Some of you may have noticed that the site was, erm, extremely odd last night and this morning, with tons of dead links everywhere and then some exposed code, and nothing working, etc etc.

Well, I'm excited to report that Offbeat Bride has graduated to its own private server. See, traffic's been getting so intense that things were starting to get sluggish, and so the site now has a huge web server all to itself … ensuring that the wedding porn can come atcha lightning fast and without delay.

Unfortunately, the migration to the new server was fraught with bugs and problems — hence the weirdness. But it's all fixed now (hopefully!) and things should be all the way back to normal. Thanks to y'all for your patience with the growing pains!

I've spent most of the weekend geeking out on OBB's new commenting system … proving that really, when it comes right down to it, I am 100% web nerd.

After seeing IntenseDebate commenting tool being used on genderfork.com (an awesome site that, as they say: "…explores androgyny and gender variance through artistic photography and other neat stuff") I decided to try installing the plugin here on OBB.

And OMG, it's awesome! Commenting on OBB just got white hot…

Continue reading "New commenting tools" →

For those of you who don't want to be old fashioned and type offbeatbride.com into your browser window every day, there are now a metric shit-ton of ways to keep up with Offbeat posts:

1. Get your wedding fix tweeted to you via @offbeatbride on Twitter, where Offbeat Intern Megan tweets a link to each post and other interesting tidbits.
2. Keep up by friending OBB on Facebook, with links to each post and little personal updates and gossip from me.
3. For the Feed Reader geeks in the house, there's always RSS. If you've never heard of RSS before, it's awesome and will change the way you read blogs. This video gives you a great introduction.
4. LiveJournal users can follow along on LJ, although sometimes (like today!) posts will get a little mangled by LJ's feed importer.
5. Want to read on your mobile? I can do that!
6. If you're mostly an email person, you can enter your email address below to get an email whenever the site is updated:

(By the way: I had an earlier version of an email subscription list … and the service I was using went kaput. Sadly, you'll need to sign up again if you want to continue reading updates. )

Big announcement from me today: I'm three months pregnant! Andreas and I couldn't be more excited … I'm due December 1st.

(And yes: I already have offbeatmama.com registered, along with offbeatcareer.com, offbeatwife.com, and the umbrella URL, offbeatlife.com. I haven't decided what if anything I'm doing with any of them — I can barely keep up with Offbeat Bride, and the prospect of adding more sites while also adding a baby to the equation feels completely unfeasible. But we'll seeeee.)

Update September 2009:
OFFBEAT MAMA HAS BEEN BORN!

You likely won't notice many changes around here, although you may notice a few less posts from me and a few more from Offbeat Intern Megan and Offbeat Alum Shrie … but for the most part ain't nuthing changing on Offbeat Bride, despite my now being Offbeat Knocked Up.

Hey, ladies! I got back at midnight last night after being in LA for several days pitching the Offbeat Bride tv show to networks. Now I'm diving into an insane week of work … so posting will be lighter from me this week as I try to get caught up. My beloved Offbeat Intern Megan will be keeping y'all entertained with fresh Real Offbeat Weddings, though … so never fear!