Anli on the left, and Laura on the right. Photo by Capturing Essence

The offbeat bride: Anli, data analyst

Her offbeat partner: Laura, public servant

Location & date of wedding: The Old Stone House, NSW Australia — 5 September 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: We wanted a ceremony that reflected our geeky, romantic, pink aesthetic, while at the same time being profound and meaningful. Our ceremony was themed around the video game Portal and the anime series Revolutionary Girl Utena.

We incorporated lots of geeky details, from the table names (Revolution, Sierra, Katara and GLaDOS) to the choice of music. We also kept several traditional elements such as bouquets, dresses and bridesmaids. However, we both walked down the aisle unaccompanied and skipped the garter/bouquet toss.

Continue reading "Anli & Laura's Lesbian Gamer Geek Wedding" →

The Offbeat Bride: Emily, bodyworker (and OBT member "Emily L")

Her Offbeat Partner: Mark, Case Manager

Location & date of wedding: Yerba Santa Goat Dairy, Lakeport, CA — 5/16/09

What made our wedding offbeat: We wanted everything to be as 'green' as possible. We bought and then donated all our plates, silverware and glasses. We sat on hay-bales which were later fed to the goats. We made as much by ourselves and with friends as possible and kept the food and drinks very local — we served veggies all grown within 100 miles of our home, buffalo raised 20 miles from the farm, a goat and goat cheese raised on the farm. We served Sonoma and Napa County wines, home-brewed beer by a dear friend of ours, and olives picked from Mark's mom's front yard and brined by us.

Continue reading "Emily & Mark's homemade Goat Farm, Native American, Albanian Orthodox, Love Fest" →

The Offbeat Bride: Gabrielle, Artist/Art Teacher

Her Offbeat Partner: Andres, London Underground worker

Location & date of wedding: Ceremony at Islington Town Hall London, Reception at The Mildmay Workingmen's Club London UK — 11th April 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: Our wedding was DIY not just out of necessity due to the small budget, but because we wanted the wedding to be a true reflection of us. Our wedding was a mix match or a miss match of everything we like from tattoos to tea parties.

Continue reading "Gabrielle & Andres' "tattoo parlor meets tea at grandma's house" wedding" →

The offbeat bride: Cassie, Future Librarian

Her offbeat partner: Hugh, Future Philosopher

Location & date of wedding: The Clarke Estate in Santa Fe Springs, CA on July 20th, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat:Our philosophy was to throw a really great party where we just happened to get married. We also had a super tight budget, but staying true to ourselves and working with a tight budget magically went hand in hand.

Continue reading "Cassie & Hugh's Book Nerd Open Bar Dance Party Wedding" →

The offbeat bride: Molly, business owner and teacher

Her offbeat partner: Laurie, business owner/dog adventure guide/writer

Location & date of wedding: Guemes Island, WA overlooking the water and mountains on October 25th, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: Some details of that made it ours….

Rather than sending STD cards or standard invitations…we put together a CD (I love music) and sent it to our guests. We sent the CDs 10 months ahead of time (and even with no Save The Date) it worked out great – people loved the CD and still talk about it. The CD had our website on it, which was all people needed. It set the tone for fun and expecting the unexpected. (In hindsight, it also served as the ‘favor’).

Guests were asked to participate in many ways. During the ceremony we had a Community Support section where guests were asked to publicly declare their support to our commitment. We also had a Ring Warming during the ceremony where the rings were passed around and guests were asked to take a moment to hold them, infuse them with their physical, emotional, and spiritual warmth. And we had a wedding certificate made that our guests signed with us after the ceremony. We got a lot of response at how much people enjoyed being a part of it all.

Continue reading "Molly & Laurie's Island Outdoor Lesbian Yes-We-Can Wedding" →