Dana Bos rocks her two weddings
Posted by Ariel · Real Offbeat Weddings (Western USA)

The offbeat bride: Dana Bos, imaginary girl

My offbeat groom: David Bos, rockstar

Location & date of wedding: Real wedding at The Ruins, Seattle {2.20.05} || Imaginary wedding at the Crocodile Cafe {2.20.05}, Seattle, WA

What made our wedding offbeat: David and I knew we wanted an elegant and intimate wedding, one that was an extravagant enough affair that we couldn't invite the world. But being actively involved in the music scene (he as a guitar player, me as a music writer), we also wanted to have a big bad rock and roll bash to celebrate our marriage.

So we did both.

We had a wonderful wedding on Saturday night at The Ruins with about 100 of our closest friends/family (and my best friend since the 4th grade married us — not a dry eye in the house!). Then on Sunday night, we had the Imaginary Wedding at the Crocodile Cafe, the venue where we went on our first date, on Valentine's Day (yes, we really are that cute/gross). Oh, and the name Imaginary Wedding is a play on my music website, which is called Three Imaginary Girls.

The Imaginary Wedding was awesome! We had four of our favorite bands (including David's band at the time, The Jeunes, who kicked off their set with the Johnny and June Carter Cash classic "Jackson," featuring David and me on lead vocals). We also had a Worst Bridesmaid Dress pageant. Folks were encouraged to wear those horrid dresses from the back of their closets again, but in case they were too shy, Anna Banana of Pretty Parlor brought a rack of dresses for folks to wear. Local actors from the hilarious Seattle School performed the imaginary ceremony. Much hilarity ensued.

Our "real" wedding was the elegant and amazing event we wanted it to be, and I was present and grounded for the entire thing. The imaginary wedding passed in a great big drunken whirling festive blur. I am thrilled we had both.

Our biggest challenge: Figuring out what flowers would be available to us in February …

My favorite moment: Definitely singing "Jackson" with David's band on-stage at the Croc.

My offbeat advice: Make sure your wedding is what YOU want it to be, not anyone else. Also, determine how much money you have to plan it beforehand, and work within that budget. Estimate how much you think everything will cost, then double it. That's more like it.

And — wherever you're sleeping the night before your wedding, make sure you bring Tylenol PM (or something stronger!).

Enough talk — show me the wedding porn: Rock out with your conjugal cock out to these awesome shots from Dana & David's Imaginary Wedding. Oh, and here are the quieter shots from their "real" wedding.

Tell me all about your offbeat wedding!