The Offbeat Bride: Maria, Graphic Designer (and OBT member)

Her Offbeat Partner: Dave, Roofer/Musician

Location & date of wedding: The Music House Museum in Traverse City, Michigan — Oct. 17, 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: We waited a long, long time for this. Dave and I met on the school bus and have been best friends for sixteen years. After nine years of putting off a wedding due to financial reasons, we finally decided to tie the knot at the courthouse (for health insurance — so romantic). We wanted to keep it a secret until the real ceremony, two years later, but Dave's mom found out and soon did everyone! Getting sick of family grilling us with questions, we decided, on a whim, to plan the ceremony and get "weddinged" in just six weeks! All for under $4000.

Continue reading "Maria & Dave's roaring twenties, museum wedding" →

Nataliya Cole is a brilliant photographer based out of Los Angeles. I say "based out of" because she's willing to work anywhere.

"I LOVE to travel (especially to Northern California, Portland, Ann Arbor, New York and Connecticut), so if you are having your wedding in a cool location but budget is tight, I'm totally willing to work something out — either a discount rate or I might be willing to travel on my dime. And my passport's current."

Along with her passport, she can also bring her experience as a fashion and advertising photographer. And who doesn't love a photographer that can make a bride look like a model? I mean hellooooo…

How Vogue-alicious is this photo!?

I'm just itchin' to tell you about her discount for OBBs and show you some of her recent offbeat wedding porn. Like zees…

Continue reading "Fantastical wedding photography from Nataliya Cole" →

Ok, remember forever ago when I told you about Austin wedding photographer Whitney Lee's bridal portrait contest? Remember that?

Well, not only do I want to share the photos of the winner of that contest, but I want to let you know about ANOTHER offbeat contest that Whitney's sponsoring — this one's for a free Halloween engagement session.

So first, lets bask in the photos of Kaci, the bride-to-be who won Whitney's last Offbeat contest…

Continue reading "Enter to win a free Halloween engagement shoot from Austin's Whitney Lee Photography" →

You've seen photos from this wedding of a magician & his assistant on Offbeat Bride before, but now it's time for all the glorious details …

The offbeat bride: Katie, magician's assistant & director of magic company

Her offbeat partner: Mario, magician

Location & date of wedding: The Lounsbury House, Ridgefield CT. October 11th, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: As a magician and his assistant, we have a kind of unique lifestyle, and we really just wanted to share that with our family and friends.

In our everyday life, we are very inspired by all things vintage & vaudevillian. We love old silent films, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and we incorporated as much of that era and attitude as possible.

We chose a venue consisting of several smaller rooms as opposed to one large banquet hall. This encouraged lots of movement and mingling. It was great to see everyone interacting!

We put our hearts into every details. I hand-drew a playing card caricature of us and then Goccoed it onto the cover of our programs. Our favors were postcards of vintage magic posters, and every guest got a hand-sewn felt "faux-stache."

Continue reading "Katie & Mario's vintage vaudevillian evening of magic & love" →

You caught a peek at Aerin's style last fall … now here's the full story!

The Offbeat Groom: Jeremy, Designer & Musician

His Offbeat Partner: Aerin, Creative Director & Invitation Designer

Location & date of wedding: Portland's White House, Portland OR — 09.20.08

What made our wedding offbeat: Neither of us had really thought about what type of wedding we'd want until we were actually engaged, but there were definitely a few things we knew for sure… Churches were out. The white dress was out. Hundreds of guests were out. And then Aerin found a copy of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and everything began to fall in place.

Continue reading "Aerin & Jeremy's Neo-Victorian Haunted Museum Wedding" →