The offbeat bride: Suzanna, Professor/Sociologist (and OBT member "Suzgrad")

Her offbeat partner: Ronald, Academic/Computer Scientist

Location & date of wedding: The University of Washington campus in Seattle, WA (Sylvan Grove and Mary Gates Hall) — July 18, 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: We’ve both had reservations about marriage: it’s often associated with sexism, it implies that relationships should be permanent even though they often aren’t, we were already long-term, and we think marriage should be legal for more people. Still, we wanted to make our commitment official in a public way — but we wanted our wedding to reflect our ideas about marriage, without becoming about them rather than us. So…

Continue reading "Suzanna & Ronald's slightly unorthodox, gender-neutral, public celebration of commitment" →

So, I've never really understood the whole "inspiration board" thing. I guess I'm just not a collage maker, so organizing my wedding ideas that way just didn't appeal to me.

Evidently, however, I DO like to play with dolls, because I've recently been sucked into ShopStyle, which essentially lets you create "Looks" based on their big ol' catalog of clothes, shoes, jewelry, accessories, etc.

It sounds silly even to a superficialite like myself, but OMG, I've lost several hours of my life to creating Offbeat Bride Looks:

Continue reading "ShopStyle and the digital paper dolls" →

We're doing a "vegan wedding" theme week on Offbeat Bride! And I love that there are enough vegan weddings out there to profile for a whole animal-friendly week. Do take note that though not all of the weddings are ENTIRELY vegan, but, like anything, there are various styles of vegan weddings, whether it includes just the menu or their lifestyle choices in general. -Megan

The offbeat bride: Fran, a mundane office worker (and OBT member)

Her offbeat partner: Siobhán (also known as Von), youth worker and geek

Location & date of wedding: The Derby Conference Centre, a listed Art Deco building with gorgeous original 1930s interior. The ceremony was held in the lecture hall, a small theatre shaped room, then we had the celebrations in their giant sunken lounge in Derby, UK. — 31st October 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: Living a non-traditional life meant our guests weren't expecting a traditional day from the start, so we had complete freedom. We're bisexual so it was important our day was a celebration of not just our love but of love generally. The top table included a sibling's wife and girlfriend from their poly life, with a toast to the fact we could even have a legal ceremony.

Continue reading "Fran & Siobhán's feminist, disability-friendly, colourful, vegan wedding" →

The offbeat bride: Diane, Domestic Violence Counselor

Her offbeat partner: Taren, Mental Health Advocate

Location & date of wedding: North Park Lodge, Pittsburgh PA — 10/3/2009

What made our wedding offbeat: The groom and I are both members of Arn Draiocht Fein (or ADF for short), an international Neo-Pagan Druid Fellowship. Despite honoring many deities, the one consistent thing about ADF is its liturgical format. We based our ceremony on that format while still adding elements of our own.

Continue reading "Diane & Taren's Pagan/ADF, Druid, fall-fest wedding" →

I'm already harassing Lisa and her red dress, striped tights, and sparkling shoes to tell us more (MUCH MORE) about her August wedding. But for now, we will have to tide ourselves over with a few teaser photos.

Continue reading "Bride in striped tights" →