October 2011 | Offbeat Bride

Every once and a while I like to drill down into one designer's offerings in these shoe posts — I mean sure, lots of times I cluster by color (yellow! red!), style (boots!), or special need (larger sizes! wide!) but today it's all about one designer: Chinese Laundry.

Okay kids, let's all just take a minute to gawk over this photo from offbeat sponsor Christine McGuigan. I mean… the location, the light, the colors, those smiles! OMG, the smiles are just gorgeous. The moment I saw this engagement photo I just stopped and stared and breathed in the visuals and the love. Come, let's breathe in more love and beauty while I share with you some of my favorite Christine McGuigan photos from some of her offbeat Omaha weddings. WARNING: colorful balloons, twinkly string lights, sweet first looks, and sexy kisses ahead…

Two months to plan and catering-phobic? Now there's a challenge. But this pair came up with a plan and managed to get amazing pasta and NOM-worthy desserts to their guests' tummies. They also learned a hard lesson that combining flowers and mini-fridge freezers spells flower disaster. But trust me, none of that made this tiny affair any less awesome.

Striking poses, throwing horns, and generally being awesome was a theme in the Offbeat Flickr Pool this week. Everyone was mugging for the camera and showing off their stuff. Plus we've got some pretty cool fascinators and hats to top things off in this week's Monday Montage.

Offbeat Bride reader, Ms Tara, recently went to a friend's wedding and noticed that one of the flower girls had a strange little green Jedi friend escort her down the aisle, in the form of an awesome backpack. Unable to resist asking how Yoda crashed the wedding, Ms Tara found out during the reception and the story is almost as amazing as the pictures.

Hometown wedding got you down? Maybe this couple will inspire you to get away from it all and hire a Celtic monk to officiate your handfasting in Ireland! Lovely cloudy skies, wildflowers, Inis Mor cliffs, and even a visiting horse make this elopement something we all wish we could do. Right now.

Elizabeth Jancewicz keeps supplying us with super colorful and creative wedding ideas. Here's another one to compete with her rainbow communion bread and origami candy boxes — colorful interactive program wheels. She was also kind enough to give us the low-down on how these babies were made.

Serving Edmonds and the surrounding area, Shooby Doo provides full-service catering, including event planning, rentals, and event staffing, which is super convenient. And their culinary creations are steps beyond blasé wedding faire, with their gorgeous and delicious dishes that look as good as they taste. (WARNING: Do not click here if you are hungry. It will make your mouth depressed.)