I've written before about my decisions around calling the pictures of real weddings that I feature on this site "Wedding Porn." I consider the phrase a harmless, non-sexual twist on the voyeuristic thrill many folks planning their weddings get out of seeing other people's wedding ideas.

That said, I'm going to come out and admit that there IS one component of wedding porn that starts to feel just as unhealthy as typical porn: that's when lusting after some fantasy of what you could have starts to interfere with the reality of enjoying what you've got.

I see this when brides buy a dress, and then find another dress, and then pick a third dress because they keep seeing dresses they like online. I see it when people come up with five different wedding themes over the course of two months, and still can't quiiite decide. I read it between the lines of commenters who's enthusiasm for someone else's wedding starts to slip over the edge from inspiration ("ooh, I might want to integrate something like that in my wedding") to duplication ("I MUST HAVE THOSE EXACT SHOES WHERE DID YOU GET THEM TELL ME NOW NOW NOW!")

It worries me a little…

Continue reading "When to stop looking at wedding porn" →

Y'all know I'm a huge fan of a simple wedding … and this gorgeous Montana wedding from Crackle Photography feels like the perfect combo of small, stripped down, and yet insanely sexy. Thanks to Kate for sending me this one!

The bride opted to prepare for the wedding in the great outdoors, plopping herself down on a picnic blanket to get pretty.

Continue reading "Sexy Simple Montana wedding" →

Amidst all the talk of dresses and decor fetishists and tiny top hats, it's easy to forget one of the core tenets of offbeat bride: that it's about having a wedding authentic to you. That doesn't always mean a day full of non-trad doo-dads and subcultural lifestyle accessories.

Nope, sometimes it just means you and your honey exchanging your vows in the Siskiyou Wilderness of Northern California. And that, THAT is a beautiful thing.

(PS: If you're looking for even more simple mountain wedding inspiration, head over here!)

The offbeat bride: Danica

Her offbeat partner: Mike

Location & date of wedding: Newcastle Island, Canada – August 8th, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: We kept it simple. I made all the cupcakes for the guests (all ninety! WHEW! Transporting them was a BITCH). We had our talented photographer friend Aki walk on stilts.

I'm double Offbeat! Pregnant, tattooed and I wore white!

Continue reading "Mike & Danica's Simple Island Wedding!" →

This weekend I attended the wedding of my brother-in-law Chris in Missoula. He and his fiance, Sacha, had intended to get married in September … but when they got the word a couple weeks ago that Chris's mother's cancer was back with a vengeance and her time is limited, they moved the wedding up by four months.

The wedding was positively beautiful, and lead to me to think about how in many ways wedding planning will expand to fill as much time and/or money as you want to throw at it. If you have two weeks to prepare, you strip it down to the most important things and the result is deeply meaningful. In the case of this wedding, the top priority was that the mother of the groom be present. And she was.

I acted as stand-in wedding photographer:

More of my pictures of this backyard Montana wedding are over here.