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: Ingi, teacher (and OBT member)

Her offbeat partner: Jay, beer warehouse supervisor

Location & date of wedding: Edgar Allan Poe Museum, Richmond, VA — 10/17/09

What made our wedding offbeat: I fell in love with the Poe Museum's Enchanted Garden on a tour when I moved to Richmond years ago, so when I proposed to Jay it was the first place that came to mind. I basically planned the rest of the wedding off of the innate beauty of that setting.

I included a lot of traditional Victorian aspects, like the styling of our outfits, the bridesmaids' wedding cake pulls and silhouette artist — but made sure to incorporate the things that convey us as individuals, like my Dracula and Frankenstein's monster reception slippers and Jay's Karate Kid cufflinks.

Continue reading "Ingi & Jay's neo-Victorian, steampunk, black & white, garden wedding" →

To celebrate the season, we're featuring a Halloween wedding every week for the month of October!

The Offbeat Bride: Misty, CNA

Her Offbeat Partner: Dell, Repo Man

Location & date of wedding: Meditation Garden at the A.R.E. in Virginia Beach, VA — October 31, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: We definitely bucked tradition by having a handfasting in the ceremony, having wine in a dragon goblet (the last of which was offered to Mother Earth) and invoking the Lord and Lady to bless our union! Add to that a multi-faith Reverend who is a female, and the Witchy-Gothy wedding was complete!

Continue reading "Misty & Dell's Wiccan/Pagan, Corseted Boob-Fest, Halloween Wedding" →

The Offbeat Bride: Laura, history detective

My Offbeat Partner: Jim, army captain

Location & date of the wedding: Gazebo in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Lovingston, Virginia — July 26, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: When Jim and I made the decision to get married in May, we knew we weren’t going to have the luxury of a long engagement; Jim had recently received orders for a 400-day mission overseas and we knew we would have to have everything done and in order before he had to report for training in mid-August.

I knew that I wanted a dress that was a bit informal and cocktail-length. I went to a chain store that shall remain nameless and tried on a couple to get a feel for the whole thing and discovered that white and ivory made me look like pale death. Hmm, not quite the look I was going for.

Continue reading "Laura & Jim's vintage gazebo wedding" →

The offbeat bride: Nicole, Office Manager & Baker

Her offbeat partner: Marty (bass player for Ted Leo and the Pharmacists)

Location & date of wedding: Bankuet Place in Richmond, VA on August 9th, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: We met working at a record store and then we were in each others bands for years before we got together, so music was a huge part of the party. All of our pals DJ'd and then we both did our own sets! It got very crazy!

Continue reading "Nicole & Marty's Beautiful Punk/Foodie/Redneck Wedding" →