The Offbeat Bride: Sarah, Social Worker and student

Her Offbeat Partner: Paul, Web Developer at Minnesota Public Radio

Location & date of wedding: Minnehaha Falls Park and our back yard in south Minneapolis, MN — September 20, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: Our wedding was offbeat for several reasons. First, we had a short engagement (four months) and we stuck to a very reasonable budget. Second, we kept everything really simple, we had a small wedding party of my sister and Paul's best friend.

Continue reading "Sarah & Paul's simple and fun outdoor wedding" →

Wedding rings don't really come much more custom than these…

Fabuluster makes custom wedding bands from your own fingerprints! I love the ones pictured above with the print inside of the ring, it's like keeping one of the things that makes your partner totally unique close to you at all times. Plus it makes a super cool pattern!

The best part is that Fabuluster actually makes it affordable to have a unique wedding ring. They start at $125 for a narrow custom sterling silver wedding band and go up from there. And if diamonds are your thing, they've got you covered as well.

So if you've been searching for totally unique wedding bands, end your search now by heading on over to their Etsy store and take your pick from their amazing selection of designs.

Today I'm launching a new feature on Offbeat Bride, dedicated to all things superficial and shoe-whorish. This is basically just my excuse to geek out on shoes that I have no excuse to wear.

Be forewarned: I like my shoes loud. My favorite shoes are John Fluevogs, which tells you everything you need to know.

I'm kicking off the new feature with a few of my favorite blue wedding shoes. Bright blue shoes can add a snarl of HEY NOW! when seen peeking out from underneath a white gown — and if you're going balls-out and coordinating with a blue wedding dress or colored crinoline? LOOK OUT, MAMACITA!

And so, without further ado, let's dork out on some blue shoes together, yes? To learn more about a given pair of shoes, just click on 'em below:

Forget rice! OBT member Michele has created a more colorful and fun alternative for guests to show their enthusiasm…

Michele explains, "So when all the guests are seated for the ceremony, the four members of our bridal party will pass out the 'yay' flags so everyone can wave them as they wish."

"I wanted to do them out of fabric and print the designs, but time did not permit. Instead, I used some old and slightly sun-faded construction paper and ran it through the printer. This way I was also able to include our names and the date on the back. And instead of gluing them together, I ran them through the sewing machine."

And I say, YAY for these Michele. And YAY for your wedding this Friday!

The Offbeat Bride: Jeannette, belly dancer, violinist, and daytime accountant

Her Offbeat Partner: Cliff, software engineer

Location and date of wedding: Ceremony: Arizona State, Reception: Jeannette's parents' back yard — September 13, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: We always knew we wanted a very small wedding. We decided to skip a bunch of the usual built-in drama and leave out bridesmaids, groomsmen, ringbearers, piles of doves, etc.

Continue reading "Jeannette & Cliff's small, anti-conventional wedding with a surprise reception" →