From Matt Haughey:

“My cousin Tony and his girlfriend got married this past weekend and as a young couple in Southern California, they’ve been saving for years for their first house. On the occasion of their marriage, they didn’t want to fill a non-existent house with blenders and trinkets but didn’t want to flatly refuse gifts since weddings tend to be a place where people like to help out new couples by giving them gifts, but I think they felt weird asking for money towards a new home purchase.

So they came up with a pretty cool idea. He’s an artist and she’s a writer, and together they collected a bunch of paintings, ceramics, photos, and drawings and put them up for silent auction for several hours before and after the ceremony. Everything I liked had bids into the hundreds of dollars and all told, I bet they raised a couple grand in the process of letting family buy some pretty cool works of art.

I hope my other artist friends and family do this in the future, because I thought it was a pretty cool idea.”

(Thanks to mathowie for the photo!)

I have two friends, one is going deaf, the other is about 97% deaf. How should I accommodate them at our wedding? Should I hire an interpreter or have a friend do it? Any ideas? -AprilShowers

To answer this question, I’m bringing in my dear friend Echo Greenlee, a who teaches American Sign Language here in Seattle. Echo was a guest at my wedding, and I accommodated her by providing a printed out copy of our vows beforehand … but now I really wish I’d gotten a Sign Language interpreter. Because ‘terps are rad. Anyway, read on for Echo’s tips for accommodating deaf wedding guests…

All Deaf and hard of hearing people have different needs. If your Deaf guests are fluent in American Sign Language (ASL), most likely they would like to have an ASL Interpreter at the wedding. You’ve invited them, so it would make sense that you want them to participate equally in your awesome day.

The Deaf person will always best know their needs. The single most important thing you can do is ask your Deaf guest what kind of assistance they need in making sure they are equally included. Here are a few ideas of items you may want to discuss or bring up with your Deaf guest:

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Offbeat Brides in Indiana, your time has finally come! If you’re looking for a Indianapolis wedding photographer who’s friendly to the ways of the non-trad bride (red dress? fairy wings? no problem!), J. Scott Photography is ready for you.

Run by Jamie and Brandy, a husband and wife team who played the theme to “The Odd Couple” at their own wedding, J. Scott Photography’s shots clearly run towards the artist and lush.

Jamie has a fine arts degree, and you can see from their wedding photo gallery that he definitely brings that aesthetic eye to his wedding photography as well.

For lots more shots from J. Scott Photography (including the cutest be-winged flower girls evar!) keep reading…

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I’ve started my search for some offbeat readings for my wedding in October… have you compiled a list anywhere of readings from modern literature, songs, etc that are a little edgier and more current than the traditional? -Buster

This is one of those questions where I bow down to the all-mighty altar of Indiebride.com. If you’re looking for readings that have a few less thou shalts than your typical wedding material, you must check out Indiebride.com. See, the members of Indiebride’s forum have built an amazing 16-page repository of awesome readings!

Here are a few of my very favorites, which include references to science-fiction vampires, insomnia, and red right ankles.

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What was I just saying about bar weddings? Here’s another one!

The offbeat bride: Baxter - writer (and OBT member!)

Her offbeat partner: Chris - Buyer at Amazon.com

Location & date of wedding: Discovery Park and Sunset Tavern - Seattle, WA (06-07-08) [Editor's note: Sunset Tavern, previously seen on OBB.com]

What made our wedding offbeat: Our ceremony was a short and sweet number is Discovery Park, overlooking the Sound with only family and a few friends in attendance. I wore a red corset top and a black skirt. He grew out his chops and wore a custom vest to go with his black pinstripe suit. A friend played “The Air That I Breathe” on acoustic guitar. Another friend officiated. We wrote our own vows which were basically love letters to each other, posed for some pictures and then it was on to the real party!

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How can I make it clear from my invitations that while I love kids, I don’t love them at my wedding? -Gemma

As usual, my recommendation comes down to being proactive instead of reactive. Instead of making it negative (”How can I say ‘NO KIDS ALLOWED’?”), simply pick a venue and time that support adult-only activities. In other words, have a night wedding at a 21+ venue like a bar or lounge. There’s nothing like an 9pm ceremony and a dude checking IDs at the door to keep the kiddlets away.

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The offbeat bride: Laura (At the time an office manager and now an offbeat wedding planner!)

Her offbeat partner: Dave (Animation Production Coordinator)

Location & date of wedding: We were married at a gay karaoke bar called The Boulevard in Pasadena, on 07/07/07 — us and about 38,000 other people thought that was a good idea!

What made our wedding offbeat: We were a straight couple getting married in a gay karaoke bar with a musical theater themed ceremony. Not being much for tradition, when it came time to plan our wedding, we completely decontructed the entire process and put it back together again from scratch. We started by thinking “OK…if we were going to throw a big, fun party that *wasn’t* a wedding, where would we do that?” The answer: In a karaoke bar! (We’re theater people - need I say more?)

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Can’t … talk. Busy reconsidering sexual orientation… Tons more photos of gorgeous Danielle’s relatively-traditional-but-heavily-inked wedding over here!

Thanks to daniellehampton for the photo!