So you're in LA and you want to get married, like, TODAY. Enter Los Angeles wedding officiant Elizabeth Oakes and marriagetogo.com.
Elizabeth is a non-denominational minister and notary public authorized to issue marriage licenses in Los Angeles. She's conducted weddings in four-seater planes, bait shops, limos, hip-hop clothing stores, In 'N' Out Burger, trailer parks, celebrity homes, hospital rooms, The Museum of Jurassic Technology, and about a bazillionty other places.
With the recent shifts in California wedding laws, Elizabeth has been doing a ton of same-sex weddings lately, as you can see from this gorgeous shot of her with a couple on the beach. One of marriagetogo.com's weddings was recently featured in the New York Times.
Elizabeth can do civil ceremonies, elopements, interfaith ceremonies, non-religious ceremonies, and just about anything else. And for those of you looking for a green eco-wedding, Elizabeth has got you covered:
I am in the midst of developing Zero-Emissions Bike Wedding services, for which I will bike to any local ceremony site on a two-wheeler, lead a half-mile post-ceremony bridal bike parade along the route of the couple's choice, and make a donation to TreePeople, our local urban-greening program.
For more information about Elizabeth and to get married, uh, TODAY!, head on over to marriagetogo.com.
The offbeat bride: Brit, Admin
Her offbeat partner: Cecilia, Accountant
Location & date of wedding: Historic building outside Boston, MA, October 13, 2007
What made our wedding offbeat: We made the decision early on that we would keep whatever traditional wedding elements we liked, and ditch those we didn't! This meant the white dress was out, along with "tossing" of anything, but the ceremony and reception with all our friends and family were in. We had a modest budget, and incorporated lots of DIY. I made all of our paper products, centerpieces and my bouquet. We also used rented audio equipment and mix cd's for the music and did all the decor ourselves. Other things that puzzled our families included walking down the aisle together, not having a bridal party and planning the entire thing ourselves.
Continue reading "Brit didn't let getting sick ruin her wedding!" →
The offbeat bride: Liz, Marketing Communications
Her offbeat partner: Laurie, German studies scholar and language teacher
Location & date of wedding: The Night Kitchen restaurant at the Montague Book Mill, Montague, MA
What made our wedding offbeat: Probably the most "offbeat" aspect of our wedding, aside from our gayness and my burgundy gown (are those things even offbeat anymore? Please!), was our dress code: we specifically instructed our guests to Outshine the Bride. It was right there on our website and in the invitation, and our guests did an amazing job!
Continue reading "Liz & Laurie encourage wedding guests to "Outshine the Bride"" →
A few weeks ago I got some great feedback in the form of a book review over on Amazon:
I think it's a little funny that the chapter on bridal wear in Offbeat Bride does not even mention the possibility of the bride wearing - gasp - pants instead of a dress. Utilikilts get a mention — "Match your skirts!" — but even then does it not enter the picture that some brides are not into dresses.
Why, what an excellent point, and what a total oversight. While of course I couldn't cover every single breed of offbeat in the book (snowboard brides got short shrift, and transgendered Buddhists were completely ignored), writing about brides in pants is actually something I really wish I'd included.
In my poking around online I found a fair amount of inspiration for brides who wish to go the pants route, and even some awesome indie vendors…
Continue reading "Brides in pants" →
Holy hell. My brain almost exploded from the gorgeousness and sheer amazatude of Aly and Elroi's stunning wedding in Atlanta. Let's start with their wedsite, which has one of my favorite wedding party pages of all time. The descriptions are hilarious and I love the ushers' hand signal discussion.
Then there's the wedding photography, which was done by Our Labor and Love and must have cost a fortune because it's stunning. Sadly, the online gallery is built from flash, so I can't directly link to individual photos, but go look at them all and check out the bridesmaids' hair (love the feathers!) and the amazing portraits of the couple, and the ceremony photos and and and … oh my god.
Just spend a while looking at all the pictures — they'll take a while to load because the galleries are huge. You'll be inspired by Aly's handmade blue dress, and the bad-ass wedding party, Elroi's smile, and the officiant, and the bird-topped cake that matches the bride's dress, the vegetarian menu, and and and…! Just go. Just go look. It's one of the most beautiful weddings I've ever seen, gay or straight.
Also, check out Aly's write-up on Kvetch. I got all misty. And then there's this article about the whole shebang, which was documented by a television crew for a reality show on Logo.
Who says you need to stick with combos like white/lilac or chocolate/pink or ivory/mint? I vote for more dramatic wedding color themes, like the sage/orange combo that Tony and Melanie rocked at their amazing 2004 wedding in California.
The entire photoset is pure magic. Colors are just the beginning of the great inspiration you'll find over here.
(Thanks to skyvillain_events for the photo!)
