Staff

Founder & Publisher: Ariel Meadow Stallings

A writer and editor who got her start editing a rave magazine in the mid-'90s, Ariel Meadow Stallings has been published in magazines and newspapers like Modern Bride, ReadyMade Magazine, and Seattle Weekly.

Her work has been featured by the New York Times, Today Show, and The Guardian. Ariel's book, Offbeat Bride: Creative Alternatives For Independent Brides, was first published in 2007 with a second edition in 2010.

Ariel lives and loves in Seattle with her yoga instructing husband, son, and a small dog. You can read more about Ariel's story here.

Managing Editor & Associate Publisher: Megan Finley

Born and raised an awkward nerd in Los Angeles, Megan Finley is still an awkward nerd, only now she gets paid for it. She's a photographer whose work has been published in Japanese Vogue, the LA Times, and in the liner notes of various jazz albums. When she's not taking pictures, she's glued to her laptop managing content for several blogs, including her personal blog and, of course, Offbeat Bride.

Megan lives behind a porn shop in West Hollywood with her shark attack surviving husband and their various rescued furry beasts.

To get to know her better follow her on Twitter!

Assistant Ediotor: Catherine "Superman" Clark

Catherine is a freelance web consultant who focuses on design, user experience and writing and promoting online and social media content. She has a BFA in Design and Painting from Illinois Wesleyan University and is working on her Masters in Human-Computer Interaction at DePaul University (which people always seem to think has something to do with robots and she doesn't dissuade them). In her spare time, Catherine loiters at her local library, draws and paints, watches Youtube vloggers en masse, bookmarks recipes, plays video games and writes for her website about movie news. Catherine lives in the Chicago area with dreams of moving to the west coast.

Copyeditor: Caroline Alexandra Diezyn

Caroline is an American Studies MA student living between lakes Huron and Erie in Ontario, Canada. When she's not swamped with term papers, she creates and appreciates art, writes prose & poetry, and goes camping with her boyfriend, Graeme. She has a severe case of wanderlust, and blogs about her travel experiences. You can follow her thoughts about all of the aforementioned and more on twitter.

Offbeat Bride Tribe Community Manager: Kirsten Hansen

Kirsten is an academic out in the world, or at least out in Canada. She has been involved in teaching university courses, worked for a non-profit organization, researched and played with technology, and is an occasional freelance writer. When not working, she can usually be found with her nose in a book, playing video games with her husband, designing jewelry or cards or baking something delicious. Her house has been likened to a zoo with three cats and two ferrets frequently misinterpreting who is in charge.

Contributors

DIY Editor: Liz Gubernatis

Liz is a Pepsi addict who married her sword-wielding urban Viking on 1-1-11. Originally from Nebraska, she spent some time on the East Coast but left before it made her hard-hearted, landing back in the Midwest, where she thrives. She sews, paints, cooks, bakes, plays with paper, computers and cats, loves chocolate, peanut butter, and popcorn, and frequently purges her apartment to make room for more fabric, craft supplies, and projects to play with.

She also posts irregularly about things like dating her husband (date nights that don't *usually* suck), praising friends-as-families, recipes she really enjoys making and eating, and "good cry" links that she find uplifting over on her personal blog.

Contributing DIY Editor: Jessica Charlton

Jessica Charlton's weapon of choice has always been an embroidery needle; her work has been featured on mrxstitch.com and feelingstitchy.com. She produces and teaches crafts of many kinds, and notably taught two years in a row at maximumfun.org's delightful comedy podcasting sleepaway camp, MaxFunCon. Never able to focus too long on just one inspiration, Offbeat Bride allows her to work on diverse projects, and for that she is grateful.

Jess lives among the rolling, green hills of Southern California where she records stupid music with her husband and their cat. She is addicted to Disneyland, television, and Twitter.