The offbeat bride: Rosemary, graduate student

Her offbeat partner: Christopher, graduate student

Location & date of wedding: June 21, 2008 in a friend's wild back yard and forest, near Montreal, QC

What made our wedding offbeat: We made up our own ceremony to be exactly what we wanted it to be, which meant throwing out most traditional elements. Being part of a Pagan community, this wasn't so surprising to our friends, but what may have surprised them was that we threw out most of the Pagan handfasting traditions as well, since they didn't really speak to us either.

Continue reading "Rosemary & Christopher's hippie pagan eco diy celebration of love" →

The offbeat bride: Stacey, Figure Skating Coach & Graphic Designer

Her offbeat groom: Joel, Motion Capture Specialist

Location & date of wedding: Strathcona Park Lodge between Campbell River and Gold River, BC. August 25, 2007

What made our wedding offbeat: My job as a Graphic Designer was at a wedding invitation design studio. My whole life had been filled with other people's wedding plans for years. I'd always been the one dishing out advice and helping people with their taffeta filled or very alternative plans. So when it was my turn I had lots of ideas but I also knew that everything had to be different from anything I had worked on for a client. Having helped with a few hundred weddings, that was very difficult but it also pushed me to try things I wouldn't have otherwise.

Continue reading "Stacey's elegant stormy wedding" →

The offbeat bride: Zandra, Art Director

My offbeat groom: Jordan, Creative Director

Location & date of wedding: Ross Bay Cemetery, Victoria, BC May 13th 2006

What made our wedding offbeat: We got married in a cemetery overlooking the ocean — it was beautiful.

Continue reading "Zandra's cemetery wedding" →

So, here's an experiment for you — instead of writing my advice, I decided to try just doing it via video. Lemme know what you think of the format.

My fiancé's family (mother, father, brother etc.) are protesting our wedding. They say it is not because of us, it is because they do not believe in gay marriage (ass-holes!) How do we go about filling in the holes? we are both very close with my family and they will be playing major roles in the wedding. We are having a hard time incorporating my family without putting a huge red spotlight on my fiancé's lack of family. For clarification, my fiancé considers herself the Groom, and me the Bride, which only matters in terms of roles her family would have filled. -Lara

The offbeat bride: Vania Sukola, social worker

My offbeat groom: Joel, PhD history candidate student

Location & date of wedding: July 20, 2006, Toronto Island Algonquin Island Association, Toronto, Ontario

What made our wedding offbeat: I didn't want to get married ever — while I am committed to my partner, I just didn't like the politics that went with being married, and especially cringe with traditional weddings where people just do things without knowing the historical context. So, when we decided to do something to honour our relationship, we decided to have a 'celebration.' This word was what we used to describe our special day and we wanted to use it as a way to help people realize we were not going to have a 'wedding.'

Continue reading "Vania Sukola's DIY commitment celebration" →