Rebecca's Midwest vineyard bike wedding

I finally got the scoop on the vineyard wedding I featured in last week's wedding porn.

The offbeat bride: Rebecca, Speech and language therapist

My offbeat groom: Jeremy, Biomedical engineer

Location & date of wedding: Alexis Bailly Vineyard ~ Hastings, Minnesota ~ August 2007

What made our wedding offbeat: We kept it simple and intimate, with the charming vineyard grounds and surrounding country landscape as our only "decoration." The winery was open to the public (which actually made it more fun), and only our parents, siblings and their spouses, and grandparents attended the ceremony.

We married under a trellis of grape vines, followed by a wine tasting reception on a long, wooden “harvest table” which was available to rent for a few hours in the afternoon — the perfect amount of time to say our vows, take pictures, and taste wine. Because our officiant is a very good friend of ours and has known us as a couple from the early sprouting of our relationship, his reading/vows were very touching.

Don’t get caught up in trying to match or outdo everyone else’s fabulous day!

Our biggest challenge: There were no big hitches, except with how to keep our "ride down the isle" a secret from our family. We had bought bikes as wedding gifts to each other about a month before-hand, and with family staying with us, we had to store them in our officiant’s garage. Jer and I rode to the winery together in our old, beat-up dodge pickup truck (this was quite puzzling to our family but they didn't ask any questions) after secretly picking up our officiant and throwing our bikes in the back. Our friend then dropped us and our bikes off about a quarter mile from the winery, and he proceeded to park the truck. We kept in touch with the photographer (Red Apple Images) via cell phone so she was ready for us when we arrived. Our family was also ready for us, cameras in hand and surprised we were not with our friend when he parked and walked up to the gathering.

My favorite moment: Riding in on our bicycles and frolicking in the restored Minnesota prairie adjacent to where we said our vows.

My offbeat advice: Don’t get caught up in trying to match or outdo everyone else’s fabulous day! Think about what makes you two unique — what you have in common, what you love to do, how you met. Then make it a celebration of this. Keeping it simple and spontaneous adds to the flair and the fun!

Enough talk — show me the wedding porn: Check out a few shots here.

Tell me all about your offbeat wedding!