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We're doing a "vegan wedding" theme week on Offbeat Bride! And I love that there are enough vegan weddings out there to profile for a whole animal-friendly week. Do take note that though not all of the weddings are ENTIRELY vegan, but, like anything, there are various styles of vegan weddings, whether it includes just the menu or their lifestyle choices in general. -Megan
 The offbeat bride: Fran, a mundane office worker (and OBT member)
Her offbeat partner: Siobhán (also known as Von), youth worker and geek
Location & date of wedding: The Derby Conference Centre, a listed Art Deco building with gorgeous original 1930s interior. The ceremony was held in the lecture hall, a small theatre shaped room, then we had the celebrations in their giant sunken lounge in Derby, UK. — 31st October 2009
What made our wedding offbeat: Living a non-traditional life meant our guests weren't expecting a traditional day from the start, so we had complete freedom. We're bisexual so it was important our day was a celebration of not just our love but of love generally. The top table included a sibling's wife and girlfriend from their poly life, with a toast to the fact we could even have a legal ceremony.
Continue reading "Fran & Siobhán's feminist, disability-friendly, colourful, vegan wedding" →
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Thanks to your feedback from the 2010 Reader Survey, we've added more questions to the questionnaire we use to collect our real wedding profiles. We also added a way for people to self-identify themselves with tags — another suggestion from y'all! Here's the very first survey with the new questions.
 The Offbeat Bride: Highland, Customer Service Manger and Hair/Makeup Stylist
Her Offbeat Partner: Jack, Wedding Photographer and Graphic Artist
Location & date of wedding: Floyd Lamb State Park, North Las Vegas, NV — January 24, 2010
What made our wedding offbeat: Jack is transgendered, and the way we decided to tell our family (well, Jacks half of the family, mine already called him, "he") is by having our officiant (who is also in an awesome rock band called Thrown Clear) pronounce us "Husband and Wife" and use all male pronouns throughout the ceremony.
Continue reading "Highland & Jack's winter wedding in Las Vegas" →
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Unless you are one of those lucky ladies who never, ever has trouble finding items that fit you perfectly straight off the rack, there’s a good chance your bridal attire will require alterations. If you are having something custom-made, you will probably need to have at least two fittings. (In my experience, three fittings for a mass-produced wedding dress is common.)
 If at all possible, start with a dress (or outfit) that is your size — or very, very close to it. While it is often possible to size a dress up or down, don’t count on being able to take in or let out a dress by more than one or two sizes. Many dresses do not contain enough seam allowance to let out that much -– and with fabrics like velvet and satin, the original seam lines will show. (With satin, original seam lines can resemble track marks, hardly an appropriate look for a special occasion.)
If you have not yet purchased your attire, PLEASE resist the urge to buy something that is on sale but several sizes too big. Garments that are much too large for the intended wearer often need to basically be taken apart and re-cut in order to hang properly on the body. This is such a labor-intensive process it can quickly eat whatever money you saved –- and then some.
Continue reading "Bridal Fittings 101: advice from a former tailor shop employee" →
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 The offbeat bride: Simone, Customer Service (and OBT member "Monie")
Her offbeat partner: Daryl Child Care Worker
Location & date of wedding: Foxglove Spires Garden, Tilba Tilba N.S.W Australia — October 31st 2009
What made our wedding offbeat: My husband and I were married on Halloween this year, much to everyones surprise I wore white (everyone was expecting me to wear black so I guess that's offbeat for me in itself). There were Converse chucks, a lolly buffet, Polaroid guest book and transformers cuff links; little touches that although have been used many times before, really reflected the personality and feel of our bridal party.
Continue reading "Simone & Daryl's Australian garden wedding" →
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OBT member "iLiveinmyLab" wrote this great advice post on how to shop for antiques for your wedding, inspired by her trip to a large antique fair!
I went to Texas Antique Weekend with a friend of mine recently. As it was the last day of the fair we were hoping to get some good deals. I, of course, was in my never ending search for random glass objects as decorations for the wedding. We arrived at the first set of antique shops around 10am and did not finish till around 5-ish (it was a long intense day) and I was able to find a few good things.
Here are some tips for those of you who are planning on going to an antique fair to hunt for wedding items any time soon (most of this list will work for shops too).
 1. Plan ahead. Have a general idea of where you plan on going before you get there. The night before I printed off the map of where the antique booths/pavilions were supposed to be set up. If you don't know the layout of the area, it could get a bit more confusing and when you're trying to cover a LOT of ground in one day. It's best to go in with a general idea of where you plan to go before you get there.
2. Don't Go Alone. This might sound like an odd one, or a "be safe don't go alone" message but it's not. It's nice to have someone there to motivate you to keep going and keep you on track. Plus if you end up getting a bunch of stuff they're there to help carry! Also, you'll get tired during the day and having that extra person there to talk to and joke about the random stuff you see is wonderful. Plus, an extra set of eyes is always good for spotting something.
Continue reading "How to avoid getting ripped-off when shopping at antique stores & fairs" →
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 The offbeat bride: Emma, Deputy Box Office Manager at The Lyceum Theatre
Her offbeat partner: Carl, Lighting Technician and Stage Manager
Location & date of wedding: Camden Town Hall followed by the reception at the London Canal Museum, Kings Cross, UK — 12/09/09
What made our wedding offbeat: We don't enjoy being the centre of attention, so we skipped many of the formalities like sit down meals, cake cutting, first dances & speeches, which made for a wonderfully relaxed day.
Continue reading "Emma & Carl's London, Retro Glam Wedding" →
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 The offbeat bride: Kory Bingaman, illustrator and comic book artist
Her offbeat partner: Ben Francka, writer and cook
Location & date of wedding: Riverwalk Jazz Café, Ozark Missouri — September 19, 2009
What made our wedding offbeat: Neither of us were caught up on traditions or thoughts of "we have to do this because that's what you do in a wedding." A lot of it wasn't intentional, as my experience with weddings was very limited and I had no knowledge of the "do's" and "don'ts", so we made it up as we went along. And it was cheap!
Continue reading "Kory & Ben's Dia de los Dinosaurs Wedding" →
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 This is OBT member Ang's advice for streaming your wedding live on the internets. This is awesome for people who aren't going to be able to make it to the wedding as well as for all your OBB friends to be able to ogle you.
Real time wedding porn, YAY!!! -Megan
So here's my situation. First and foremost we are on a budget so our guest list is limited. I am a techno geek, so most of my friends live inside my computer and are pretty far away. Even though several are going to be able to make it to my wedding, there are even more that won't be able to make it. Not to mention family and friends who won't be able to make an international trip, or who are in poor health and aren't supposed to travel. Originally I was planning on sending them all photo CDs, and doing a slideshow on our wedsite, but then I started thinking with my geek gland.
Back in March, one of my fabulous internet groups had several members who attended an expo in Chicago. ALL the members of the site had helped to fund raise, and everyone was excited about it. I decided try and stream it live, so all our online friends who couldn't be there could be participants. It was a resounding success, and everyone loved it. Why couldn't I use this self same technology for my wedding?
Continue reading "How to broadcast your wedding live on the web — Part 1 of 4" →
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 The offbeat bride: Tasha, Customer Service
Her offbeat partner: Andrew, Art Gallery Director
Location & date of wedding: The Balcony on Dock St., Wilmington, NC — 10/25/2009
What made our wedding offbeat: We made our wedding offbeat by keeping the decorations simple, but with tons of personal touches. We actually had three beach houses on N. Topsail Beach for everyone to stay in for the entire weekend. We made our own invitations, programs, favor boxes, centerpieces and cupcake toppers. Everyone close to us contributed in some way. My bouquet was made by the Maid of Honor, out of hand sculpted and painted birds. We made the groomsmen handkerchiefs with a variety of mustaches for them to wear.
Continue reading "Tasha & Andrew's fun, elegant, mustache extravaganza wedding" →
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 The Offbeat Bride Arroxane, Technical writer (and OBT member)
Her Offbeat Partner: Mike, Techie, inventor, and business owner
Location & date of wedding: The Max recording stage in Dallas, TX — January 18, 2009
What made our wedding offbeat: From the theme to the attire to the food to the entertainment, it was about what we liked and wanted. OK, there was some "make the folks happy" and crowd-pleaser elements, but 90% of the wedding was creative expression of our love(s).
Continue reading "Arroxane & Mike's celestial, multi-cultural ceremony of matrimony" →
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We celebrating Friday the 13th with a wedding that is both a Friday the 13th wedding AND our first Kansas wedding!
 The Offbeat Bride: Kristen, Greenhouse Peon
Her Offbeat Partner: Derek, Greenhouse Peon also
Location & date of wedding: Courthouse / Park Building Reception, Kansas — Friday the 13th, February 2009
What made our wedding offbeat: We got married on a Friday the 13th to commemorate our first date, which was also on Friday the 13th. Luckily our families know we're a little off, so the black Chinese cheongsam dress and matching jacket (Ebay) and the skeleton cake topper didn't even cause them to bat an eyelash.
Continue reading "Kristen & Derek's Friday the 13th courthouse wedding" →
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We haven't gotten the 411 from the stripey bride that Ariel fell in love with last week YET — so here's another beautiful stripey bride profile, brought to you by her husband! (We love when the boys chime in.)
The Offbeat Groom: Lon, FileMaker Developer
His Offbeat Partner: Valarie Torres
Location & date of wedding: Great American Music Hall, San Francisco — October 12th, 2008
What made our wedding offbeat: She's punk rock; I'm mope rock; we're both geeks. Our wedding party and guests were drawn from equal parts giant Mexican family and an extended bicycle messenger family.
Continue reading "Valarie & Lon's bike messengers meet Mexican familia wedding" →
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 The offbeat bride: Jo, HR Management Information Manager (and OBT member "Jo")
Her offbeat partner: Nova, Financial Processor
Location & date of wedding: Perth Town Hall, WA, Australia AND on the frozen Alta Lake, Rainbow Park, Whistler, BC, Canada — Perth: 15 Feb 2009, Whistler: 20 Feb 2009
What made our wedding offbeat: We had two wedding ceremonies, one in the peak of summer in our home town of Perth, Australia — which we called our "Unlawful Union" as gay marriage is not recognised over here — and one a few days later in Canada.
Continue reading "Jo & Nova: two brides, two countries with two weddings" →
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 The Offbeat Bride: Jen, Graphic Designer (and OBT member "Jensensi")
Her Offbeat Partner: Brynley, Musician
Location & date of wedding: The Country Cottage, Nottingham, UK — 27-06-09
What made this wedding offbeat: We decided from the get-go that we wanted it to be as cheap as possible without compromising too much on a nice venue. We didn’t want a church and I have a huge dislike for registry offices, so that left us with stately homes and hotels.
Continue reading "Jen & Brynley's red & white, 50's inspired wedding" →
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Remember the wedding style-induced fashion-gasm I had last week? Well get ready for more of it, because Janleen's been kind enough to give us the whole scoop!
 The offbeat bride: Jaleen, Designer/Project Manager/Flying Trapeze Instructor
Her offbeat partner: Andrew, Designer/DJ/Juggler
Location & date of wedding: Supperclub, San Francisco CA — September 5, 2009
What made our wedding offbeat: My dad's friend asked him if he was walking me down the aisle, and he replied, "I don't even know if there's going to be an aisle!" So much of this was our version of wedding: reimagined.
Supperclub is this strange white-box dinner theatre/nightclub venue where everyone sits on beds along the room's perimeter. Our party started at 8:45 pm with a cocktail hour in the front all-red room, which we attended in party clothes, and then stole away to change into wedding attire.
Continue reading "Jaleen & Andrew's Surreal Love Circus Party-time Wedding" →
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The offbeat bride: Anli, data analyst
Her offbeat partner: Laura, public servant
Location & date of wedding: The Old Stone House, NSW Australia — 5 September 2009
What made our wedding offbeat: We wanted a ceremony that reflected our geeky, romantic, pink aesthetic, while at the same time being profound and meaningful. Our ceremony was themed around the video game Portal and the anime series Revolutionary Girl Utena.
We incorporated lots of geeky details, from the table names (Revolution, Sierra, Katara and GLaDOS) to the choice of music. We also kept several traditional elements such as bouquets, dresses and bridesmaids. However, we both walked down the aisle unaccompanied and skipped the garter/bouquet toss.
Continue reading "Anli & Laura's Lesbian Gamer Geek Wedding" →
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 The Offbeat Bride: Mandi, Marketing Manager
Her Offbeat Partner: Neil, Tabletop fantasy and futuristic battle-games retail assistant!
Location & date of wedding: Cooling Castle Barn, Kent, UK — 4 December 2008
What made our wedding offbeat: We had a few ideas about what we wanted; normal for us — not so normal for others it seems  We had a few setbacks during our year of planning, so we stripped right back to only the things we really, really wanted. We encountered a bit of resistance from people along the way but on the day, we had what looked like a very traditional wedding from the outside but a little bit different once they were all tarpped in the room with us!!
Continue reading "Mandi & Neil's Castle, Cupcakes & Tequila Wedding" →
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To celebrate the season, we're featuring a Halloween wedding every week for the month of October!
 The Offbeat Bride: Misty, CNA
Her Offbeat Partner: Dell, Repo Man
Location & date of wedding: Meditation Garden at the A.R.E. in Virginia Beach, VA — October 31, 2008
What made our wedding offbeat: We definitely bucked tradition by having a handfasting in the ceremony, having wine in a dragon goblet (the last of which was offered to Mother Earth) and invoking the Lord and Lady to bless our union! Add to that a multi-faith Reverend who is a female, and the Witchy-Gothy wedding was complete!
Continue reading "Misty & Dell's Wiccan/Pagan, Corseted Boob-Fest, Halloween Wedding" →
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 The Offbeat Bride: Melissa, Administration Officer (and OBT member!)
Her Offbeat Partner: Joshua, Carpenter
Location & date of wedding: Brisbane Registry Office, Australia, — Saturday, March 21 2009
What made our wedding offbeat: First of all, we married interstate and planned everything online and made about 80% of our purchases and decisions online.
We got up early and picked up our own flowers direct from the market florist where Josh said he enjoyed talking to the owner who was walking around making bouquets. We also got ready together and made sure the day itself was about us we could spend our time with everybody else later.
Continue reading "Melissa & Joshua's Brisbane cocktail party wedding" →
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 The Offbeat Bride: Larissa, medieval graduate student extraordinaire
Her Offbeat Partner: Red, IT Professional
Location & date of wedding: Registry Office (wedding), Arts Centre (reception), Colchester, UK — 19 December 2008
What made our wedding offbeat: Neither one of us wanted to plan a wedding, really, but we also wanted to give our family and friends an opportunity to celebrate our marriage with us on the day. We were on a really limited budget, since one of us is a jobless graduate student, but we also wanted to be able to provide our guests with a really great night. We saved loads by opting for a Registry Office ceremony (we just had to pay the cost of getting married), and we had our reception in the local Arts Centre. However, the local Arts Centre just so happened to be in a deconsecrated medieval church, so it was by no means lacking in some wonderful character.
Continue reading "Larissa & Red's Game-filled, Art Centre Wedding" →
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