Tessa & Ronnie's Vintage Cabaret, Uptown Theater Wedding
Posted by Offbeat Elves · Real Weddings: Midwest US

photo by Drew Orrin-Brown

The offbeat bride: Tessa LeTaunt, Pin Up Model & Mommy

Her offbeat partner: Ronnie, Stay-at-home-Daddy

Location & date of wedding: The Uptown Theater in Kansas City, MO — July 11th, 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: Instead of having a unity candle, we had a Native American water ritual, which consisted of both my groom and I drinking from a double-spouted jug made of clay. Although this took away from our overall theme, both of our families have strong Indian heritage, which we felt the need to embrace during our uniting as one.

photo by Drew Orrin-Brown

Another offbeat aspect was that we didn't have a wedding party. We didn't want to play the "favorites" game, so we just did away with the tradition altogether. My groom did, however, have a best man/child catcher. We have a two year old, which played the part of our ring bearer. Being two, we knew he would not make it to the end of the aisle and actually stay there, so the best man's role was to stand by my groom, sucker in hand, and coax our son to remain standing. In the end, our little one had to be carried out of the venue, but if it weren't for the help of the trusty best man, I couldn't have seen that ordeal going over well at all.

photo by Drew Orrin-Brown

The main offbeat aspect, I would have to say, is that we were married in a restored 1920's theater as opposed to in a church or other typical wedding location. Oh, and my groom's dirt cake. I'd have to dub him as an "Offbeat Groom" for choosing that one.

Our biggest challenge: If memory serves me correctly, I can only recall two instances that even remotely caused stress. I was a DIY bride for most of what I had envisioned for my wedding, so naturally, when it came to calling on an outside source to take care of something for me, something had to go wrong.

photo by Drew Orrin-Brown

Time was dwindling down to the big day, and we still didn't have a DJ. All of the DJs that I had came across were asking for a fee that was far over what our budget would allow. "How was the problem resolved," you ask? One word: Craigslist. I posted an ad stating what I wanted and how much I was willing to pay. Almost 100 replies later, I found our perfect DJ.

The other stressful moment was a week before the wedding, when the photographer I had booked decided he "didn't do weddings." Obviously, that was a tad nerve racking. Being a model, though, I've come to know a good hand full of photographers that would gladly take his place. In the end, I'm glad that he bailed on us. Otherwise, we wouldn't have the amazing photos we now have of our memorable day.

My favorite moment: I really loved the pre-wedding activities…

photo by Drew Orrin-Brown

Setting up the tables and putting together the decorations with my hubby was a a lot of fun. Just seeing and actually creating what we had been dreaming of for so long was a true reward. I thoroughly enjoyed the primping process as well. I started out just having two friends assist me with the beautification process, and ended up with a whole bathroom full of ladies! It was great being able to catch up with girls I hadn't seen since high school right then, since I would have been too busy for chit-chat once the wedding actually ensued.

Not to say, of course, that the rest of the wedding couldn't compare to these moments. It's just that everything thereafter was quite a blur!

My offbeat advice: Never let anyone tell you "No." Treat yourself to the wedding of your dreams, ESPECIALLY if it means doing something yourself. Don't be afraid to be a DIY bride, even if you've no creative bone in your body. If all else fails… Google.

photo by Drew Orrin-Brown

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?:

• My dress was designed by Allure Bridal. It is from their "Far & Away" collection, and is technically a destination wedding dress, although it fooled guests into assuming it was vintage couture!
• Photography: Drew Orrin-Brown
• The flower & feather fascinator that I wore in my hair during the reception was created by YJDESIGN on Etsy.
• Our custom cake topper was created by cornflakegirl on Etsy.
• Our custom Jones Soda bottles from myjones.com!
• For super cute photo-editing, use Picnik.com! No downloading of anything is necessary, and it's completely free. I used Picnik for the very last picture in our Flickr set. I love their scrapbook options! [Editor's note from Ariel: Gotta second the vote for Picnik. I couldn't run OBB without it!]

Enough talk — show me the wedding porn: