The second edition of my book is officially OUT! It's been shipping from Amazon for a couple weeks, but I'm getting reports of it appearing on the shelves of bookstores now too, which is very exciting.

This Saturday I'm doing a reading at Elliott Bay books in Seattle. I'm super hoping to meet some of you there — won't you please come and meet me and Megan? And Dre and Tavi will be there too!

• Date: Saturday, March 6, 2010
• Time: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
• Location: Elliot Bay Books (101 South Main Street, Seattle WA — one of their last readings before moving to the new space!)

Ladies, bring your grooms-to-be! I've got a few Altar Your Thinking Tees in men's sizes to give away!

Now, for those of you who aren't in Seattle, I've got a favor to ask of you…

Continue reading "Seattle reading THIS SATURDAY + call for reader photos!" →

For those of you in the Pacific Northwest, save the date for the release party of the second edition of Offbeat Bride!

Offbeat Bride Book Re-Release Partay!

March 6th, 2010
2pm – 5m
Elliott Bay Books
101 South Main Street
Seattle WA

Seattle book nerds already know that this will be one of the last readings at Elliott Bay's venerable Pioneer Square location. They're moving to Capitol Hill in mid-March, so this is a great opportunity to take one last walk across their creaky wood floors.

I would LOOOOOVE to meet some of you there — I'm hoping this can be a good excuse for an OBB/OBT meet-up. Andreas and Tavi will be in attendance of course … and maybe Megan will even fly up from Los Angeles. (Sadly Shrie won't be there because she's going to be out of town at, yes, A WEDDING.)

If you think you can make it, please oh please RSVP!

Sarah posed this on the Kiwi & Aussie Brides Group on the OBT. It's an issue that we're sure lots of Aussie couples are struggling with, and one that unfortunately impacts couples worldwide. -Megan

I'm an outspoken supporter of GLBTI rights, especially when it comes to marriage equality in Australia. I go to rallies, I write letters to my local member of parliament and I post stuff all over my Facebook. That said, I had a bit of a meltdown a few months ago when discussing my impending marriage — I hold a strong view that marriage should be between two loving people, no matter what their gender or sexual orientation.

I had trouble confirming that I wanted to adhere to and join an insitution that precluded my best friend, and many other people that have been supportive of my relationship with my FH. After speaking with all of them, and confirming that none of them would hate me for going ahead with a marriage, I decided that while I would continue to fight for the rights of my friends, I would also go ahead with my own hetero marriage.

All of that said, my FH and I have just started looking at ceremony structures for the wedding, and have been advised by our celebrant that we must include this in the introduction…

Continue reading "Marriage equality issues with hetero ceremonies in Australia" →

Family members can get concerned when you say things like, "We're going to have zombies in our wedding vows!" But here's solid proof that your vows can include zombies and still be touching and heartfelt ceremony.

Here are the words recently read by Leslie Light, the friend who officiated over Michelle & Matthew's Halloween wedding:

Dearly loved friends and relations, I have the honor of welcoming you all to this ceremony, in which we will wed Matt and Michelle to each other.

They asked me to say a few words to set the proper mood and tone for their wedding.

I thought for quite some time about what I would say, discarding metaphors and quotes of love, before finally settling on a topic near to their hearts – Today I’m going to say a few words about zombies.

Zombies. The shambling ghouls of black and white Saturday matinees and the quick, ravenous monsters of modern horror are all suffering from the same disease – disconnection – from the world around them and from each other.

And aren’t we all there sometimes?

Don’t we shuffle to work, monosyllabic, until we get our caffeine, and then go through the motions of work and house as if completely unaware of other people? Don’t we set our sights on one desire after another, rushing from experience to experience without actually stopping to enjoy any of it?

Continue reading "Zombies + Wedding Ceremony = Genuinely touching?!" →

The offbeat bride: Kelly, Writer and TESL Teacher
Her offbeat partner: Francis, Web Designer

Location & date of wedding: Stone Mansion in Rome, NY – May 24th, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: Both of our families are super Catholic and we are not, so we decided on a outdoor handfasting. The ceremony was presided over by a Catholic woman who was excommunicated for belonging to a church that ordains women and marries same sex couples.

Continue reading "Kelly & Francis' 1920's Old Hollywood Wedding!" →