Photo Pink is a duo of NYC-based wedding photographers who live to capture the honest and authentic moments of a wedding — not the "you stand here, they stand here" stiff portraits. As they say, "You want to spend your wedding day with your friends and family, not with your photographers (no matter how cool we may be."

And oh, they are cool. Since both Liesl and Randy are vegetarian, they specialize in animal-friendly wedding albums — including gorgeous linen, metal, pleather, and hardcover books. If you want a leather wedding album, they can get you in touch with someone … but I really appreciate how they've integrated their values into their business.

To see more of Photo Pink work (and read all about the special offer they've got for Offbeat Brides) keep reading! Oh and clicky the photos to learn more…

Continue reading "Veggie-friendly wedding photography (+ free engagement sessions!) from Photo Pink" →

If you're looking to skip all the wedding planning drama and elope in New York City, you can make your life easy by getting in touch with Judie and Liam from Elope NYC.

"When I married my life-long partner, I was stunned by the low quality of writing in standard wedding ceremonies, so I created a bunch of ceremonies for us. Yes, a bunch. I enjoyed the writing so much, I became a New York marriage officiant myself."

Judie's partner, Liam, is a NYC wedding photographer, and together they offer wedding and photography elopement packages starting at $350. Yes, you can get married in NYC for $350.

Continue reading "How to elope to NYC" →

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.

Last year, Angela from New York's Milestone Images was just another offbeat bride planning her Chocolate-Themed Amusement Park Jewish-Pagan Handfasting. She recounts, "OBT members helped me brainstorm ideas, and we were this close to playing 'Red Rover, Red Rover' with the wedding party in lieu of a traditional first dance on August 9th, 2008."

And now here she is, back to show off her goods as a New York wedding photographer who travels up and down the East Coast. Here's a quick Q&A between me and Angela…

As a wedding photographer, how do you deal with the potential body image issues brides sometimes have?
There so much weight-related emotional fuckwittage surrounding wedding culture. Forget the images of emaciated cookie-cutter clone brides plastered across wedding magazines everywhere. I want to give a shout-out to my curvaceous, zaftig, Spanx-wearing sexy sistas. As the owner of a double chin myself, I pride myself on knowing the most flattering angles and stealth retouching skills for real women of every size. Real beauty, real people, really gorgeous photography.

Continue reading "Q&A with Angela from Milestone Images" →

Meet New York celebrant Emily King! Her wedding celebrant duties have taken her from summer camps in the Catskills to Chinese restaurants on the Lower East Side, to the Equestrian Center in Burbank to the beach on Coney Island, from the swankiest gay wedding in the Hamptons to an intercontinental, interracial, interfaith wedding in a community vegetable garden in New Paltz.

As an Ordained Civil Celebrant Emily specializes in bridging cultures and languages (she's a published translator of French, German, and Italian texts, and has studied American Sign Language, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese) to create unique wedding and commitment ceremonies that completely reflect a couple's taste, culture, imagination, and independent way of life and love. She's officiated weddings gay and straight, both simple and ornate.

Extra bonus? Emily offers a sliding scale discount for struggling artists, graduate students and educators!

To learn more about Emily's celebrant work and how she might be able to help you craft your New York wedding ceremony, click the photo below!