rainbow wedding dress
Photos by The Cine Collective

I decided to have the ceremony and reception at my grandparents' garden and house. They pretty much raised me and I love them more than anything, so this was the perfect place, where I felt completely at home. Here they are — they've been married for 60 years!

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About my DIY rainbow wedding dress

My rainbow wedding dress was DIY: I bought a cheap Mori Lee dress & a strip of rainbow organza off the internet, then I cut bits I didn't like off — and sewed then the rainbow under the lace.

uk pink hair wedding on offbeat bride

The dress was Mori Lee style “1964” to be exact. When I first bought it I loved the style and shape but I just needed a little more colour! I considered dying it so checked for labels to find out what exact material every layer of the dress was made from and whilst doing so noticed that the top lace layer of the dress was only sewn on at the side seams of the dress. This made me realise that I could simply slide another layer of coloured fabric underneath the lace to add some colour while still keeping the lace white!

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I searched for a while online and finally found my perfect fabric, it was rainbow ombre organza, I believe this is the exact link i purchased it from. My original plan was to sew it underneath, but you know how wedding plans go, there just never seems to be enough time haha! So in the end, since I was only going to be wearing the dress for one day, I actually just used fabric glue!

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I laid the rainbow organza over the dress flat on the floor and cut out the shape I needed, then did the same for the back of the dress. Then I just applied glue along the side seams and at the top of the bodice under the lace layer, and finally slid my organza pieces in place. 🙂

rainbow wedding dress on offbeat bride 3 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

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About my woodland rainbow wedding

Acoustic guitar by best man as we all walk down to the ceremony.
Acoustic guitar by best man as we all walk down to the ceremony.
woodland wedding ceremony
We are both very anxious people from past abuse and other nonsense, so we were very scared of the ceremony and being in front of so many people we don't know really well. However, it was more relaxing and peaceful than we ever expected and we felt so at ease! It was lovely.

We wrote our own wedding vows, but due to social anxiety we decided to do them in a different way. Instead of reading them during the ceremony in front of everybody, we recorded our own voice-over track, and then a week before the wedding, our photographers took us out to record an extra video. They then made it into our very own personalized “wedding vows” video that we could share with guests.

Here's the table layout I did. I tried to make it look very enchanted woodlandy-.
Here's the table layout I did. I tried to make it look very enchanted woodlandy-.

 

woodland wedding cake on offbeat bride
Our woodland wedding cake.
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We had Jenga and other games hidden around the garden.
One of my favorite things I did was to make five of these chests and hide them around the garden for guests to find! Whoever found them got to keep all that was inside...
One of my favorite things I did was to make five of these chests and hide them around the garden for guests to find! Whoever found them got to keep all that was inside…
...Inside was gamer and fantasy themed loot! :)
…Inside was gamer and fantasy-themed loot! 🙂
I made the guests favours. They were little cardboard treasure chests with handmade chocolates, a love potion bubble bath bottle, and my favourite: a key ring with the guests name on, made from a sliced up branch from the garden where the wedding was held.
I made the guests favours. They were little cardboard treasure chests with handmade chocolates, a love potion bubble bath bottle, and my favourite: a key ring with the guests name on, made from a sliced up branch from the garden where the wedding was held.

 

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The day was beautiful!

rainbow wedding dress on offbeat bride 2 1 e1630976608731 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Video and photography: The Cine Collectivehttp://know-media.co.ukhttps://facebook.com/KNOWMEDIAhttp://hendenweddings.co.ukhttps://facebook.com/Hendenweddingshttps://facebook.com/adenpriest

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Comments on You’ll freak over this rainbow wedding dress

  1. I love all of this, but I think that your dress is my favorite part! What a lovely wedding. <3

  2. This is lovely, congratulations to you both!
    As a UK bride, did you have to get married at a register office before the garden ceremony or is your grandparents’ garden licensed for weddings?

  3. What a gorgeous wedding! Beautiful location, the bride has a talent for dress altering, and I love love love the key ring idea for guest favors!

  4. This whole thing just made me smile. Love the idea of hiding treasure boxes too. 🙂

  5. Such a lovely wedding! So many thoughtful details, I love it! I especially love the rainbow dress, so pretty!

  6. Your wedding pictures display such a wonderfully magical wedding. The video of your vows just made me melt and cry. So happy for you two and the love you have found…Congrats!!
    As a women working on 21 years married to my soulmate/best friend…unconditional love, understanding in the fact that we are all flawed human beings and sometimes make mistakes, and communication with acceptance is the key to a wonderful, loving and long lasting marriage. 🙂
    Best wishes and happiness for a love to last a lifetime….

  7. Ugh, this wedding is the BEST!! I love the bride’s dress and hair. And the hidden chests are so cute! 😀 😀 😀

  8. This wedding is beautiful! Your dress made me swoon! So awesome!
    I also really enjoyed all the wonderful and thoughtful things you did for your guests like the hidden treasure chests and the amazing favors!
    Well done! The whole day thing looks like a beautiful fairy tale 🙂

  9. I feel like I’m repeating everyone else. I <3 the treasure chests. Your dress is BEAUTIFUL AMAZING! Your hair is gorgeous. But the one thing that stands out? Your smiles are the best. Both of you are just glowing. Best wishes to you both!

  10. Oh my God. I think that your dress is the best wedding dress I have ever seen; no exaggeration. I like it more than my own, and that’s saying something (I love my dress). You must be very good at sewing! How did you get the rainbow material under the lace without damaging the lace? And how did you get it to lay so nicely? Did you have to remove the lace first and then sew it back on with the rainbow material? And your hair is just perfect! How did you get it that vivid shade of pink, especially with how much you have? Excuse me; I am just in awe over here. I’ll close my mouth now.

  11. Your wedding was beautiful! From your dress(I’m totally jealous) to the guest favors you made! Congrats to you both

  12. That dress is fantastic, and so if your groomsman’s mugging in the photos. Cracks me up! Also, your hair. Actually, everything about this wedding is love.

  13. Wow that rainbow dress is fantastic! And I love the treasure-chest favours; they’re so thoughtful. I wonder how expensive they would be, because I would love to be able to give something like that out: it’s just perfect. Also, it’s a shame the groom couldn’t eat the wedding cake because of the milk – you can get really delicious vegan cakes with amazing decorations that all the guests would have enjoyed as well, so it’s sad he missed out on the cake at his own wedding. Still, the dairy-free pizza looks like it more than made up for it! That pink hair is also fabulous, it’s so colourful and vivid! Basically I just love this whole wedding! (And I second the question about whether the couple had to get married in a registry office first – stupid UK laws not letting people get married outside 🙁 ).

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