The offbeat bride: Lisa, Office Monkey (now with grad student action!)

Her offbeat partner: Teri, Grad student and Office Monkey

Location & date of wedding: Harrington Mansion in Minneapolis, MN on October 3rd, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: We came in under our 5k budget, and still got our fancy to-do. We had board games, chess and card games, and a really (really really) tough puzzle instead of dancing — since our buddies don't dance and empty dance floors are depressing.

Continue reading "Lisa & Teri's Fancy Neo-Victorian Parlor Wedding" →

Who says you can't have your traditional ceremony cake and eat your offbeat wedding too? Emily and Geoff Kagan-Trenchard had a relatively traditional Jewish ceremony…

And then made a big transformation for the bridal posse photo shoot…

Lots of photos on Flickr over here, and even MORE over here. Oh and for all you colorful crinoline fans, be sure to check out this shot!

(PS: All photography by Axel Koester.)

The offbeat bride: Charli, Advertising
Her offbeat partner: Steve, IT

Location & date of wedding: Mercury Hall in Austin, TX on August 23rd, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: We partied the only way we know how. Go big or go home. Everything we did for this wedding was unique and true to us. Every detail was customized to our style and anything we couldn't find we built/made ourselves.We didn't bother to take ourselves too seriously and made the ceremony and reception the best party of our lives.

Continue reading "Charli & Steve's Fireworks & Family Dancin' Wedding!" →

The offbeat bride: Belinda, Makeup Artist & Singer

Her offbeat partner: Stu, Manager & Singer

Location & date of wedding: Fitzroy Gardens Melbourne, Australia – April 19th, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: Hot pink was a central color palette… my bridesmaids wore black with hot pink heels and my flowers were hot pink and blood red, fixed together with a thick black and white striped ribbon. The contrasting colours looked awesome! We also had bright orange and gold Chevy Impalas, complete with hydraulics!

Continue reading "Belinda & Stu's Hot Pink & Black Wedding!" →

It's officially wedding season, and while many of you might be planning offbeat weddings, chances are good that you have a couple traditional weddings to attend this summer. Here's one non-intrusive, respectful way that you as an offbeat guest can bring a little offbeat flavor into any wedding:

Conduct your own photo project at the reception
Make a nice sign that says something like "CONGRATULATIONS, JOE & JANE!" Get as crafty as you want with it, or just print out a piece of paper. Then, bring your sign and your camera to the wedding, and during the reception, ask your fellow guests if you can photograph them holding the sign.

You'll end up with a bunch of photos sort of like these, which you can then print and make a sweet Blurb book for the newlyweds.

This is also a great way to interact with your fellow guests — you don't have to talk too long to anyone, but can make a point to meet everyone and make them feel a part of something fun.