Last weekend I have the honor of getting to attend the inaugural meeting of the Offbeat Bride DC Wedding Co-op. For those of you who have read the book, you probably remember the wedding co-op idea — Susan Beal’s brilliant concept for sharing information and resources with other brides. A reader in Washington DC named Jamie (a lovely type-A after my own heart) decided that she was taking the idea and running with it, so she recruited some brides and set up a live journal community to compare notes, share resources, and commiserate with other DC-area brides.

At the first in-person meeting of the group last weekend, I got to meet four and a half couples in varying stages of planning their DC-area weddings. The meeting was part brainstorming session and part support group, with everyone agreeing that finances were their biggest challenge in planning a wedding in the area. We talked about things like the nuances of writing pagan ceremonies, dealing with out of town family, whether wedding traditions would legitimatize a lesbian wedding in the eyes of conservative family members, and if one bride’s enormous glass centerpiece bowls were anything anyone else could make use of. We also ate a lot of food, and all the offbeat grooms were great sports about wearing their adorable little veils. Here are more pictures.

If you’re interested in starting an offbeat bride wedding co-op, I say GO FOR IT! I’ll help in whatever ways I can. And thanks to Jamie and all the DC offbeat brides and grooms for inviting me to sit in on their first meeting!