You might remember OBT member "AuberrySwirl's" wedding from this post highlighting the awesome bridesmaid's peacock inspired fashion. Now get all the beautiful peacock-y wedding goodness…

The Offbeat Bride: Aubrey, Grad Student — Higher Ed. Administration

Her Offbeat Partner: Tom, Chemical Engineer/Environmental Consultant

Location & date of wedding: St. Thomas Lutheran Church and Niswonger Performing Arts Center, Van Wert, OH — 21 Feb 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: I think our attempt to bring back our old ancestral traditions, ironically, is what gave our wedding the most offbeat look and feel to our family and friends. In their own words, they had never seen anyone do a Fir Bough Walk for luck, or Nuremberg Two-sided Bridal Toast; they never would have thought to decorate the reception like the Rhine River Valley Wine Region or play Hide-and-Seek with German gnomes. But we thought it was the thing to do since both of our families predominately hail from Deutschland, and we had already decided to honeymoon there.

Continue reading "Aubrey & Tom's Jazzy, German Custom-Filled, Peacock-themed 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?" →

You've already gotten the full scoop on OBT member Jess' fabulous colored crinoline wedding dress, now get the entire scoop on the wedding itself!

The Offbeat Bride: Jess, Experiential Educator

Her Offbeat Partner: Sean, Organic Foods Data King

Location & date of wedding: Artists for Humanity, South Boston, MA — May 2, 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: I am a Jewish educator and my husband is of Irish descent and was raised in the Catholic Faith. We wanted to honor and celebrate our heritage, while at the same time express our free thinking personalities. We had a Jewish Lay Leader and a family friend who is a former Pastor co-officiate our service, which we wrote ourselves, but honored every tradition that we could.

Continue reading "Jess & Sean's Irish-Jewish tradition-meets-offbeat wedding" →

You may have seen this wedding before, now get the whole story behind this wonderful mash-up of Jewish tradition and offbeat Rockabilly style.

The Offbeat Bride: Emily, Web Master/Science writer (and OBT member Ellamie)

Her Offbeat Partner: Geoff, Teacher/Poet

Location & date of wedding: Valley Beth Shalom Temple, Encino, CA (I had my baby naming, my bat mitzvah and went to elementary school here) — May 25, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: First of all, we skipped most of the really formal photos of the bridal party and did them the day before in an amazing photo shoot. Way more fun to have two wedding dresses than just one!

Continue reading "Emily & Geoff's Jewish Rockabilly Wedding" →

You've seen the breakdancing/broom jumping awesomeness from this wedding before, now get the whole story…

The Offbeat Bride: LaSherra, Mission Support Assistant (aka. OBT member Butterbean.)

Her Offbeat Partner: Brandon, Logistics Specialist

Location & date of wedding: Backyard of Spring Park Center, Texas — March 21, 2009

Continue reading "LaSherra & Brandon's Spring Wedding with a Hip Hop soundtrack" →