Part of what I love so much about Offbeat Bride is that I feel like it's all about finding inspiration outside of my little aesthetic bubble. For instance, I'm soooo not a native of the goth/industrial/fetish scene, but I can find about 10 inspiring things in the wedding photo below, which is from Severina & Seraphim's Seattle handfasting:

(photo courtesy of gak photography)

… In what unexpected places have YOU found inspiration?

(Thanks to the lovely ladies of the OBT for finding this photo!)

The Offbeat Bride: Shannon, theater actress/web site manager

My Offbeat Partner: Brandon, improv actor/managing director

Location & date of wedding: Lake Forest Park Civic Club on Lake Washington in Seattle, WA (we're not members, anyone can rent it) — 5/4/2008

What made our wedding offbeat: Our wedding was completely ours. We ran the thing ourselves and enlisted the generous help of talented friends and family to design our invites, print them, set-up, DJ, officiate, work the bar, and make appetizers.

We decided early on to eliminate certain expensive sources of stress to keep the budget and the stress as low as possible. We planned the wedding for about 4-5 months after the engagement to save ourselves a year of stress. Within a few weeks, we'd chosen an inexpensive (under $1K), little-heard-of venue north of Seattle. It's in a lovely spot on the lake but because the building is old 1960's utilitarian, so it's not used often for weddings. We decided the space was too small for a wedding party and we didn't want to deal with choosing dresses and tuxes and favors and coordinating the people (this ended up being our most controversial decision).

Continue reading "Shannon & Brandon's comedic Seattle wedding" →

Yes, I'm a longtime fan of Wai-Ching dresses, and even wore one to my book release party. But with this silk dress, Chrissy Wai-Ching has truly outdone herself. No seriously:

I love that Chrissy made the groom's dramatic silk tie to match … but really you haven't lived until you've seen the back of the dress. That's where the real party is goin' on…

Continue reading "Wai-Ching does it again" →

Oh jeez, I can't help but love the hometown weddings, and a special thanks to Nyomi for emailing me about this wonderful Seattle wedding.

I've tried living in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and Boston … but I always find myself coming back to my beloved Seattle, in part because of people like Caleb and Sarah here, who I totally don't know but completely adore. There's just this Seattle spirit of playfulness crossed with down-to-earth sensibilities that these two capture perfectly.

Caleb & Sarah got married at Seattle's Gasworks Park, which (as the name suggests) used to be a gas plant and therefore has not only amazing views of downtown Seattle but also the most awesome post-apocalyptic industrial gasworks all over the place.

To see a few more choice shots, keep reading!

Continue reading "Gasworks Park wedding in Seattle" →

The offbeat bride: Bri, Pastry Chef-in training and Ex-Weather Forecaster

Her offbeat partner: Ian, Computer Nerd and Library Lover

Location & date of wedding: The Fremont Troll (ceremony) in Seattle, WA and Ian's sister's backyard (reception) in Seattle, WA on September 5th, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: I proposed to Ian in December of 2007, and gave him a fantastic sterling silver engagement ring. We had a family-only ceremony at the Fremont Troll (a giant statue of a troll under a bridge!). Apparently a tour bus came by during the ceremony, but Ian and I were so engrossed in all the lurve that we didn't even notice!

Continue reading "Bri & Ian's Stress-Free Celebration of Love and Vegan Pastries!" →