The Offbeat Bride: Alison

Her offbeat partner: Heather

Location & date of wedding: The Inn at the Lambertville Station, Lambertville NJ — 9/27/09

What made our wedding offbeat: The fact that the bride to groom ratio at this wedding was 2:0 made it kinda offbeat. Though, all gayness aside, we went all-out and DIYed everything about this wedding. You name it, we made it.

Other than that it was pretty "typical," white dress, table numbers, flowers, reception… Oh well, there were a few other offbeat things. First and foremost, when it came to the music Heather said, "I want it to sound like we're at a cheesey 80's prom!" I said, "Yes! Lets do it!" So the 19th century train station was jammin' with sweet 80's tunes the whole night.

Continue reading "Alison & Heather's DIY, 80s prom inspired wedding" →

The offbeat bride: Marylyle, Librarian (and OBT member)

Her offbeat partner: Jordan, Computer Programmer

Location & date of wedding: The garden outside UVA Alumni Hall in Charlottesville, VA. — 08/16/2009

What made our wedding offbeat: Jordan is a Sephardic Jew and I am Unitarian. It meant a lot that both of us and our traditions be represented equally. We worked together really hard to craft an interfaith wedding ceremony that was meaningful to both of us.

It was important to him that we include Jewish traditions such as the chuppah and circling each other. I chose Celtic traditions to connect with own my heritage such as handfasting and jumping the broom. We wrote our own ketubah and our own translation of the seven blessings. We also drank wine from both a Jewish Kiddush cup & from a Scottish quaich, or loving cup, during the ceremony. Jordan's mother, a rabbinic student, and an interfaith minister, performed the ceremony.

Continue reading "Marylyle & Jordan's Sephardic, Celtic, Balkan bash" →

The offbeat bride: De Anne, Artist and Data Analyst (and OBT member "Deanderthal")

Her offbeat partner: Warren, Video Game Tech Support

Location & date of wedding: Grandma's house, Mt. Bonnell, Austin Texas — 9/18/2009

What made our wedding offbeat: We decided that good food, photography and celebrating with our loved ones were more important that any tradition. So we had a big party that at which we just happened to get married.

There was no aisle, no ceremony seating, friends rang a gong to signal that Things Were Happening for five minutes, then it was back to the par-tay.

Continue reading "De Anne & Warren's "The Hitchening: The Party with a Wedding Inside!"" →

The Offbeat Bride: Regina, Pre-Press Technician (and OBT member "Parallax")

Her Offbeat Partner: Alyx, Psychology Student

Location & date of wedding: Beardslee Castle, Little Falls, NY — October 11, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: Once we finally started to plan our wedding, the biggest question we asked ourselves was "What is our wedding about?"

My husbands main concern was making a binding commitment to one another (his big input: "So we're gonna need a priest…"). I was concerned with making a commitment to one another in front of our friends, family, and our gods and ancestors, followed by a fun party!

Continue reading "Regina & Alyx's Gamer-Geek Druidic-Style Wedding" →

The Offbeat Bride: Stori, Elementary School Counselor

My Offbeat Partner: Tausha, Peet's Coffee & Tea Assistant Manager

Location & date of wedding: Boundary Bay Brewery Beer Garden, Bellingham, WA — 10.11.2008

What made our wedding offbeat: We wanted an event that was inviting to everyone we loved (who didn't really know each other), and we really didn't want to waste money on things like table cloths, vases, candle holders, place holders, etc. So, with a two month time frame, we found everything we needed at garage and estate sales all over Portland. Even our officiant was gratefully recycled from good friends wedding, as well as our shoes, center pieces, decorations, some art auction pieces, hair piece, vow ideas, one bride's outfit, etc.

Continue reading "Stori & Tausha's "Gay 'ol Wedding & Celebration"" →