I’m totally all SQUEE-y over these custom offbeat illustrations from butterflieskiss.com.

Donna, the illustrator who runs butterflieskiss.com crafts custom images that you could use on save the dates, wedding invitations, thank you cards, wedding favors … or even wedsites.

Let me let you in on a little secret: I’m tempted to commission Donna’s illustrations for offbeatbride.com! I mean, does it get any more OBB than this lovely inked bride illustration?

Donna does illustrations catered to semi-traditional wedding invitations too, but she’s got amazing images perfectly catered to diverse offbeat brides needs including goth and circus-y/vaudeville brides, lesbian brides, bollywood brides, and even pregnant brides!

And if those wedding-y illustrations too tame for you, Donna has another line — donna-matrix.com, catering to racier images perfect for bachelorette party invites or heck: even your wedding invitation if you’re planning a fetishy wedding. (HOT!)

Donna’s offering 10% off on custom illustrations when you mention offbeatbride.com — so get on that shit, ladies!

And who knows: next time I redesign, you might see some of Donna’s stuff in the header of offbeatbride.com…

Look at this awesome pixelated super geeky save the date by Portland designer Cabel Maxfield Sasser.

Cabel wrote a blog post recently about the design elements of his recent wedding, and if you’re looking for some inspiration like a wedding cake with pixelated flowers — RUN DO NOT WALK.

Is there anything cuter/sexier than a graphic design geek dorking out on his wedding designs? I love it. Thanks to Porter from Nearlyweds for sending this my way!

You won’t find many wedding stationers who divide their invites into categories like Rockabilly, Punk, Gothic, and Fetish — Uber Angel is one in a million!

Danni founded Uber Angel (based in the UK) because, as she explains on her about page, while there are a few non-traditional stationers out there, most of them are focused on “black & purple with celtic or mythical elements.” And while sure, that works great for a pagan wedding, it might not work for those of you who want tattoo-themed invites for your rock ‘n’ roll nuptials. In addition to her standard offerings, Danni also does custom commissions.

Offbeat promo: Buy Uber Angel invites and receive a 20% discount on extra stationery, table plans, place cards etc.

Check out Uber Angel and get inspired!

I can’t handle addressing these wedding invitations. Everyone says I should address it to “mr. & mrs. man’s-name last-name” but it pisses me off — addresses like this completely blow past the female component of a relationship. Any ideas for how to be true-to-self without trying to make an in-your-face statement?

I’m not sure what etiquette would advise, but my solution was to skip last names completely on my invites. I addressed them with first names and affectionate titles, ie “Dad & Andrea” (for my father and his gf), “Auntie Cherie & Dave” (for my aunt and her bf), and “Dallas & Erin” (for my married friends). I usually listed whoever I felt like knew better first, i.e. “Susannah & Michael” for my best friend from high school and her husband.

Obviously, your mileage may vary with this technique and it’s probably not up to any sort of etiquette, but it felt like the simple, straightforward solution to me.

Chandeliers are showing up in indie weddings lately — and I don’t just mean literally. I mean sure, there was this amazing (and amazingly expensive) display from photographer Elizabeth Messina’s wedding. I also love these shots of chandeliers in trees.

But chandeliers are also showing up on invites, like the handmade ones here the left from Mary Katherine, these lovely invites from Etsy seller EnfinLaVoila, and these invites from Wedding Paper Divas.

I think the real value in a fancy-ass chandelier comes from the contrast of all that frou-frou-ness in an unexpected environment, like this picture.

Designer Erin Blankley offers wonderfully weird custom wedding invitations as part of her burgeoning design firm, Corndog Industries. Erin’s past custom work is full of inspiring designs like Ouija Board-influenced invites you see here, plus even wilder stuff like coffin-themed and Van Halen rocker invitations. She’s got gentler designs too, of course.

Corndog Industries offers three tiers of pricing options, and is offering a special promotion to offbeat brides with free guest addressed envelope printing with Price Packages A or B. That’s 100-200 smackers off, easy! Just mention Offbeat Bride when you get in touch to take advantage of the discount.

How great would it be to apply this business card concept to your wedding invitations? Thanks to Scunshine for the idea!