The offbeat bride: Lisa, content editor and writer

Her offbeat partner: Ewoud Benoist, careworker

Location & date of wedding: Chequers Hotel in Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria, Uk — 17th July 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: I wore a red, 50s style dress made by Joanne Fleming in Brighton. I also wore a pearl necklace that belonged to my nanna who passed away in 2002. My bridesmaids wore black. The groom wore a black suit with matching red tie and a borsalino hat. And Ewoud and I walked back up the aisle to 'I Walk the Line' by Johnny Cash.

Continue reading "Lisa & Ewoud's 50s style wedding planned from Amsterdam" →

The offbeat bride: Lee, Massage Therapist

Her offbeat partner: Glen, Mechanic

Location & date of wedding: Peel Manor House, Karnup, Perth, Western Australia — Saturday 2nd Jan 2010

What made our wedding offbeat: The invites were concert tickets and we tried to keep the theme, cars and songs secret until the day.
We arranged (with friends help) for me to arrive in a blown, big block, '34 (nicknamed ‘Dirty Hore’) hot rod with no exhaust, to ceremony and the bridesmaids arrived in my late father’s car (a white Oldsmobile with red trim).

Continue reading "Lee & Glen's Aussie, Rockabilly/Pinup 1950s love fest" →

The offbeat bride: Melody, Civil Engineer

Her offbeat partner: Matthew, Civil Engineer

Location & date of wedding: French Creek Estates Snohomish, WA — July 18th, 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: Being a non-traditionalist, having a traditional wedding was not an option for me. It took me awhile to come up with a theme, and one day while speaking to a co-working in her office, I notice a wedding picture of hers that looked like it was taken in the 1930s. The wedding just fell into place after that. We decided to do a 1950s theme.

Continue reading "Melody & Matthew's 1950s pinup with a splash of mobster wedding" →

The offbeat bride: Trish – graphic designer

Her offbeat partner: Patrick – technical operator

Location & date of wedding: Wandsworth Town Hall, London UK — 14th November 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: We didn't have a lot of cash, and we didn't want a shiny 'perfect' day. We wanted to get married with all our friends and have a great party!

Continue reading "Trish & Patrick's tattooed, gothic, rockabilly, metal funfest!" →

The offbeat bride: Danae, lingerie expert and OBT member

Her offbeat partner: Dougie, Business Analyst

Location & date of wedding: Edinburgh, Scotland — 1st August 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: We had an outdoor wedding in Scotland, complete with Lego, a hot pink wedding dress, 50's style dresses and an explosion of colour.

To put it briefly, we really didn't want a "classy" wedding, we wanted a fun wedding. I'm not a classy woman, so why try to turn myself into one for just one day? Both of us are well-known for being big kids, so we went with that and set out to have a fun, happy wedding that incorporated the things we love.

Continue reading "Danae & Dougie's 50's-style, Lego & candy wedding" →

The Offbeat Bride: Sara

Her Offbeat Partner: Kev

Location & date of wedding: Rufford Mill, Rufford Country Park, Nottinghamshire, UK — 21st August 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: Our wedding was simple in ceremony but lavish in dress. I had a gorgeous red silk 50s dress and had a bouquet of white roses with diamante and black feathers, which I held with a black silk hanky. My daughters dress complimented mine with a red sash, underskirt and slip on pumps. My groom wore a Ben Sherman pinstripe suit, converse trainers, a red tie and red silk handkerchief.

Continue reading "Sara & Kev's 1950s Inspired UK Wedding" →

The Offbeat Bride: Jen, Graphic Designer (and OBT member "Jensensi")

Her Offbeat Partner: Brynley, Musician

Location & date of wedding: The Country Cottage, Nottingham, UK — 27-06-09

What made this wedding offbeat: We decided from the get-go that we wanted it to be as cheap as possible without compromising too much on a nice venue. We didn’t want a church and I have a huge dislike for registry offices, so that left us with stately homes and hotels.

Continue reading "Jen & Brynley's red & white, 50's inspired wedding" →

Thanks to offbeat reader Danielle for emailing me about these amazing photos from the schoolhouse wedding of Lulu Bliss.

The bride made her 1950s-style tea-length dress by hand (she reports it took about 100 hours) and if you look carefully, you'll see red crinoline peeking out the bottom. (Colored crinoline FTW!) We all know I'm partial to wedding hats, and this whimsical one is no exception.

To see more from Lulu's wedding (the happy couple on bikes! a wedding dog! walking down the aisle together!), head on over to Lulu's picture-heavy blog post.