Megan & Dave's "less wedding, more party" diy wedding in Omaha

You've seen her before on offbeat bride — but here's the full story on Princess Lasertron's wedding!

The offbeat bride: Megan, designer

Her offbeat partner: David, student and medical tech

Location & date of wedding: The Slowdown, a music venue in Omaha, Nebraska. May 31, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: I proposed to him with a ring, we cried for a while, then we set off to create the fun, offbeat, DIY party that we always wanted to have ... and hopefully get married too. From the vegan menu to my confection of a pink polka-dot dress, we wanted to throw a party that everyone would love.

We had a cocktail hour for mingling and snacking before our 8pm ceremony at The Slowdown, a new Omaha music venue, followed by dancing, cupcakes, and pizza late into the night. We were happy to see friends who came from all over the country, and more families than we anticipated for a late wedding. The kids had a really good time and tore up the dance floor!!

The dress was made by Joi Mahon, a designer from Sioux City, IA who I found online by total coincidence. She made my dress design come to life and also gave me the opportunity to model it in a fashion show which was really fun!

My cousin, who is an actor, officiated, adding lots of dramatic flair to the ceremony production. All the flowers were handmade by Princess Lasertron (aka me!). And it was catered by Catering Catering from Blair, Nebraska, who created every delicious vegan morsel to order just for us.

Our biggest challenge: The biggest challenge was definitely getting our parents on board in the early stages of the year-long engagement: "You're getting married in a BAR???" "You proposed to HIM?????" "We would really feel better if you had it in a church." "Why don't you just have a sit-down dinner?" "Why won't you take his name?"

At first we thought that we were really doing things the "hard" way because every idea and development was met with some mix of shock and disappointment. But as it started coming together and our parents realized that it WASN'T going to be a complete disaster, they offered their full support and excitement.

My favorite moment: This is so predictable, but walking down the aisle with my dad (who rules) and seeing everyone's smiling faces turned toward me in the audience gave me the most unforgettable and amazing feeling. Like everyone was there for us, because they loved us. And seeing David standing on the stage waiting for me....when he offered me his hand to help me up the stairs...I could have just died!

Dave says his favorite moment was looking out over the dance floor and seeing all of our friends dancing and having a good time--both young and old. Our heavily tattooed punk friends, our dressed to distress goth friends, grandmas, aunts, moms, children---everyone was out there together dancing to the same music, laughing, smiling.

My offbeat advice: I guess my best advice would be that if there is a little thing you can do to make a guest, an attendant, or a parent's life easier, do it. I tried to do everything reasonable in my power to make the day easy for everyone around me, and people did notice. Although we are not theists, we allowed a blessing at the end of the ceremony because it was meaningful to our parents. We did the bathroom baskets and the out of town gift bags and wrote out cue cards for our attendants. To me, it is important to avoid creating problems that don't matter anyway.

And of course, carry oxy clean or your stain remover of choice!

Enough talk — show me the wedding porn: Oh so many amazing shots! Lots of sets for you to browse here:

• Wedding portraits
• Ceremony
• Reception