The offbeat bride: Sharon, Admissions Officer/Blogger

My offbeat groom: Tim, Software Engineer

Location & date of wedding: Ceremony at Crissy Field and Reception a short walk away at the San Francisco Film Centre. August 2007.

What made our wedding offbeat: For an outsider it may have seemed somewhat traditional, but for us it was about doing the traditions our own way. We wrote our own ceremony which included a reading from “The Little Prince” and a tree planting. It was officiated by Tim’s brother who was deputized for the day. All the ceremony music was Sufjan Stevens. There were a ton of DIY elements — my mother-in-law hand-wove shawls for the bridal party, we ordered the flowers directly from an organic farm and made our own bouquets, nearly all of the reception decoration was from recycled/reused materials.

One of my favorite details, though, was that I wore my Mom’s original wedding dress from the 1978. She removed the sleeves and back to make it fit me and I had to literally be sewn into it, but it was really special and I know it meant a lot to her. Tim’s attire was all second-hand as well, and I let the bridesmaids pick any red dress, in the hopes they would wear them again.

We’re also both vegan, and so was all of our food from a company specializing in organic, sustainable cuisine. People were really pleasantly surprised by how good it was. There were a lot of other little personal and “green” details that even our most cynical friends appreciated.

Our biggest challenge: The problem with DIY projects is that it’s one thing to make all your decor, and another to get it there, get it set up, clue you other vendors in, etc. There were so many details to manage, but we entrusted our close friends and family to help us out, and boy did they come through! They probably received the longest “thank you” cards in the history of weddings.

My favorite moment: We had really infused our love of San Francisco into the event as well — Tim and I met after we had both recently moved here, and so my love for him is deeply connected to this city. I’d worried that it might be cheesy to play “I left my heart in San Francisco” as our last dance. But nearly everyone joined us on the floor, and looking around at our friends and family, that’s when the significance of the whole event hit me.

Your guests will talk about the wedding for a few days afterwards, but you and your partner are the only ones who will remember and talk about it forever.

My offbeat advice: Your guests will talk about the wedding for a few days afterwards, but you and your partner are the only ones who will remember and talk about it forever. So make it memorable and personal, without driving yourself too batty over whether or not guests will like your music selections or if you should serve multiple desserts. Ask yourself, “What will we remember most, thirty years from now?”

Enough talk — show me the wedding porn: You’ll feel like you left YOUR heart in SF after viewing these photos.

Tell me all about your offbeat wedding!