The offbeat bride: Jo, HR Management Information Manager (and OBT member "Jo")

Her offbeat partner: Nova, Financial Processor

Location & date of wedding: Perth Town Hall, WA, Australia AND on the frozen Alta Lake, Rainbow Park, Whistler, BC, Canada — Perth: 15 Feb 2009, Whistler: 20 Feb 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: We had two wedding ceremonies, one in the peak of summer in our home town of Perth, Australia — which we called our "Unlawful Union" as gay marriage is not recognised over here — and one a few days later in Canada.

Continue reading "Jo & Nova: two brides, two countries with two weddings" →

While we see a decent number of lesbian brides in hot butchy suits, I very rarely see het brides in bridal pantsuits.

…But all that changes today!

Emily totally rocked her flowy pantsuit at her August wedding. Her wedding photos should completely shatter any final misconceptions that bridal pantsuits can't be just as floaty and femmey and positively gorgeous as a wedding gown.

I'm hoping to see more het brides rocking pansuits someday … I've even put a bug in Chrissy Wai-Ching's ear that she should totally make a Wai-Ching version of this long-discontinued bridal pantsuit. (Who wants to be the first to commission it?)

Anyway, here are more gorgeous shots of Emily rocking her stunning bridal pantsuit:

Continue reading "The rarest of offbeat fashion sightings: BRIDAL PANSUIT!" →

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"" →