H'okay… thanks to Offbeat Mama reader and mommy blogger Laura who passed this on to Offbeat Shrie, who sent this on to me! Whew.

This colorful bride is Megan (love the name) at her rainbow themed wedding in a public park in Nevada City, California. Megan tells me that it was all planned and carried out in a matter of three weeks. And that's from proposal to wedding!

Megan sez: "I LOVE colors, as you can see from my photos. I made my dress 100% from scratch all by myself. I wanted it to be very colorful and ruffly so that's what I did. I also made my little top hat because I didn't really want to make a veil, as my hair was already colorful enough and I didn't want to cover that up."

And I am absolutely in love with Megan's hair, by the way. Also, her friends seem kind of awesome as well.

Well, basically there's a lot of crazy and wonderful stuff about this wedding. So head over to Megan's Flickr page if you want to see more photos from Megan and Ryan's outdoor rainbow wedding.

So, we've already established how much we love Hawaii-based photographer Marina at Red Heart Photography, ya? Ho Brah, do yourselves a favor and click on the photo below to check out her newest, most ono, wedding exploits with offbeat couple Amy and Jesse…

This carnival-themed wedding pretty much had it all… tattooed wedding party, high rockabilly/circus fashion, adorable groomsmen in suspenders, blue hair, beautiful Hawaiian landscapes, two wedding dresses and bridal shoes that'll make you do a spit-take.

Need more convincing? Check out the bridal party's Dirty Dancing wedding entrance…

Continue reading "Carnival-themed wedding in Hawaii" →

The offbeat bride: Maya, Musician/artist/massage therapy student (and OBT member "Mama G")

Her offbeat partner: Adam, computer engineer

Location & date of wedding: Austin Museum of Art, in the community room — 8/8/09

What made our wedding offbeat: I'm new in Austin and Adam also has friends all over the country, so people flew in from everywhere to join us. We had to have a cool party, but on a budget. The community room at the Austin Museum of Art was a perfect little chapel for us! And it fit the "Starry Starry Night" theme we were going with! Adam and I are both sky/astronomy geeks (his first gift to me was a high powered telescope, because he wanted me to have the stars).

Continue reading "Maya & Adam's "Starry Starry Night" Wedding" →

The Offbeat Bride: Sharla, newspaper production designer (and OBT member "Firecracker")

Her Offbeat Partner: Kris, engineer

Location & date of wedding: Moab, Utah — April 25, 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: We love Moab for its scenery and fantastic trails, so we chose to get married there. We had about 23 guests, no attendants, and very little of the traditional trappings. I made my own gown in blue silk, and I had orange crinoline, orange shoes, orange fishnets, flowers, etc.

Our table decorations featured local rock arrangements, handmade tablecloths & runners, thrift store bowls with miniature Jeeps and chocolate rocks. And we served gourmet sandwiches and cheesecake to our guests. I walked down the aisle to Funtwo's electric guitar rendition of the Canon in D, and our ceremony was brief and nonreligious. The town mayor performed the ceremony, which included a Native American wedding blessing as well as just the right touch of humor.

Continue reading "Sharla & Kris' Moab, Utah Motorhead Wedding" →

I've got this theory about wedding photography and offbeat couples.

See, wedding photographers aren't just doing a service for you. You're also doing a service for them by providing images for use in their portfolios. And, let's be honest, which photos add more to a photographer's body of work: another traditional shot from a traditional wedding or a photo of a couple dressed as astronauts taking flight on their wedding day?

In other words, photos from your offbeat wedding may be of greater business benefit to a photographer … and therefore, photographers may be willing to negotiate a lower price.

I decided to test this theory by asking some of my favorite wedding photographers about their pricing policies and negotiating tips for non-traditional couples. Here's what I learned…

Continue reading "The offbeat advantage negotiating with wedding photographers" →