Anli on the left, and Laura on the right. Photo by Capturing Essence

The offbeat bride: Anli, data analyst

Her offbeat partner: Laura, public servant

Location & date of wedding: The Old Stone House, NSW Australia — 5 September 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: We wanted a ceremony that reflected our geeky, romantic, pink aesthetic, while at the same time being profound and meaningful. Our ceremony was themed around the video game Portal and the anime series Revolutionary Girl Utena.

We incorporated lots of geeky details, from the table names (Revolution, Sierra, Katara and GLaDOS) to the choice of music. We also kept several traditional elements such as bouquets, dresses and bridesmaids. However, we both walked down the aisle unaccompanied and skipped the garter/bouquet toss.

Continue reading "Anli & Laura's Lesbian Gamer Geek Wedding" →

The Offbeat Bride: Jeannette, belly dancer, violinist, and daytime accountant

Her Offbeat Partner: Cliff, software engineer

Location and date of wedding: Ceremony: Arizona State, Reception: Jeannette's parents' back yard — September 13, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: We always knew we wanted a very small wedding. We decided to skip a bunch of the usual built-in drama and leave out bridesmaids, groomsmen, ringbearers, piles of doves, etc.

Continue reading "Jeannette & Cliff's small, anti-conventional wedding with a surprise reception" →

A few days ago I got asked a question via Twitter about about some suggestions for good alternatives to the first dance. Offbeat Bride has broached the topic of dance-free wedding receptions before, but what if you like to dance, but you just don't want to have to be the ONLY ONES dancing? Or, maybe you love being the only ones under the spotlight, but dancing isn't exactly your thing, what are your other options?

First Song 
We've seen many variations on this idea — there's been first songs, first karaoke, musically inclined couples have even put a band together in order to perform at their wedding. I've been to a wedding where only the bride was a musician, and she performed a song that she wrote for groom instead of them both doing the first dance.

First Drink
Instead of mixing your unity cocktail during the ceremony, save it for the reception in leu of a first dance!

Kicking off your reception with a first drink is quick and painless and does double duty for shy brides & grooms as it can help to calm nerves and will probably help put you in the mood to dance later on… with everyone else, of course.

Continue reading "7 First Dance Alternatives for Dance-shy Couples" →

Okay! We got the full scoop on the Natural History Museum wedding that Ariel first introduced you to back in March! Read it and learn…

The Offbeat Bride: Leslie, sculptor of little monsters and OBT member "LPage"

Her Offbeat Partner: Emory, clerk-typist for The Man

Location & date of wedding: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County — 3/21/09

What made our wedding offbeat: The museum means a lot to us as a couple, so having the wedding there was the most defining element for us. We designed little dinosaurs for the invites and used them on the cootie-catcher programs as well.

Continue reading "Leslie & Emory's Los Angeles Natural History Museum Wedding" →

Y'all remember Whitney Lee, Offbeat Bride's favorite Austin wedding photographer? Well, she's back again with more wedding porn, this time from Stephanie & Kevin's recent wedding.

Stephanie says: I guess the main thing that made our wedding offbeat was that we tried to do things because we liked them or because they were important to us, rather than doing things because they're just always done at weddings.

We had a "First Rock Band" rather than a first dance. This was because we love Rock Band and we do not love to dance. It's definitely one of my best memories of the night; my husband on guitar, me on the drums, and all our friends and family surrounding us and belting out "Living on a Prayer." Exuberance all around. It was awesome.

Continue reading "Whitney Lee Photography brings you Stephanie & Kevin's wedding" →