manifestos | Offbeat Bride

This is Offbeat Bride's archive of manifestos posts.

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Who in their right mind would drape mis-matched plastic picnic tables in bedsheets from Goodwill?! Oh wait: I totally did. This is a picture from my wedding. Oh and PS: what, pray tell, is that fucking hose doing there? TACKY.

Friends, pull up a chair, because we have something we need to talk about today: JUDGEY-NESS. You know what I'm talking about: that smirky, snarky, eye-rolly feeling that comes up. There you are, attending a friend's wedding. Or even more likely, there you are: looking at pictures on the internet. And suddenly, what's that? TUT-TUT, did she REALLY!? Oh my lands, SHE DID. Can you beLIEVE? I would never! It blows my mind that anyone could possibly think this was a good idea. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

You can swap in your own judgment triggers: aesthetic choices (SO UGLY!), budget decisions (in these parts, judgments of OMG SO CHEAP! are just as common as OMG SO WASTEFUL), political/cultural statements (TACTLESS! OFFENSIVE!), and relationship choices (I CAN'T BELIEVE THESE TWO ARE GETTING MARRIED) are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the judgments around weddings that come up for folks.

Here on Offbeat Bride, of course, we're all about being supportive and constructive and cheerleader-y, but let's be honest: Of course judgments come up. They do for me as the publisher, they do for all my editors, and they do for every single reader.

As I said on Offbeat Mama last year:

Is "offbeat" the new Martha? Are you trendy by trying to have a nontraditional wedding? Join me as I ramble about my thoughts on this, web stats, subcultures, anniversaries, and awesome blossoms.

Offbeat Bride caters to a LOT of different non-traditional niches, and that's where the challenge comes in: everyone wants us to cater to their niche, and when we don't, sometimes y'all get upset.

I don't see consumer as a bad word. You just have to be clear on your consumer values, and stick to them.

Over the last couple months we've gotten comments from well-intentioned readers concerned about how we title and label the Real Offbeat Weddings on Offbeat Bride…

Seems like no matter what you do, someone's going to call you a Bridezilla. But we're DONE with the term. "Bridezilla" is the new "Tacky."

During wedding planning, we tell each other a lot of scary stories, which all too often become fear mongering. It's sort of a pre-emptive commiseration — an anticipatory sing-song of Oh, you'll seeeee….

Part of why I continue to run Offbeat Bride is because it's an excuse to get exposed to a whole big wide range of cultures and styles and people and design outside my daily experience.