We're doing a week of geek weddings on Offbeat Bride! I've been waiting for an excuse to do this and I think the countdown to the Offbeat Bride book re-release party is a great reason! So we're kicking off "geek week" with Sarah and Justin's geek-chic wedding, coincidentally right around the time of their first wedding anniversary! -Megan

The Offbeat Bride: Sarah, Admin Associate at the University of Texas (and OBT member "mamomo")

Her offbeat partner: Justin, Radio Shack manager

Location & date of wedding: Justin's uncle and aunt's house in Austin, TX — March 28, 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: We started with a traditional foundation but added details to reflect our interests and personalities.

Continue reading "Sarah & Justin's geek-chic, backyard fiesta" →

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 in the extremely early stages of a wedding (pre-engagement early). I like to plan things ahead of time. I've never been to a non-religious wedding. What is said for the wedding part? That is what I'm trying to figure out. All I know is the Bible related stuff with a priest or preacher. I've thought about potentially asking law/political science/sociology friends to officiate the wedding, but I'm afraid of them being in the same boat as me.-Andy

Andy, kudos to you for doing your research with plenty of time to spare. The joy of a secular wedding ceremony is that pretty much anything goes! The pain of a secular wedding ceremony is that all that freedom can be overwhelming. Some couples who have traditional religious ceremonies decide to do so not because they're especially religious but because, well, following a ceremony template is way, WAY easier.

(To clarify, I'm ALL for couples having Bible-based ceremonies … if the folks getting married are practicing Christians. But I think it's disrespectful to smile and nod your way through a religious service you don't actually believe in, so I vote for secular couples going for secular ceremonies.)

That said, I've got lots of ideas for you.

Continue reading "How do you have a wedding ceremony without a Bible?" →

The offbeat bride: Lea, Artist

Her offbeat partner: Mike, Structural Engineer

Location & date of wedding: Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in Chicago, IL on May 23rd, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: A friend of ours, a wonderful fantasy writer, officiated with an incredible speech (which can be found here). Mike's family is very Lutheran, and mine is very Jewish, so we managed to put a ceremony together that summed up both of our beliefs without actually offending anybody.

Continue reading "Lea & Mike's big laid-back Jewish/Lutheran budget wedding" →