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The offbeat bride: Meagan, ER Registration

Her offbeat partner: Simon, manager

Date and location of wedding: Gaylord, MI — August 27, 2011

Our offbeat wedding at a glance: Simon and I are into all kinds of things so we started with what we loved most. The colors black and blue were the base of our ideas, and then we added a semi-modern Mad Hatter tea party theme.

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Simon likes steampunk and anything geek-related, and I like Alice in Wonderland and crafty stuff, so we combined them. We had a very limited budget, so there was a lot of DIY involved along with some creative imagination. The wedding party helped out a lot, especially my maid of honor.

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Tell us about the ceremony: We made our own music for the ceremony. We also had a special, slightly altered reading from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

“But I don't want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked.
“Oh you can't help that,” said the Cat “We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.”
“How do you know I'm mad?” said Alice.
“You must be,” said the Cat, “or you wouldn't have come here.”
“Would you tell me please which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don't much care where –” said Alice.
“Then it doesn't matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
” — so long as I get SOMEWHERE,” Alice added as an explanation.
“Oh, you're sure to do that,” said the Cat “if you only walk long enough.”

You must be mad yourself in order to understand the nature of things, reject normal social conversations, and behave abnormally to figure out where you're going.
Wherever they get to, Meagan and Simon will wind up somewhere together, and I hope these few words help them and all of you negotiate your way through your own wonderland.

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We then exited to the tune “Here We Go” by the Fresh Beat Band.

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Our biggest challenge: Our daily schedule was challenging. We work opposite shifts and have a two-year-old, so getting everything together and communicating was hard. It took a lot of notes and a few less-than-sane moments to get it all done on time. But we got it done and Simon and I were there to say our vows.

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My favorite moment: Having our family take part in our wedding was the best, but I also loved our daughter as our flower girl dressed as Alice. She was so cute in her role along with my niece and nephew, representing the queen of hearts and the white rabbit.

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alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)
A Month of Mixbooks:
As part of our partnership with Mixbook, this couple has been given a free wedding photo book to show off their wedding photos. We'll be featuring some of these Offbeat Bride Mixbooks in a few weeks!

My funniest moment: We had a kids' table of games and a croquet set outside. And of course, the adults played with the kids' games and the kids played croquet! It was a pretty funny scene.

The kids also had a blast on the dance floor, especially my daughter She was busting a move, and was a total social butterfly while hitting up every person she could for a bite more of their cake. The photo booth also gave us a lot to laugh about.

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Was there anything you were sure was going to be a total disaster that unexpectedly turned out great? Not having a DJ was a worry. We couldn't afford one, so we picked all our own music to play. The only glitch was that the entrance song didn't get played, but nobody noticed.

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My advice for Offbeat Brides: The best advice I can give is let your freak out and have fun. I'm also an advocate for a professional photographer since you can't retake the photos after the fact.

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Comments on Meagan & Simon’s Mad Hatter tea party wedding

  1. Oh WOW, I love this! It’s got everything; an unusual colour scheme, a gorgeous cake, a cute and creative way to involve the kids in the theme… Thanks for sharing your beautiful day with us.

  2. I adore Alice-theme weddings and I adore this one now! The best photo, though, is your little girl running up to you both as you piggy-back down the aisle – that is so precious!

    • Thank you – that was the best part about our day besides getting married =) so glad that photo was gotten.

  3. Can someone PLEASE tell me where to get such marvelous shoes? I LOVE THEM!

  4. I love me some Alice-themed anything, but not sure I can express how much I LOVE. THOSE. SHOES.

    I also love that you did a non-red Alice theme!! Looks like so much fun was had by all. 🙂

  5. whoa whoa WHOA. This was in GAYLORD?? Up-north Michigan (offbeat) brides represent! Leah Renee was my photographer as well (for our wedding in Petoskey)! Yay! Your wedding looks AWESOME! Love all the details. 🙂

    • oh yeah! i saw all your pics and loved them how amazing was your dress! and love the pics at the light house and the books w the action figures your wedding was amazing yay for up north offbeat brides!

  6. Can I ask about your bouquets? Are the felt flowers? I love the contrast between the blue and the black!

  7. I was MOH and did most of the (hundreds) of flowers… They were indeed felt-white, black, gray, and various shades of blue. Some were hand cut, the rest with a sizzix, all hand hand embroidered. Some had sequins and beads for a little extra pop, and then all were finished off with buttons for the centers. After the first hundred or so, they got to be a big pain in the butt, but the effort was worth it and they looked fantastic!

  8. I just want to say that I ADORE your combination of themes and that beautiful blue color used throughout your wedding! Amazing! Congrats to you both and all the best!

  9. I just love this wedding. Everything about it seems fun and beautiful and best of all, it seems to represent the bride and groom as a couple. I am very curious though, in the photo of the croquet field, what does the poster say?

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