After working on offbeatbride.com for almost two years now (and Offbeat Bride the book for another year before that!) I’ve started to see some definite trends in offbeat bride styles.

I mean yes: we’re all doing our own thang, but there are definitely elements that seem to pop up repeatedly in offbeat weddings.

To celebrate this, I decided that this Halloween I would dress up as, well, YOU! I wanted to see how many offbeat bride trends I could pack into one outfit.

No one in Seattle will get this costume at all — “goth drag queen?” “weird mary poppins?” — but I don’t care. I did it for y’all because I love your style.

SO, how many offbeat trends can you see in these shots? We’ll start easy: Red wedding dress? Check. Actually a prom dress? Check. Purchased off eBay? Check!

Oh, but there’s SO much more…

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I’ve written before about my love of wedding cloaks, but now that it’s time for the autumn weddings, my love of a little magic over the shoulder has been renewed.

J.R. Blackwell put a great twist on the cloak concept when she gave her wedding party colored cloaks to demarkate their roles — her maid of honor had a red cloak, and her other two bridesmaids were in copper. Looks like the same color scheme held true for the groomsmen.

Best part? Looks like the wedding party had a lot of fun with their capes!

Aww! This wedding photo just came to me from Christie (aka RedDress on the OBT) with a note saying:

————
Thank you Ariel for writing such an amazing book and starting such an amazing online community.

Phill and I just wanted to show our appreciation, and we thought you might like this.

Much love,
Christie and Phill
xoxo

————

sniffle My offbeat brides are the best. sniff sniff

(Photo courtesy of ishootpeople.ca)

Members of the OBT already know Kat — she’s one of my beloved moderators! Here’s the full story on her awesome Solistice wedding

The offbeat bride: Kat, bookseller and OBT moderator

Her offbeat partner: James, writer

Location & date of wedding: My dad & step-mum’s house, Lantzville, BC. June 21, 2008, Summer Solstice

What made our wedding offbeat: We managed to pull off a spectacular wedding with a very limited budget and a lot of help from our families and friends. Our visibly offbeat elements included my red dress and glittery Betsey Johnson shoes, the men’s Converse shoes and skull ties, my bridesmen, our Buffy & Angel cake topper and our Handfasting.

The real offbeat aspect was that the wedding was 100% a reflection of the two of us. Having a handfasting was really important to me, and my non-Wiccan husband was totally into it. Our ceremony was officiated by two women and I was walked down the aisle by both my parents, elements that reflected our feminist values.

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Some of you may remember this groom, in his amazing vintage tux — well, here’s the full story!

The offbeat bride: Maria, Success Coach

Her offbeat partner: Luke, Fraud Specialist

Location & date of wedding: Rotture: Portland, OR- August 31st, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: Geeze, what wasn’t offbeat would have been an easier question. The wedding was concert themed, meaning we got married on stage, to music, in a show venue, distributed tickets, handbills, etc. So many things made this wedding *us*. From our garb (giant red dress & powder blue vintage tux) to the venue (an old warehouse converted into a show venue), to the homemade cupcakes and home-arranged flowers, we managed to get everything we wanted, for dirt cheap, and still made it all look really good.

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How adorable is this groom in his retro ruffle-shirted baby-blue tuxedo and handlebar mustache!?

More photos (including the bride in a stunning red dress!) can be seen over here.

Lots of grooms look great in kilts, but there’s just something about Miroslava’s groom Kevin that’s extra hot.

Is it the jacket? Is it the boots? Is it the hair? Or wait, is that kilt leather?! Regardless, Kevin’s taking “sexy kilt” to a whole new level.

Don’t get me wrong: Miroslava herself is positively dripping teh secksay in that bright red dress. But I’m used to seeing sexy brides. Grooms, for better or for worse, usually have to settle for “dignified” or “handsome.” Not this one!

You can see lots more about this Cannon Beach, OR, wedding on over on Flickr.

PS: I find that these photos are best enjoyed while listening to Kevin’s music.

One more Kevin-in-a-kilt shot below.

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