Category Archive

Reader Mail

Letters and emails from our readers. Want to get in touch?

Piñatas, tacos, & cascarones at this Mexican-inspired DIY wedding in Chicago

ATTN: Other people’s cultures are NOT your wedding theme

A letter from a reader: “I’m soooooo excited about you featuring Latino/x weddings for Hispanic Heritage Month — just PLEASE be mindful, respectful, and recognize that culture, customs, rituals, even religions are not a wedding theme.” Where’s the line between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation with weddings?

Transgender weddings MTF on offbeat bride alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Transgender weddings: where are all the MTF and transfem brides?

A reader asks our publisher Ariel, “I love your site and I’ve been looking through all your genderqueer and transgender tagged posts, and it’s awesome. I’m writing because I’m not finding much representation of transwomen or people who are non-binary, but present more femininely.” …AND ARIEL RESPONDS!

sdf alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Where are all the black Offbeat Brides?

A reader writes: “I love your blog (it’s the only wedding thing I’m subscribed to) but surely there must be more black Offbeat Brides out there somewhere…” This is an issue I feel pretty strongly about, and have been writing about for almost a decade…

"Why do you feature non-black couples with dreadlocks?" The answer is complex...

“Why do you feature non-black couples with dreadlocks?” The answer is complex…

“I’m honestly a little surprised to see you feature non-black people sporting dreadlocks for their wedding day. I won’t go into why this is racist, but let there be no question that it’s racist no matter the intent. I just wanted to express how jarring it was to see on such a progressive site.” Here’s our take on dreadlocks and cultural appropriation…

haters gonna hate cross stitch on offbeat bride alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

“Just admit you are ‘woman-babies’ who can’t get enough of this childish shit”

Remember how in January, I was all “Meh, offbeat weddings are pretty well accepted as mainstream at this point”? Remember that?

Well, this year has had some tricks up its sleeve for sure, and one of those tricks is that for a whole bunch of reasons, American culture is taking a hard swing right now. The blasé tolerant attitude of “eh, who even cares — you do you” that’s been around the past eight years or so is shifting, and with that shift is coming an interesting wave of hatefulness toward the offbeat…

How Offbeat Bride helped me be more authentic alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Thinking Bride: How Offbeat Bride helped me be more authentic

I actually found Offbeat Bride through a site (that shall remain nameless but not blameless) where the writer was mocking it. The tone of the mockery was, “Look at these weirdos who think they’re so special and different!” But here’s the thing: I WANTED my wedding to be special and different. Now, over a year later and as my wedding date quickly approaches, I shall literally count the ways in which Offbeat Bride has helped me. If it weren’t for Offbeat Bride, my wedding would have been a lot more…