The Offbeat Bride: Maria, Graphic Designer (and OBT member)

Her Offbeat Partner: Dave, Roofer/Musician

Location & date of wedding: The Music House Museum in Traverse City, Michigan — Oct. 17, 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: We waited a long, long time for this. Dave and I met on the school bus and have been best friends for sixteen years. After nine years of putting off a wedding due to financial reasons, we finally decided to tie the knot at the courthouse (for health insurance — so romantic). We wanted to keep it a secret until the real ceremony, two years later, but Dave's mom found out and soon did everyone! Getting sick of family grilling us with questions, we decided, on a whim, to plan the ceremony and get "weddinged" in just six weeks! All for under $4000.

Continue reading "Maria & Dave's roaring twenties, museum wedding" →

The offbeat bride: Laura, editor/writer

Her offbeat partner: Peter, director of knowledge management

Location & date of wedding: The Walter R. Schuele Planetarium at the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center in Bay Village, Ohio. Reception at The Nicholson House in Lakewood, Ohio. — October 10, 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: We were married in a planetarium, by the planetarium director, under the stars with a spotlight shining on us.

My bouquet was made from kale, we didn’t have a bridal party, and our invitations were handmade from recycled paper by a nonprofit. Instead of programs, we made a PowerPoint presentation complete with photos and quizzes displayed on the “sky” before the ceremony. We also had a pre-ceremony animal show featuring an owl, falcon, and skunk. We wrote the ceremony ourselves and walked down the “aisle” together.

Continue reading "Laura & Peter's vegan, starry, planetarium wedding" →

The offbeat bride: Celeste, Fandomania Assistant Editor and Podcast Co-Host (and OBT member)

Her offbeat partner: Jason, Online Comics/Collectibles Store Owner and Fandomania Managing Editor and Podcast Co-Host

Location & date of wedding: Orlando Science Center, Orlando, FL — 11.14.09

What made our wedding offbeat: We are both extremely geeky (we met at a convention while Jason was running the Joss Whedon programming track), which is why we chose the Orlando Science Center, specifically the Dino Digs room, as our venue.

Continue reading "Celeste & Jason's geeky, vegan, sci-fi extravaganza" →

The offbeat bride: Emma, Deputy Box Office Manager at The Lyceum Theatre

Her offbeat partner: Carl, Lighting Technician and Stage Manager

Location & date of wedding: Camden Town Hall followed by the reception at the London Canal Museum, Kings Cross, UK — 12/09/09

What made our wedding offbeat: We don't enjoy being the centre of attention, so we skipped many of the formalities like sit down meals, cake cutting, first dances & speeches, which made for a wonderfully relaxed day.

Continue reading "Emma & Carl's London, Retro Glam Wedding" →

The offbeat bride: Ingi, teacher (and OBT member)

Her offbeat partner: Jay, beer warehouse supervisor

Location & date of wedding: Edgar Allan Poe Museum, Richmond, VA — 10/17/09

What made our wedding offbeat: I fell in love with the Poe Museum's Enchanted Garden on a tour when I moved to Richmond years ago, so when I proposed to Jay it was the first place that came to mind. I basically planned the rest of the wedding off of the innate beauty of that setting.

I included a lot of traditional Victorian aspects, like the styling of our outfits, the bridesmaids' wedding cake pulls and silhouette artist — but made sure to incorporate the things that convey us as individuals, like my Dracula and Frankenstein's monster reception slippers and Jay's Karate Kid cufflinks.

Continue reading "Ingi & Jay's neo-Victorian, steampunk, black & white, garden wedding" →