Hopefully I'll have more photos and the full story from the Zimtrix California forest wedding soon, but for now I must share this photo of the wedding dress, which was designed and constructed by Jessica Hinel, a costume designer and seamstress based in the Bay Area:

(Photo courtesy of San Francisco's Alison Bank of FirstComesLoveWeddings.com

If you want to know more about the dress and see the amazing Wai-Ching-inspired split train, go read the designer's blog post about her design and construction process. Jessica also did the groom's styling, which she's promised to blog about soon. I'll be waiting.

They're not for the budget brides, but the custom wedding gowns from New York City's Angelo Lambrou are absolutely worth a gawk. An independent fashion designer based in NYC, Angelo creates custom gowns catered to your specifications. Working out of a cozy atelier near Tomkin's Square Park, Angelo ensures that the dress fitting experience is wonderful and comfortable.

Angelo was born in South Africa to Greek Cypriot parents, and his influence in design extends much to his roots as well as through London where he studied design.

Because creative clients are always an indie designer's favorite, Angelo is offering a 10% discount to those who mention they found him on Offbeat Bride. (Since his custom wedding dresses range from $1700-$5000, 10% off is a big boon!)

To get a massive hit of inspiration and learn more, head on over to http://www.angelolambrou.com.

I think that stealing a wedding dress design and having it made in China (in a place that is probably a sweatshop) is really unethical. It upsets me, as it both screws the original designer (who is probably a creative type who you would want to hang out with) and the workers … all for a dress you will wear once.

Then again, I am not poor, and I can afford to pay the designer direct for some of the dresses I like and I will check that they are not made unethically.

Am I just being a judgmental bitch cos I have the money to "do the right thing" here? Am I assuming that people have not thought about these issue, but actually they have and are fine with it? -Anonymous

What a thick and meaty ethical question! Thanks so much for bringing the issue up. Ultimately, it's up to each of us to decide where their consumer values align — this is bigger than weddings. This is about pirating music, buying local produce, and world trade issues. I'm no consumer values expert, so really all I can do is share my personal perspective and values…

Continue reading "The ethics of a cheap off-shore wedding dress" →

Hey! I'm working on an exciting offbeat bride project, and I'm looking for a few skilled wedding invitation designer/printers to team up with. If you sell custom wedding invitations, get in touch!

We all know I love Wai Ching wedding dresses — but I've never seen an entire wedding party decked out in Wai Ching. It's hot!

Even the groomsgirl got her own coordinated dress:

Continue reading "Wai Ching wedding party – with a dress for the groomsgirl!" →