Katie & Anthony's two VERY different wedding ceremonies

The offbeat bride: Katie Director of Operations (for a travel company)

Her offbeat partner: Anthony Graduate Student OSU

Location & date of wedding: In June: Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Mesa, AZ. In October: Getaway Cabins in Hocking Hills State Park, Hocking Hills, Ohio — 6/20/09 & 10/24/09

What made our wedding offbeat: We actually had two weddings. My mother became ill and could not travel to our planned wedding in Ohio in October. A decision was made to have two ceremonies — one in June and one in October.

We pulled together a "white wedding" in six weeks with a dress from Goodwill, shoes from online, my mother's veil from thirty-five years ago when she married my father and flowers from a grocery store. Cici's Pizza "catered" and my mom got us a cake from the WalMart bakery for our reception. We had the ceremony in Mesa, AZ at Bethlehem Lutheran Church (my parent's church) and then took off for Ohio.

Since two weddings were involved, we had a limited budget so we got even more creative for the October wedding. The "flowers" were bunches of fake leaves bought from Dollar Tree that my photographer and best friend made for me. For party favors, I bought baskets from Dollar Tree and tons of Halloween candy. Rather than do favors, I had centerpieces and favors in one! I bought pumpkins from our church and decorated the grounds while helping out seven different charities.

I did splurge and buy a different dress for the October wedding as a surprise. It was great because everyone expected the same white dress to be worn from June. When I came walking out in an ORANGE dress (my favorite color), jaws dropped and Husband was most surprised of all. It was so perfect for our setting!

Our biggest challenge: Our biggest challenge was distance. We had known each other for ten years, but fell in love while we were living on the West Coast. Husband was in Oregon, I was in California. We got engaged after Tony had moved to Ohio to start his PhD program. So the entire time we dated and were engaged we lived in different states, on opposite sides of the country. Planning was difficult because we couldn't go anywhere together and make joint decisions.

When two weddings were decided on, I took over the June shin-dig and he planned the October wedding. I worked closely with my mother to get everything set up in AZ while Husband talked to tent people and family members for catering in the woods. All he had to do was wear a suit and show up in June, and all I had to do was my hair, makeup and dress in October!

We talked a lot on Skype, tested our trust in each other and our friends and family and everything worked out wonderful!

My favorite moment: My favorite moments of our weddings was the end of the day in October. The sky had cleared and the stars were out as we snuck away from the party for our private honeymoon cabin. All we could hear while walking in the woods was people laughing, talking and having a great time. People were still enjoying the campfire and home brewed beer made specifically for our event. You know you throw a good party when it continues after you leave it!

My offbeat advice: Don't be afraid to do what YOU want, regardless of how crazy it seems to others. I wanted to get married in an Orange dress. I had bought a white one and wasn't sold on it. When I stumbled upon this beauty, I wavered because my intended had made a comment about me NOT wearing orange. My best friend Fenna (who was also my pro photographer for BOTH weddings) was like "You cannot get married in anything other than this! Quit trying to kid yourself!" So we planned an elaborate surprise and it worked out great.

If you spend all your time trying to make other people happy on your wedding day you will be the most unhappy of all. My father's exact words to me: "There is NO POSSIBLE WAY to please everyone so don't try". So what if Grandma insists you have purple flowers? If she isn't paying for them, she has no say. Buy her a purple corsage and be done with it. I had family upset because my invite specifically said to wear jeans, sweatshirts, boots or shoes that could get muddy for our October wedding. We were outdoors in a state park! Some people chose to dress up anyway and regretted it! I was quite comfy in my cowboy boots, jeans and hoodie after the ceremony.

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?:

• My dress was bought in boutique type shop in a Mall in Beaverton Oregon. The tag says "Bellezza by Savoy." Doing more research, it appears this is a manufacturer only on the West Coast. The store had many many dresses in many colors but only one of each design.
• My jewelry was custom made by my Flickr Friend Clara. More of her work here.
• Tuxes were from Men's Warehouse and Tux.
• Almost all decorations, Leaf bouquets, boutonnieres, and centerpiece/favors were from Dollar Tree.
• Photography by Fenna Blue of Short.Girl Photography.
• We utilized Getaway cabins #20-25 for our event, should anyone want the specific location. Three of the six cabins are pet friendly and all have hot tubs.

Enough talk — show me the wedding porn:

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