The Offbeat Bride: Tina, Anesthesiologist

Her Offbeat Partner: Alex, Editorial Photographer

Location & date of wedding: Tampa Garden Club, Tampa Florida — 11-01-08

What made our wedding offbeat: Our theme was "T&A Productions' Celebration of Love, Friendship and Family." We wanted the party to be a big "thank you" celebration for our friends and family.

The colors of the wedding were based on limited edition Manolo Blahniks I bought years before and never planned on wearing. The dress was designed by me and made by a local seamstress. All of the fabric was found online. The silk tartan sash was a "surprise" element for Alex.

Continue reading "Tina & Alex in T&A Productions' Celebration of Love, Friendship and Family" →

The offbeat bride: Julie Ke, Sign Artist

Her offbeat partner: Jonny, Chef

Location & date of wedding: Forest House Lodge in Foresthill, CA on October 10th, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: I have never been the "wedding planning" kind of girl, and never thought too much about weddings until I met my Jonny Boy. We are both pretty offbeat in our daily lives, so it only made sense that we should plan a wedding that truly reflected our personalities.

Continue reading "Julie & Jonny's Glamorous Art Nouveau Costume Wedding Extravaganza" →

The offbeat bride: Katy, Autistic Support Teacher

Her offbeat partner: Drew, Artist and Graphic Designer

Location & date of wedding: Penn Treaty Park and Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia, PA on August 16th, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: We were married by a former roommate. Who did get a cert online to be a reverend a marry us though it wasn't necessary as we got a Quaker marriage license (available in PA) which requires no ceremony.

Continue reading "Katy & Drew's Afternoon in the Park/Art Gallery Wedding!" →

The offbeat bride: Nicole, Office Manager & Baker

Her offbeat partner: Marty (bass player for Ted Leo and the Pharmacists)

Location & date of wedding: Bankuet Place in Richmond, VA on August 9th, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: We met working at a record store and then we were in each others bands for years before we got together, so music was a huge part of the party. All of our pals DJ'd and then we both did our own sets! It got very crazy!

Continue reading "Nicole & Marty's Beautiful Punk/Foodie/Redneck Wedding" →

Hey, everyone! My offbeat intern, Shrie, is starting a new series where she explores the hottest topics from the OBT. We're starting off with a topic that's hard to ignore these days: planning a wedding in the middle of a global economic meltdown. On that uplifting note (whee!) take it away, Shrie…

Planning a wedding is tough stuff. Unless you have a ton of disposable income or can count on the 'rents for a large chunk, it can put a real dent in your wallet and in your credit score. Pile on a recession, sky high fuel costs, scarce job market and less than savory housing situation — and you've got a full scale wedding budgeting nightmare.

Nervous brides are scraping the bucket and turning their luxury destination weddings into backyard BBQs, all in the name of saving a little dough. In fact, for the first time in over ten years the average cost of an American wedding is expected to drop, and nearly half of all caterers and event planners have noticed a drop in wedding spending due to the recession.

Monica, a fellow Offbeat Bride Tribe member, is downright apprehensive:

"Is all this recession chatter making any one else nervous? Our wedding is about five months away and every time I hear about people losing their jobs, the economy, high gas prices, grocery prices, etc. it makes me really nervous. I'm concerned people won't be able to travel because they can't afford it, or our caterer will have to charge us more for food or travel expenses." [obt link]

Continue reading "Planning A Wedding During A Recession" →