Real Weddings | Offbeat Bride

This is Offbeat Bride's archive of Real Weddings posts.

We love featuring a truly diverse range of real weddings, from highly stylized theme weddings to elopements to uber-simple no decor weddings.

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Photos by Michael Chan, The Image is Found

The offbeat bride: Mary, Web Producer

Her offbeat partner: Charles, Site Acquisition Specialist

Date and location of wedding: Bali Hai Restaurant, San Diego, CA — July 16, 2011

Our offbeat wedding at a glance: We handcrafted as many elements as we could, and we really tried to keep a focus on infusing our personalities into just about everything. We eliminated the things that had no meaning to us (being given away, tossing of anything) and tried to jazz things up in other areas: a cake with flames and ushers on roller skates!

We love our retro weddings, and this jazz and vintage-inspired wedding kicks ass. Some of the details included a tattooed and victory-rolled bride (with two dresses!), a groom with an epic 'stache, and super fun details (like the lollipop bouquets). Though there was a snafu with the first band, the final band rocked the crowd with jazz and swing.

Take one adorably crazy cat man with awesome hair, one Rubik's cube-teaching bride, lots of helpful yoga-performing and cupcake tier-fixing friends and family, and a weekend of activities, and you'll get a wedding I want to have attended. Sadly, I didn't, but we can relive the events with wistful eyes and share in the joy that is a wedding with puzzle place cards and crossword programs.

This couple had a 2013 wedding date, but after nine years of dating, they said to hell with waiting, let's get hitched! Three months later they had booked a cool vintage-style restaurant and their nearest and dearest watched them get married in a most excellent retro rock 'n' roll fashion. They may not have remembered to get themselves fed on the day, but they did not forget to bring the style!

A very cool Texas guest book, a Bender card box, towers full of homemade cupcakes (and zombie cupcakes!) , and all the ladies wearing cowboy boots: it's a feast for the eyes! Plus, they shared not only a first dance, but THE very first dance ever together. And if all that isn't enough, there's a cute pooch wearing a bow tie. You're hooked now.

The groom comes from a big wedding-loving Assyrian family, the bride wants to elope discreetly. Sometimes an Old Hollywood vibe is the draw that brings a reluctant bride around. Have some classic movie place cards, lots of feathers, some glowing and happy parents, and Old Hollywood glamour and everyone will go home happy. Plus they had some really sweet audience involvement during the ceremony.

A fabulous red renaissance dress, kilts all around, a squee-worthy mushroom cake, and a dragon ring bearer — it can only mean the cutest little wedding in the round you ever did see. And if you're unsure of how to include your guests in the ceremony, you'll want to see how this bride created her bouquet! Oh, and watch out for surprise flying birdseed.

I think if I were to hire a bride to make my own DIY details, this would be the one. She made awesome paper flowers and a rolled magazine page card box, but the most amazing contributions were the FABULOUS bridesmaid dresses and homemade cake — all of which look professional. This bride and her helpers have major talent. On top of it all, this pair is so damned cute that I will call them Squishies and they will be my Squishies.