The Offbeat Bride Tribe ("OBT") is a private experimental social network for kick-ass, independently minded couples who are planning to get married.
The network's features are not designed for vendors, officiants, journalists, casting agents, wedding enthusiasts, students doing research, those hoping to become engaged, etc. Membership applications from non-Brides and Grooms will be declined. Read the Membership FAQ for more information.
Before you sign up, please review the rules for the group below…
OBT Code of Conduct:
BE CONSTRUCTIVE & PROACTIVE
Commiseration only gets you so far and there's not much we can learn from each other's complaints — there's so much more to be learned by sharing positive lessons, tips, and inspiration. Yes, wedding planning can be frustrating and venting can be a release, but the focus of the OBT is proactive sharing and ideas — not on reactive bitching. Rather than complain about how your family doesn't understand you, try sharing a lesson you learned about how to best deal with family challenges. If you reeeally need to vent, the OBT's Bitchin' Brides subgroup is there for you. Venting posted elsewhere on the OBT is likely to be deleted.
BE RESPECTFUL & TOLERANT
This network is a place where to turn for support and encouragement. We all have different ideas about what offbeat means, but at its core it's about being authentic to who you are as you step into an institution that's heavy with tradition and expectations. This means that while you might not want to get married in a sequined wedding dress, it might just be the perfect expression of another woman's personality. Members are encouraged to be tolerant and respectful of others, especially when your opinions differ. This rule also extends outside the community: mocking other brides, other weddings, other wedding planning communities, etc, is not ok. Basically, the only thing we're intolerant of on the OBT is bashing, hating, and intolerance.
BE USEFUL & USE THE TOOLS
We have tons of tools to help make your content on the network easy to find — please use 'em! This means taking the time to familiarize yourself with OBT's different features (inspiration forum, special interest groups, blogging platform) and putting your content in the best place. You don't need to be super tech savvy to use the OBT, but you do need to be patient enough to learn a bit about how the network works before posting.
What's not ok on the OBT?
PLEASE, NO VENDING OF ANY KIND
The OBT is not a marketplace. No vending, sales, or marketing of any kind will be tolerated. This includes things like promoting your Etsy shop, wedding photography side-business, or for-profit blog endeavor. If you're a business owner looking to reach Offbeat Brides, please advertise on the OBT. If you post about your business on the OBT, your membership will be revoked.
PLEASE, NO TROLLING
Remember, the OBT is a private online forum. All members are considered guests of the group, and membership can be revoked at any time for any reason — especially for people who post disrespectful, contrarian messages with the sole intent of getting people riled up.
PLEASE, NO WEIGHT LOSS/NEGATIVE BODY IMAGE DISCUSSIONS
This is a touchy subject, but the OBT just isn't the place to talk about how you want to lose weight for your wedding. We completely support using web communities as a tool to support healthy weight loss. But we've just seen too many wedding communities get overtaken by weigh-ins, body image issues, self-hate, and unhealthy, triggering discussions. As mentioned earlier, the OBT is about positive, proactive communication — and that especially includes body image issues.
THE SHITTY DISCLAIMER:
This is lame to have to say, but it's worth getting out there: The OBT is a private network, and we reserve the right to remove any member or content from the OBT at any time for any reason. All members are considered guests, and membership can be revoked if you chose not to follow the guidelines.If this disclaimer strikes you as too controlling, we totally understand. There are lots of online wedding communities, and we fully support finding the one that fits with your values.
