Rebecca Bolte is a Seattle area photographer looking to shoot more offbeat weddings. Being a bit of an offbeat bride herself ("I'm having a vegan wedding in Alaska on August 3rd!" she told me) she's looking to cater her photography to couples with offbeat style.

And to prove her commitment to nontraditional couples, she's offering FREE engagement photo sessions to Offbeat Bride readers!

When I talked to Rebecca about her interest in offbeat weddings, she explained, "I'm a vegan feminist DIY rocker girl who's pulled herself up by her bootstraps, so I have a deep love and respect for people trying to make their own life while maintaining their uniqueness."

For the details of the engagement photo giveaway, keep reading!

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Allow me to introduce Jillian Venters, also known as The Lady of the Manners.

Jillian is the pre-eminent expert on goth etiquette. She runs gothic-charm-school.com and is the author of the book Gothic Charm School: An Essential Guide for Goths and Those Who Love Them.

Today she joins us with a guest post with etiquette tips for goths who've been invited to weddings both gothy and more white-dress-frothy … but her book includes a whole section dedicated to goth wedding etiquette for both guests and hosts.

If you're planning a gothic wedding of your own, Offbeat Bride and Gothic Charm School have teamed up to to give away both a signed copy of Jillina's book AND a print of the custom "gothy wedding" artwork that's in the book. Details at the end of the post!

Goth Wedding Tips, by Jillian Venters

October is always filled with gothy (and even non-gothy) couples getting married. And before any of you start making off-hand remarks about what a cliché it is, goths getting married on Halloween, hee hee hee, oh how spooky; firstly, that’s the Lady of the Manners’ own wedding anniversary you’re chortling at there, and secondly, it’s no more of a cliché than other couples getting married in June (Midsummer anyone?). It really isn’t — in fact; there isn’t any month that doesn’t have some sort of cliché stigma for weddings. The Lady of the Manners is going to stop herself before she wanders down that tangent much further, and get back to the topic at hand. Yes, there are weddings in October. Gothy and non-gothy themed weddings, each of which has its own set of unique etiquette concerns.

Continue reading "Goth wedding etiquette, by Jillian Venters" →

If you're planning an Offbeat wedding in Ohio, and you're having trouble finding a photographer who isn't balking at your plans, get in touch with Razvan Photography.

(…actually, like many photographers, Razvan looooves to travel — so there's no need to be in Ohio.)

Razvan told me he prides himself on keeping his clients laughing and having fun … and if you take a peek at his shots from Kelsey & Rick's bad-ass rocker wedding, you'll get a feel for how that attitude translates into light-hearted, beautiful wedding photos.

As a special treat for Offbeat Bride readers, Razvan is offering a $200 bonus print credit to your package when you mention finding him here.

(Because really: what photographer doesn't love offbeat clients?)

Oh and PS! Razvan is also sponsoring a give-away for a vintage birdcage veil on his blog.

Go check it out and follow him on Twitter for more giveaways in the future.

Attention Seattle ladies! I'm cosponsoring a hot hair give-away with my beloved hair salon, VAIN.

Yes, I'm a total whore for them: they've been doing my hair since 2001 when I cut off my dreadlocks with a pair of fingernail scissors and went limping in afterwards looking like an escapee from the Home For Mentally Deranged Pixies. They produce the best hair blog in Seattle. They invented my pink braids.

Anyway, enough about me. VAIN of course rocks the wedding hair, and if you're in Seattle, you definitely want to win this bridal package.

WIN THIS STUFF FROM VAIN & OFFBEAT BRIDE:

1. Bridal updo at VAIN downtown ($75 value)
2. Wedding waxing (brows, bikini, whatever you want) with VAIN's waxing queen Belinda in the private waxing studio above VAIN downtown ($75 value)
3. Custom "Hair Poison" bridal headpiece by Sweet Revenge, aka VAIN stylist Kelly (pictured above!), who donates a portion of Sweet Revenge proceeds to the National Cervical Cancer Coalition — she's a survivor. ($100 value)
4. Awesome "Altar your thinking" Offbeat Bride tshirt.

For rules, how to enter, and pictures of Hair Poison headpieces from my hot ladyfriends at VAIN, keep reading.

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