The offbeat bride: Marylyle, Librarian (and OBT member)

Her offbeat partner: Jordan, Computer Programmer

Location & date of wedding: The garden outside UVA Alumni Hall in Charlottesville, VA. — 08/16/2009

What made our wedding offbeat: Jordan is a Sephardic Jew and I am Unitarian. It meant a lot that both of us and our traditions be represented equally. We worked together really hard to craft an interfaith wedding ceremony that was meaningful to both of us.

It was important to him that we include Jewish traditions such as the chuppah and circling each other. I chose Celtic traditions to connect with own my heritage such as handfasting and jumping the broom. We wrote our own ketubah and our own translation of the seven blessings. We also drank wine from both a Jewish Kiddush cup & from a Scottish quaich, or loving cup, during the ceremony. Jordan's mother, a rabbinic student, and an interfaith minister, performed the ceremony.

Continue reading "Marylyle & Jordan's Sephardic, Celtic, Balkan bash" →

Remember the bellydancing bride we fell in love with a little while back? Well, she was kind enough to give us the whole scoop on her amazing wedding festivities.

The Offbeat Bride: Christina, Jewelry Designer

Her Offbeat Partner: Jason, 3D designer

Location & date of wedding: The Maryland Renaissance Festival, Crownsville MD — October 17, 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: I always knew that I didn’t want the traditional white dress and church wedding. I’m Pagan, and Jason isn’t particularly religious. Plus, I look dreadful in white! The Maryland Renaissance Festival has been a part of both of our lives for a long time — I’ve been going every year since I was a little girl! We look forward to it and always have so much fun there, so it seemed natural choice for venue. Problem solved!

Continue reading "Christina & Jason's colorful, Renfest, dance-apalooza wedding" →

The Offbeat Bride Arroxane, Technical writer (and OBT member)

Her Offbeat Partner: Mike, Techie, inventor, and business owner

Location & date of wedding: The Max recording stage in Dallas, TX — January 18, 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: From the theme to the attire to the food to the entertainment, it was about what we liked and wanted. OK, there was some "make the folks happy" and crowd-pleaser elements, but 90% of the wedding was creative expression of our love(s).

Continue reading "Arroxane & Mike's celestial, multi-cultural ceremony of matrimony" →

The offbeat bride: Monika A, Fluevog Asst Manager, Professional Tarot Reader and part time vegan baker

Her offbeat partner: Carter , build and release computer engineer

Location & date of wedding: Hakone Gardens, Saratoga , CA — September 20, 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: When a Pagan, tarot reading, Fluevog Pimpette decides to marry a Floridian, blond/blue eyed, computer geek, atheist, your wedding has to be offbeat! We found our middle ground in having the wedding in an amazing Japanese Garden, which was alive with nature and her beauty. We did almost everything ourselves and don't regret any part of the year of collecting cutlery, making cherry blossom center pieces, and searching Craigslist for the perfect table cloths.

Continue reading "Monika & Carter's Neo-Victorian, Pagan-Atheist, Japanese, Peacock, Love Fest" →