Remember when Ariel's mind got bended? Well here's the deal behind all that colory stripy goodness.

The Offbeat Bride: Abi, Accounts Manager and DJ

Her Offbeat Partner: Travis, Copywriter and DJ

Location & date of wedding: Mount Park, KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, South Africa — 11 April 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: We were married in a meadow, under a 100 year old oak tree, by a tattooed freak! The Pagan handfasting ceremony was blessed by a white Sangoma (witchdoctor) and we included a yichud walk from the Jewish tradition.

I wore my ultimate party frock in purple, red and pink, with polka dot shoes and a bright pink parasol. He wore a tailored suit made out of shweshwe fabric, indigenous to South Africa and typically used in dresses worn by African women in the field.

Continue reading "Abi & Travis' Love Declaration Celebration" →

The offbeat bride: Brigitte, Sales & Customer Service

Her offbeat partner: Cory, House Painter

Location & date of wedding: Dad's backyard in Derry, New Hampshire on August 23rd, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: Cory and I were married in a short ceremony at my Dad's home. Luckily for me he happens to have a golf course in his back yard. We had a tented reception with the typical wedding set up, but since we were not tied to a specific venues preferred vendors we had total freedom to pick and choose.

Continue reading "Brigitte & Cory's Backyard Retro Pinup-Inspired 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" →

The offbeat bride: Patricia, journalist

Her offbeat partner: Christiaan, assistant bank manager

Location & date of wedding: The Thatchery in Johannesburg, South Africa on October 12th, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: Firstly, the wedding budget was pretty low. Originally, I thought the most offbeat aspects were the fact that we were barefoot and I was wearing wings.

Continue reading "Patricia & Christiaan's Intimate Outdoor Family Fun-Day Wedding" →

The offbeat bride: Gina Lee, Dress Designer/Maker & Illustrator

Her offbeat partner: Wayne, Residential Caretaker & Landscape Gardener

Location & date of wedding: Southwark Registry Office (ceremony) & Le Piaf (reception) on September 5th, 2008 in London, England

What made our wedding offbeat: The one single thing that really made our wedding offbeat (aside from the bride and groom) was the guests. We were very particular about who we invited. We only invited people who we were very fond of and who primarily (regardless of how they look) think outside of the box.

Continue reading "Gina Lee & Wayne's 1950s London Love-Fest Wedding" →