Category Archive

industry insiders

The Offbeat Wed community includes hundreds of inclusive wedding industry pros who are all working to change the cynical, exploitative nature of the mainstream Wedding Industrial Complex. We invite our awesome offbeat vendor friends to share their industry insider tips with us and our readers — together we can change the wedding industry to be more inclusive, more offbeat, and more awesome! (If you’re an offbeat vendor, let’s get you in here!)

alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Ring needs resizing? Here’s why you should wait to wear it…

If your engagement or wedding ring needs resizing, there are some good reasons to wait to wear it. As someone who has worked in a chain jewelry store and done a lot of research out of personal interest, I’ve seen some real damage occur when a larger ring is worn before resizing. Letting it flop around and hitting against another ring to keep it in place is both bad for the metal and the stones. It puts it at much more at risk for knocking the stone out, chipping it, or breaking it completely depending on how old the stone is and what kind of inclusions it naturally has.

cats alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

…Because sometimes you have a wedding day brawl (+ some wedding crasher tips!)

I’ve seen a lot of stuff photographing weddings, but brawls are a different story. This is not the story of that time I totaled my car on the way to a wedding or that time the groom spent the wedding day grabbing my assistant’s ass. This is the story of Meggen and Jake and their wedding day brawl.

sdfsdf alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

How long will this take?! An insider’s view of a wedding photography timeline

Are you wondering how long each photography session of your wedding day will take? We got a super comprehensive wedding photography timeline from one of our favorite photography vendors, [heart link="http://vendors.offbeatwed.com/listing/black-white-and-raw-photography"]Black, White and Raw Photography[/heart], to help you plan out the day according to your needs.

New photography pricing advice as seen on @offbeatbride #photography

What new photographers NEED to know about photography pricing

The sky isn’t falling and the photography industry doesn’t need another “price justification” blog post to share with clients. Yes, owning a photography business is tough. Owning any business is tough. Especially “fun” businesses. I still have hard days, weeks, and months. There is more competition than ever, yes. There are also lots of photographers who have successful businesses… based on solid business principles. Mike Allebach is here to keep it real with new photographers about their photography pricing.

The REAL questions for wedding photographers as seen on @offbeatbride #weddingphotography #weddingadvice

The real questions you should be asking your wedding photographer (and reasons to RUN!)

Want to know the best questions for wedding photographers that will get you the answers you actually need to make an informed decision about who to hire to capture the most beautiful shots of your wedding day? Rebecca Ellison is an [heart link="http://vendors.offbeatwed.com/listing/rebecca-ellison-photography"]awesome wedding photographer[/heart] who knows a thing or two about what makes you look good and the day look AWESOME. Let’s real talk some Q&A.

Wedding music stress-fest? A DJ's advice on minimizing music stress as seen on @offbeatbride

Wedding music drama-fest? A DJ’s advice on minimizing music stress

After helping over 100 couples curate the music for their weddings, I’ve just about seen it all, including elaborate choreographed Disney princess dance medleys, uncles doing the worm, belly dancers, a Mariah Carey ceremony processional, and even a Backstreet Boys karaoke battle. I’ve worked with couples who’ve kept things easy going and simple, achieved elegant and traditional decadence, or have had full-blown raging parties and everything in between. No matter the overall goal for your wedding, here’s a little wisdom I’ve extracted from being a part of these very special events.