the adventures of Skywalker, Han Solo and Darth Vader, they decided the force was with them for marriage.
“Our love for ‘Star Wars’ has sparked imagination for our relationship,” Denise Lenz said while waiting outside the Continental 6 United Artists theater.
The couple held hands when they saw the last two installments and planned to hold hands again when they watched the film at midnight.
“It’s certainly been a bond,” Denise said. “It’s been geekly amusing.”
For University of Denver junior Vanessa Brenen, 19, becoming a “Star Wars” geek was almost forced upon her by her father, a longtime “Star Wars” junkie who started showing the films to Brenen and her sister when they were barely ready for kindergarten.
“He showed us one movie every weekend to tease us so we’d want more,” Brenen said, a tattoo of Yoda on her ankle. “Now, I can’t get enough of it.”
Brenen gets together with friends periodically to watch old episodes, and she was just hours away from joining her father and sister to watch “Star Wars” once again.
One last time, they will share the excitement of a new “Star Wars” movie. But the connection they share to the franchise will last for a long time, she said.
“‘Star Wars’ is the coolest thing,” she said.
Staff writer Daarel Burnette II can be reached at 303-820-1201 or dburnette@denverpost.com.
