The Offbeat Bride: Erin, Admin Assistant

Her Offbeat Partner: Tim, Theater student

Location & Date of wedding: First UU Church, Indiana, PA — August 2nd 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: We built our ceremony from the ground up. Tim wrote our vows, we chose readings that reflected us and our families. Likewise we did everything we could to keep it low cost and free of the faux-formality of a lot of weddings today.

That being said, both Tim and I love to dress up so we just had to go all out, Tim and his groomsmen (and groomswoman) in top hats and tuxedos with canes, myself in the most ridiculously poofy dress I could find. It was spontaneous, carefree, playful and at every moment completely and totally us.

Continue reading "Erin & Tim's "When Pagans Go Traditional" Wedding" →

Meet Lilia & Ray Ahner, a husband a wife San Francisco wedding photography duo who totally understand the needs of offbeat couples because, well, they are one.

Lilia explained to me, "As old school goth & industrial and punk rock & metal kids who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area music scene, we're PIBs (persons in black) and former Goths … and we still love the dark aesthetic. " Lilia studied fine art photography and photojournalism, has a design degree, and worked as a web designer for over 11 years. Ray is a self-taught photographer who documents the SF Bay Area music scene.

Oh, and they take kick-ass wedding photos:

When I asked Lilia about their typical clients, she told me, "Our offbeat clients are independent and creative with an amazing sense of personal style ranging from indie, goth, punk, alternative, rockabilly, all the way to folks that might look pretty normal on the outside, but are amazingly creative and different on the inside."

…Sound like anyone you know?

To see more amazing photography from these two, keep reading.

Continue reading "San Francisco Wedding Photography by Lilia Photography" →

The offbeat bride: Jackie, Museum Site Manager

Her offbeat partner: Steve, Audio Engineer

Location & date of wedding: Smathers Beach in Key West, Florida on May 20th, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: Our first vacation as a couple was Key West, FL. We made a promise at the end of our stay that we would return and get married on the beach.

But we didn't want to spend a lot of cash on sharing a few words and signing some papers. We wanted a quick getaway.

We booked a local to perform the wedding and had a veteran take some shots of the ceremony for our families we left behind. Once the uncomfortable "I-Do's" were over, I hopped on the back of our scooter and headed to Duval Street in my $99 dollar David's Bridal dress to score as much free booze and cigars as I could get.

We later toured Key West in an old Chevelle with our photographer Tom Flip in tow. He took pictures of us at the graveyard, Blue Heaven (an old brothel now converted into the locals favorite food joint) and in a church parking lot.

Continue reading "Jackie & Steve's "Joyride in an Old Chevelle" Getaway Wedding" →

Caroline Winata of Tinywater Photography has something magic in her super lush, super saturated, super gorgeous wedding and engagement photos:

Those of you who are members of the OBT may recognize this bride-to-be — it's Julie, who recently wrote about her experiences with Tinywater Photography in the OBT forum.

Keep reading for more Tinywater photos, including the most gorgeous urban elopement ever, a four-legged flower girl, and a trash the dress special offer…

Continue reading "Tinywater Photography in Sacramento and the Bay Area" →

If you're in Philly and looking for a wedding photographer, you definitely DEFINITELY need to check out Allebach Photography.

It's obvious that Mike & Rachel Allebach so totally get offbeat brides — they just posted the most amazing series of tattooed bride photos on their blog dedicated to philadelphia wedding photography.

Seriously, you gotta see these shots…

Continue reading "Philadelphia wedding photography from Allebach Photography" →