Creative Alternatives for Independent Brides

These two met in high school, lost touch, and 18 years later reunited on Facebook. The wonders of technology brought these two together and they vowed never to lose touch again. Take a peek into their orange and brown-themed wedding day in Atlanta, GA.

Sabrina wanted to have a fingerprint guest book at her wedding. After perusing Etsy and not seeing anything that she couldn't pull off herself, she decided to do exactly that! She made her own fingerprint guest book in about ten minutes, and she's letting you download it for yourself.

A ruby red gown, lots of Scottish influences, and a friend with connections into a favorite photo setting meant a pretty stellar day for this couple. She's theatrical, he brought the tartan — let's get down and line dance! Just watch out for rogue balloon animals. Apparently they get around.

I don't know about you, but I get super inspired by hearing stories about successful and awesome indie craft business — how they got started, how they stay inspired, their hopes for the future of their business. Here's my interview with Iowa-based, indie crafter, and friend of the Empire, Dani Ausen of DaniAWESOME accessories. Along with inspiration, and pretty fascinator porn, she's also offering up a special offbeat discount!

Shooting weddings has taught me a lot about common mishaps and mistakes that are prevalent and almost communal in the fact that they've happened in almost EVERY SINGLE WEDDING. One of the last weddings I shot, the bride had craftily brought her own "Oh Shit" Kit. That's when the proverbial lightbulb went *ding* in my head, and I thought — like every Californian needs an Earthquake Preparedness Kit, every bride should have an "Oh Shit" Kit.

Here are the things to include in your bridal "Oh Shit" Kit…

Lots and lots of pink, a country church and school, and an English country guest house… all planned from across the world in Dubai. But these two are English at heart and brought the party to the family. Feast your eyes on the Union Jack shoes, pink accents, and sword cake cutting, too!

Yesterday marked five years since the day that I launched offbeatbride.com! I wrote a whole big looooong rambling post about it over on the Offbeat Empire business blog yesterday, but to celebrate here on Offbeat Bride, I thought I'd just do a round-up of some of my very favorite shots of Offbeat Brides and their books…

I remember, when I got engaged, wondering how I would balance the excitement and thrill of planning the magical party with the importance and gravity of beginning a lifelong commitment. Going into couples counseling, even for just our brief four session stint, has been a very grounding way to hold this intention.