The offbeat bride: Sarah / vintage clothier
Her offbeat partner: Todd / Graphic designer

Location & date of wedding: Clinton House Museum in Fayetteville, Arkansas. August 11, 2007

What made our wedding offbeat: We got married in a little old house by the University of Arkansas campus, where Bill & Hillary Clinton actually got married. Turns out, we were the first couple to get married there since them!

Continue reading "Sarah & Todd's ultra-casual creative Arkansas wedding" →

So, you're having a theme wedding. And you're looking for a wedding photographer who won't scoff, "Wait, you're getting married on a pirate ship?" A wedding photographer who won't ask incredulously, "So, you're dressing up … like astronauts?"

If you want a photographer who screams, "FUCK YEAH, I LOVE YOUR WONDERFULLY WEIRD THEME WEDDING!" then you want Justin Winokur. This LA-based photographer will totally p0wn your theme wedding, and if you don't believe me, just check out some of his photos from a Star Wars wedding…

Continue reading "Star Wars wedding (Justin Winokur will photograph the bejeezus out of your theme wedding!)" →

The offbeat bride: Rosemary, graduate student

Her offbeat partner: Christopher, graduate student

Location & date of wedding: June 21, 2008 in a friend's wild back yard and forest, near Montreal, QC

What made our wedding offbeat: We made up our own ceremony to be exactly what we wanted it to be, which meant throwing out most traditional elements. Being part of a Pagan community, this wasn't so surprising to our friends, but what may have surprised them was that we threw out most of the Pagan handfasting traditions as well, since they didn't really speak to us either.

Continue reading "Rosemary & Christopher's hippie pagan eco diy celebration of love" →

Yesterday I mentioned that I wanted to know more (much more) about the peep bouquet from this wedding.

Well, I got my wish. Here's a shot of the centerpiece/bouquet made from what appears to be dried flowers and marshmallow peeps. All I know of the backstory is what I received in an email from the bride, Anna: "I hate peeps with a passion and have a long history with them, and they are cheap as hell so I thought they might have a perfect place in our rather bizarro wedding."

You can see tons more wedding pictures (bridesmaids in a teepee!) over here. Hopefully I'll have the full profile soon!

(Thanks to kleptacular for the photo!)

I am officially decreeing myself done with the word "tacky." It's a word thrown around a lot in the wedding world — even the non-traditional wedding world! People are worried their centerpieces will look tacky. People decree honeymoon registries tacky. There's muttering over etiquette: "I want to do things this way … but is that tacky?" brides whisper in terror. Tacky: the dark evil that sneaks into your bedroom and eats your face at night.

I'm here to tell you that, YES: everything you want to do for your wedding is tacky. All of it. The red dress is tacky. The handmade paper flowers are tacky. Your custom-designed invitations? TACKY.

Because you see, "tacky" is in the eye of the beholder and there is always, always going to be someone who sees things differently than you. Your handwritten wedding vows? Tacky! Using old mugs as favors? Tacky! Your ribbon veil? Tacky! Your father reading a poem he wrote instead of Corinthians? Tacky!

There is no end to the tackiness. It is ALL tacky, according to someone. Someone will tell you it's tacky to get married in your backyard. Someone will tell you it's tacky not to decorate your chairs with large bows and organza. Someone will tell you it's tacky to have portapotties at your wedding. Someone somewhere thinks sequined wedding shoes and button bouquets and Wai-Ching dresses are all tacky.

…This website? TACKY!

Tacky is the manifestation of your fears that people won't approve of your wedding.

I'm exhausted by the tacky debate. I'm sick of people asking if some component of their wedding is tacky. (Sure it is! …to someone. Do you care? Is that why you're doing it?) I'm sick of commenters decreeing certain wedding thangs as tacky. (Sure it is! …to you. Do I care? Are you invited to my wedding?) Tacky: the dark monster that creeps in at night … tacky is the manifestation of your fears that people won't approve of your wedding.

Moving forward, I'm decreeing a moratorium on the word. When it's ALL tacky, none of it's tacky and we can finally stop talking about it.

New Jersey celebrant Jessie Blum specializes in crafting wedding ceremonies for nontraditional couples who want something spectacular. She says, "The central theme is always the couple's original love story, and personalized touches are imbued through the entire ceremony. I aim to make the ceremony that you would create for yourself."

Jessie is a certified Celebrant, an ordained non-denominational minister, and authorized to perform weddings & civil unions in New Jersey. Take a look at her gallery and testimonials from couples — you'll see that she definitely gets nontrad needs!

Eclectic Unions honors all backgrounds and traditions, and Jessie is even offering a promotion with 10% off for clients who mention they found her on offbeatbride.com!

You may remember Amber here from her awesome photobooth save the date cards. But if you want full story on this hottie inked bride's wedding (including the groom licking the bride at the altar!), you better head over to Amber's website.