Category Archive

identity

Having a bridentity crisis? Not sure what this whole wedding thing means when it comes to who you are as a person? Let’s work through some identity issues together. (Also, you may want to check out the book The Conscious Bride, which addresses a lot of personal identity issues related to wedding planning.)

alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

This wedding is super gay! 5 ways to make your wedding gay as hell

It’s Pride Month, y’all, and everyone should be giving props to the LGBTQ community and their weddings. Well, not everyone.

Some folks have concerns about the concept of a “gay wedding” because hey: aren’t they just weddings? We get that, of course, but we feature some weddings where couples themselves VERY specifically want to embrace their wedding AND its gayness. So if you’re into self-identified Very Very Gay Weddings, this roundup of ideas is for yooooou!

4480576261 a3151b7597 o alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Aesthetic vs. identity: how cool are you with changing your look as a bridesmaid?

Remember this post about how to be an offbeat bridesmaid in a traditional wedding and where to draw the line with changing your look to suit the bride’s wishes? If you’re reading this site, chances are you’ve been there. Maybe more than once. We’ve got some follow-up real talk from reader Vanda that we needed to share…

3024411078 6fb4f23a18 o alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Why it’s totally okay to plan a wedding your way… even when you’re told otherwise

When I asked Brian to marry me, tranquil and quiet energy swirled around us. In all the perfection that this was for us, I didn’t expect the whirlwind that would come — the questions, assumptions, unsolicited advice, and all the “good things” that go along with an engagement in two large and loving families. Our quiet serenity on that beach on Toronto island slipped away from me so fast, I went looking for it in all the wrong places.

Bridal 'best selves': when is too far?

Bridal “best selves”: when is too far?

As with many Offbeat Bride readers, this blog was a welcome antidote to the bridal mags and blogs that represent all brides as being white, thin, tanned, and perfect. Not that there’s anything wrong with those things, but when you don’t fit into that round hole, the bridal industry can make you feel a bit like Square Peggy. Aiming for perfection in any aspect of a wedding, whether it’s your letter-pressed invites or sun-dappled forest grove location, is asking for tears before bedtime.

future mrs alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

As a queer person of color feminist, I cast aside my last name, and that’s okay with me

While I always expected I would end up marrying a Taiwanese-American person like myself, I somehow fell in love with a man who happens to be white. I never thought I’d end up dating white guys, nor did I think I’d marry one. Weeks before my wedding, I toyed with the idea of changing my name. I could have a fresh start in life — new name, new license, new everything. But then the feminist part of me strongly opposed taking my husband’s name. How can I completely eradicate my single life and the accomplishments I achieved under my maiden name? What kind of feminist am I?

Farm wedding bride 01 MetroStyle Studios of Mpls alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Things I learned when I ended up in a traditional wedding dress. Or: How I stopped caring and learned to love the white dress

I thought I would wear pink, blue, or red, certainly never white — and there was no other way I could be true to myself. Well, I bought my pink dress, and then a week later I hated it. I then returned the dress for store credit a month and a half later (thank god for a lucky return policy in a non-traditional wedding shop), and bought one I loved — a white wedding dress. Since I spent a lot of time fretting over not being “different enough,” I figured I’d share how I stopped caring and learned to love my traditional wedding dress…