The offbeat bride: Laura, editor/writer

Her offbeat partner: Peter, director of knowledge management

Location & date of wedding: The Walter R. Schuele Planetarium at the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center in Bay Village, Ohio. Reception at The Nicholson House in Lakewood, Ohio. — October 10, 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: We were married in a planetarium, by the planetarium director, under the stars with a spotlight shining on us.

My bouquet was made from kale, we didn’t have a bridal party, and our invitations were handmade from recycled paper by a nonprofit. Instead of programs, we made a PowerPoint presentation complete with photos and quizzes displayed on the “sky” before the ceremony. We also had a pre-ceremony animal show featuring an owl, falcon, and skunk. We wrote the ceremony ourselves and walked down the “aisle” together.

Continue reading "Laura & Peter's vegan, starry, planetarium wedding" →

We're doing a "vegan wedding" theme week on Offbeat Bride! And I love that there are enough vegan weddings out there to profile for a whole animal-friendly week. Do take note that though not all of the weddings are ENTIRELY vegan, but, like anything, there are various styles of vegan weddings, whether it includes just the menu or their lifestyle choices in general. -Megan

The offbeat bride: Fran, a mundane office worker (and OBT member)

Her offbeat partner: Siobhán (also known as Von), youth worker and geek

Location & date of wedding: The Derby Conference Centre, a listed Art Deco building with gorgeous original 1930s interior. The ceremony was held in the lecture hall, a small theatre shaped room, then we had the celebrations in their giant sunken lounge in Derby, UK. — 31st October 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: Living a non-traditional life meant our guests weren't expecting a traditional day from the start, so we had complete freedom. We're bisexual so it was important our day was a celebration of not just our love but of love generally. The top table included a sibling's wife and girlfriend from their poly life, with a toast to the fact we could even have a legal ceremony.

Continue reading "Fran & Siobhán's feminist, disability-friendly, colourful, vegan wedding" →

The offbeat bride: Diane, Domestic Violence Counselor

Her offbeat partner: Taren, Mental Health Advocate

Location & date of wedding: North Park Lodge, Pittsburgh PA — 10/3/2009

What made our wedding offbeat: The groom and I are both members of Arn Draiocht Fein (or ADF for short), an international Neo-Pagan Druid Fellowship. Despite honoring many deities, the one consistent thing about ADF is its liturgical format. We based our ceremony on that format while still adding elements of our own.

Continue reading "Diane & Taren's Pagan/ADF, Druid, fall-fest wedding" →

The offbeat bride: Katie Director of Operations (for a travel company)

Her offbeat partner: Anthony Graduate Student OSU

Location & date of wedding: In June: Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Mesa, AZ. In October: Getaway Cabins in Hocking Hills State Park, Hocking Hills, Ohio — 6/20/09 & 10/24/09

What made our wedding offbeat: We actually had two weddings. My mother became ill and could not travel to our planned wedding in Ohio in October. A decision was made to have two ceremonies — one in June and one in October.

Continue reading "Katie & Anthony's two VERY different wedding ceremonies" →

The offbeat bride: Stevie- ESL teacher (and OBT member)

Her offbeat partner: Jeb- Banker

Location & date of wedding: Beautiful Deerfields in Horse Shoe, NC — November 7, 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: Our wedding was offbeat for a few reasons. We insisted that we get married outdoors in the fall, knowing we would be battling the elements that come along with fall North Carolina mountain weather. We also insisted that our friend, who is not a U.S. citizen, be our officiant. And our wedding party consisted of friends from three different countries, conservatives, extreme liberal hippies, homosexuals, heterosexuals, models, students… all around AMAZINGLY different people.

Continue reading "Stevie & Jeb's local vendor-lovin, North Carolina wedding" →

The Offbeat Bride: Dana

Her Offbeat Partner: Timothy

Location & date of wedding: Sonoma, CA. The Ceremony was at St. Andrews Church (outside surrounded by horses) and the Reception at Wolf House Jack London Lodge, Glen Ellen, CA. — October 10, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: We made the decision to have a wedding ceremony much to my husbands objections. He would have prefferred eloping. But, I needed the ritual of a wedding. So we ventured into the wedding planning craze, and a year later my husband, with tears in his eyes, thanked me for insisting on the tradition of a wedding ceremony.

Continue reading "Dana & Timothy's Americana harvest themed wedding" →

In keeping with the season, it's time for our weekly Offbeat Halloween wedding!

The Offbeat Bride: Shel, Coordinator

Her Offbeat Partner: Mike, Fire Arms Instructor

Location & date of wedding: Holiday Inn Select, Trevose, PA — October 31, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: We tried to make the day about the two of us, our love, and Halloween all at the same time.

We got married in a hotel, had pumpkin place cards, black and white everything. We had a life size motion activated skeleton bride and groom. We were introduced to the song, "Crazy Bitch." We had a shoe cake cutter and skelton bride and groom cake topper and I wore neon blue high heels.

Continue reading "Shel & Mike's Black & White Halloween Wedding" →

OBT member Angie is a self-described "brew goddess, and competent bride-to-be" and she has shown off both of these attributes by homebrewing her very own pumpkin porter beer for her fall wedding! And she got her "Woman of Awesome" to illustrate the custom labels. How awesome is this!?

Cheers to you Angie. I bet your beer is going to taste as great as it looks, have one (or several) for me.

OBT members can check out a close up of the custom beer label here and everyone can check out her "Woman of Awesome's" Etsy shop with more custom illustrations here.