CHICAGO — British couple Alice Burton and Matt Kaley's love revolves around the longest-running American sitcom on TV.
The duo flew from their hometown of Brighton on the southern coast of England to Chicago this month to participate in the Woo Hoo! Classic "Simpsons" Trivia Halloween party at Pizza Serio in Lakeview, and appropriately wound up getting engaged in full costume: as a crazed Mr. Burns and doting Waylon Smithers.
With Burton as Burns and Kaley as Smithers, the couple's costumes referenced an episode titled "$pringfield (or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)," which draws cultural references from the 1968 movie, "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb."
"When we were talking about costumes, bouncing specific ideas around, this scene kept coming up," Kaley said. "We're always quoting this bit, the whole interaction between the two of them, Burns having totally lost his marbles ... but Smithers right there with him buying into his madness out of a lifetime of love and service ... maybe it just resonated with me?"
"I had it in my head to pop the question, and the parallels were just too good to pass up ... It was finally a chance for [Smithers] to profess his feelings and not back out of it, and to have Burns reciprocate. It was just too perfect."
Burton said she is the bigger fanatic of the two, and her diehard love of the Simpsons was a fact Kaley "had to accept."
"Our relationship almost ended early on when he told me he preferred [the TV show] 'Futurama,'" the future bride said.
Though the couple dominated "Simpsons"-themed trivia nights in the United Kingdom, Kaley said he knew the Chicago group would be the "holy grail" for Burton and started planning the engagement surprise several months in advance, coordinating with the group's organizer via social media.
The "Simpsons" trivia group has a private Facebook page where members post memes and discuss episodes, and the group meets once a month at Pizza Serio at 1708 W. Belmont Ave. There attendees watch classic episodes and answer rounds of questions about the show. While the group usually meets at 7 p.m. on the third Monday of the month, but it will meet on Nov. 14 and Dec. 12 because of the upcoming holidays.
Halloween in particular has become the group's largest celebrated occasion, with super fans hand-making detailed costumes — a fact Buzzfeed discovered in 2014 after members posted pictures of their costumes online.
That's what drew Burton and Kaley to the Windy City, they said.
The couple said they began planning for the trip to Chicago on a whim in February when airfare was low and felt at home among their American "Simpsons" brethren.
Looking into the future, Burton and Kaley said they will likely sneak some special "Simpsons" references into their wedding plans and hope to return to Chicago.
"When we came over I was worried they would think we were just these crazy English people but they were all so welcoming and lovely," Burton said. "And importantly just as crazy about 'Simpsons' as me ... I love the city and it'll always be a special place for us now."
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