Beautiful dreadlocked bride
Fashion Porn
By
on November 03, 2008
34 Responses
I wish I could tell you more about this beautiful dreadlocked bride with her neo-tribal feather and bone headpiece.
All I know is that her name is Sonya, she got married at a beautiful outdoor location in Santa Barbara, and I think this might be her bridal lingerie. If so: whoa.
…Everything else you'll have to infer for yourself from photographer Chris Hansen's Facebook album.
UPDATE: Go feast your eyes on all the amazingness and get the full scoop on Sonya & Jeffery's wedsite. You'll find so much inspiration over there that your head might EXPLODE!
Read more posts about: burning man, california, dreadlocks, feathers, outdoor, undergarments« Previous post
About Ariel Meadow Stallings
Author of Offbeat Bride: Creative Alternatives for Independent Brides, Ariel acts as the publisher of all the Offbeat Empire websites. She lives, loves, and dorks out hard in Seattle, WA.
kat said
wow – stunning!
Miss Jess said
Absolutely beautiful. I am extremely intrigued by the mysterious undergarment photo – I want to see more of her gown, know the backstory, etc!
jenn said
More photos and story would be awesome! I don't want to sign up for a facebook account just to see the photos, but I'm tempted!
Alie K said
One word: Yum. That is all.
Ariel said
Rest assured that I'm in touch with a photographer who attended the wedding — hopefully he'll share more photos and more story!
stephanie said
Believe it or not, i think a friend of mine was at this wedding. She was telling me all about the symbolism of the canopy, and all the amazing things these people did to make their wedding filled with meaning. If it is the same wedding, i can't wait to hear more and see more. From what she was telling me, it was incredible.
Marina said
That lingerie makes me want to wear bridal lingerie, which is not something I was previously considering.
Erin said
I was at this wedding, and all I can say is that it was as stunning as the photos make it look.
Diana said
The lingerie in that picture looks a lot like something I saw on this website. http://www.skingraftdesigns.com/
I thought y'all might like to see it, there is some awesome stuff on that website!
Ariel said
Oh my goodness, Erin! Can you share some stories with us?
Also, rumor has it the lingerie is from Skin Graft Designs, makers of insanely beautiful/insanely expensive neo-victorian/steampunky/post-apocalyptic/burner couture. If you want to check out their designs, head over here. I recommend it mostly just for inspiration though — you don't want to know how much this stuff costs.
[Updated: JINX, Diana!]
Erin said
Well, tell me more about what you want to know, and I'll do my best to answer…
I've also let the bride know that her wedding made it on here, so perhaps she'll comment herself.
Sonya said
hi
it's me. thanks, erin, i wasn't aware of this before. i feel bashful…
but seriously, it was an incredible wedding- the best day of my life, and it was definitely the result of a massive collaboration between us and our amazingly talented community!
You can see more pics at
www.angeladam.com/SonyaJefferyWedding
p.s. it's kind of funny that you found this, ariel, because i've read your book and you might recognize some friends in the pictures
Erin said
Yay! Sonya made it over here!
Sonya said
p.p.s. yes, the lingerie…and everything else (my corset, skirts, headpiece, and jacket as well as jeffrey's jacket) was made by jonny and cassidy of skingraft designs. they are the best!
Ariel said
Aha, Sonya! You're right: I did recognize a lot of faces. Not a surprise, really, since I found your wedding photos on Facebook after my friend Maggie commented on one them. And I see that Brian DJed at both our receptions!
Long live left coast hippie/raver weddings!
madilyne said
Fabulous photos. Sonya, i love your style. I am floored by how much style you packed into your wedding. I'm generally not a huge fan of dreads but yours look absolutely beautiful in every photo. Skingraft designs did an amazing job on your clothes too!
Lori said
All I could keep saying is wow!
Lisa said
Ive looked at the wedsite – wow Sonya what a day to remember – it all looked so beautiful! did you hire the fantastic shelters or did you and your creative friends make them – I'd so love something similar at my wedding
Sonya said
Thanks…the pods are from our friends at the do lab (http://www.thedolab.com)…
Aim said
Holy hell that lingerie is gorgeous. In that super-hot Tank Girl badass sort of way. Wow.
Marina Moses said
Holy crap that is the HOTTEST COUPLE EVER. If you're going to spend a fortune on a wedding, that is DEFINITELY the way to do it. Oh my god. That is a seriously amazing wedding.
Starna said
Wow… that was awesome!
And Beautiful too!
TMae said
serious head spinnage – what an incredible collaboration.
Sonya said
I don't mean to be annoying about it, but actually we didn't spend a huge fortune…we spent some, of course, but our friends contributed a lot. In fact, we didn't use any vendors at all, aside from paying for dance lessons at the community center for our tango. We really started the planning by taking Ariel's book seriously
and looking around at our community, seeing what kind of wedding we could put together based on everyone's special gifts and talents. We are extremely lucky in that we have an amazing amount of talented and beautifully gifted friends, and so it all came together to be huger than anybody ever imagined, but the principle was entirely organic.
I feel that's important to add here because it was extremely intentional, and it created an amazing vibe that everyone could feel. I have a sense you guys can tell from the pictures.
Another thing that made it so special was the way we crafted our own ritual. Jeffrey and I just completed a year-long priest and priestess training where we learned how to lead ritual and hold ritual space for transformation, so that made a big difference. For more info on our teachers, who also are our dear friends and the priestesses who married us:
www.robinclark.org
http://www.suzannesterling.com
Anyway, what I'm trying to say here is that I think anyone who looks deeply within, doing the personal work required to burst through years of conditioning to create a ceremony perfectly suited to the kind of world you want to create in your union, can can come up with the most beautiful wedding for them. For the other stuff, reaching out to connect with your community, seriously asking for their blessing as well as their participation in your union, is priceless–and often surprising…it might not look like anything you've seen before, but it will be spectacular!
Nic said
Absolutely beautiful.Great article.