Category Archive

feeling competitive

Weddings can bring up all sorts of uncomfortable feelings… including competitiveness, envy, and feeling jealous of other people’s weddings. This is our collection of posts exploring the green-eyed wedding monster, with great suggestions for how to get over competitive wedding syndrome, and start feeling joyful.

best wedding ever alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

How important is it for people to say yours was the BEST WEDDING EVER?

Y’all know I loves me some data, and this little nugget from Splendid Insights is a hot nugget — turns out that generally speaking, almost 70% of us think having the BEST WEDDING EVER matters. Maybe it’s not the top priority, but it still matters.

What does this say about us?

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What Dungeons and Dragons taught me about wedding budget frustrations

I’m an avid player of all tabletop roleplaying games. But my favorite, the one I keep coming back to, is good ol’ Dungeons and Dragons. I have played characters at all levels, from a 1st-level rogue who could get knocked out if a goblin sneezed on her the wrong way to a 27th-level bard who ultimately became the avatar of a god, and everything in between. I’ve scoured books and websites looking for just the right prestige class, feat, or special ability to make my characters the very best they could be. But what does this have to do with wedding planning? Or budgeting? Turns out, quite a lot…

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Pics or it didn’t happen: Celebration versus validation

Between making sure my makeup is “photo-worthy” to chronicling the planning progress (Offbeat Bride, you are my enabler!), the era of instant documentation and weddings is a match made in heaven. Who doesn’t want an excuse to show off pictures of their wedding day? Now you have a reason to take photos of the knitting project you’ve been toiling over for months. Who doesn’t love to get feedback from others fawning over your dress, décor, music, etc? But when does celebrating a day become validating an event?

Embrace the jealousy of other peoples weddings alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Why you should embrace your wedding jealousy

About one-and-a-half years into what is shaping up to be a four-year engagement, my future brother-in law proposed to his then-girlfriend. I love these people very, very much, so naturally, I was filled with excitement, happiness, love, and… jealousy? I was filled with guilt about my reactions. It ate into me, and fighting them caused me hours of anxiety. It got to a point where the positive emotions I did feel were getting blotted out. So, I just gave in to my jealousy. I embraced the emotion and allowed myself to fully experience it…

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Anticipating and accepting Judgy McJudgersons, or: why I should stop reading websites that are bad for my mental health

I feel happy in the Tribe and reading Offbeat Bride, because we’re all on our best behavior. We’re supportive, even when someone does something we wouldn’t do. But sometimes, I go and do the Bad Thing where I read Other Websites that Make Me Feel Bad. Why do I do this? Why can’t I stop? I think I do it because it feeds the Insecurity Monster inside of me.

offbeat crimes alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Offbeat sins: how to get pulled over by the Offbeat Police

I don’t want any of you looking back on your wedding and being like, “God, I don’t even like Game Of Thrones that much.” Offbeater-than-thou weddings just for offbeatness’ sake? That’s a misdemeanor right there, and we won’t arrest you, but we will escort you off of the property to head over to Offbeat Home & Life’s archives, where we can support you with awesome articles to build self-awareness and confidence. We believe in rehabilitative treatment here.