One of my favorite things about running this website is exposure to fabulous freaks I might otherwise not encounter. I mean, I know all about my brand of weird (left coast second gen hippie/retired raver/etc) but it’s such a treat to see other delicious flavors of non-traditional.

Case in point: Siouxzi Rodeman and Alan Donnelly’s Steampunk wedding in Chicago. (Some of you may remember Siouxzi — she’s the one who had that nightmare run-in at Macy’s a few months ago.)

I was aware of Steampunk as a literary genre, but only just barely and not as a full-blown lifestyle/fashion thang. Consider me now educated and inspired.

I completely fell in love with neo-victorian aesthetic once I started poking around in Siouxzi’s wedding photos — her wedding hat! The custom ties for the bridesmaids and groomsmen! The cakes! The minister’s monoggle! All the brass and the corsetry and the gears and springs! What an awesome visual treat.

The fact that Souxzi was able to organize this stunning, stylish wedding in three months (while also grieving her mother’s recent passing) is totally mind-boggling and is a sharp ruler on the knuckles of anyone who says you can’t plan a wedding in less than six months. Congratulations, Souxzi!

But oh, there’s more. So much more …

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The offbeat bride: Jen Martensen, Interactive Project Manager

My offbeat groom: Kevin Martensen, Research Project Director

Location & date of wedding: The Great Hall of Cafe Brauer, Chicago, IL June 26, 2005

What made our wedding offbeat: We planned our wedding as one big party that just happened to be kicked off by our ceremony. I wore mini battery-powered Christmas lights in my hair instead of a veil. My bridesmaid, maid of honor and I all have (and displayed) tattoos. My husband walked down the aisle to Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” and I walked to “If You Want My Love” by Cheap Trick. Halfway down the aisle my maid of honor (a huge Cheap Trick fan) threw her arms up in the air and rocked out the rest of the way to the “altar,” which cracked me up and broke a lot of my nervous tension.

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