Last year, Angela from New York's Milestone Images was just another offbeat bride planning her Chocolate-Themed Amusement Park Jewish-Pagan Handfasting. She recounts, "OBT members helped me brainstorm ideas, and we were this close to playing 'Red Rover, Red Rover' with the wedding party in lieu of a traditional first dance on August 9th, 2008."

And now here she is, back to show off her goods as a New York wedding photographer who travels up and down the East Coast. Here's a quick Q&A between me and Angela…

As a wedding photographer, how do you deal with the potential body image issues brides sometimes have?
There so much weight-related emotional fuckwittage surrounding wedding culture. Forget the images of emaciated cookie-cutter clone brides plastered across wedding magazines everywhere. I want to give a shout-out to my curvaceous, zaftig, Spanx-wearing sexy sistas. As the owner of a double chin myself, I pride myself on knowing the most flattering angles and stealth retouching skills for real women of every size. Real beauty, real people, really gorgeous photography.

Continue reading "Q&A with Angela from Milestone Images" →

I've got this theory about wedding photography and offbeat couples.

See, wedding photographers aren't just doing a service for you. You're also doing a service for them by providing images for use in their portfolios. And, let's be honest, which photos add more to a photographer's body of work: another traditional shot from a traditional wedding or a photo of a couple dressed as astronauts taking flight on their wedding day?

In other words, photos from your offbeat wedding may be of greater business benefit to a photographer … and therefore, photographers may be willing to negotiate a lower price.

I decided to test this theory by asking some of my favorite wedding photographers about their pricing policies and negotiating tips for non-traditional couples. Here's what I learned…

Continue reading "The offbeat advantage negotiating with wedding photographers" →

I recently featured a photo of a bride named Heather wearing her black wedding dress, and a commenter suggested interviewing her. Always one to oblige my readers, I tracked down Heather on Myspace, and fired away a few questions about what it was really like to wear a black wedding dress.

What made you decided on a black dress?
I'd originally bought a white dress about a year before the wedding, but every time I tried it on I didn’t feel like me and I was uncomfortable.

About three weeks before the wedding I was having breakfast with some friends explaining how I felt and I said "Why can't I wear a black dress?"

I wasn’t really considering it but they said, "You can do whatever you want."

That got me thinking, so I went to offbeatbride.com and found other brides in not only black but red, purple, and every other color imaginable.

Continue reading "Black wedding dress advice" →

Last week I introduced you to Dana Jay Bein, the wedding industry's premier male flower girl. First seen at Bobby & Clare's puppet wedding, Dana seemed to be such a hit with y'all, that I decided it was time for a gritty 1-on-1 interview with him.

Dana, was this the realization of a long-time dream?
I never thought I'd have flower girl on my resume … but to be honest I'd never ruled it out. That's just the type of person I am. Anything is possible. I'm open to life's opportunities!

Tell us about your journey to male flower girl.
Bobby (groom/giant) has been one of my best friends since college. We're both comedians so laughter and fun is inherently part of whatever we do.

To be honest, until Claire, I never really imagined Bobby as a married man. So when he told me he was engaged, I knew instantly that this wedding would be different. Deep down, I knew Bobby would have a surprise or two in store for the wedding party.

When Bobby approached me about the wedding, I was open minded and definitely prepared for anything he might propose. I'm used to doing outlandish and ridiculous things on a day to day basis so it was likely that he would up the ante for a special occasion.

To be honest, I don't even think he even asked me. I think he just said, "You're our flower girl."

Continue reading "Dana the male flower girl" →

There are lots of books for different sorts of nontraditional brides — indiebrides, anti-brides, offbeat brides … and now there's a book for DIY brides!

I recently had the chance to interview Khris Cochran, author of The DIY Bride: 40 Fun Projects for Your Ultimate One-of-a-Kind Wedding and editor of diybride.com.

Keep reading for her take on the projects that didn't make it into the book, how to overcome "DIY-er than thou" competitive issues, and what one project even the most enterprising of DIY brides should probably hire someone else to handle.

Continue reading "Khris Cochran, author of DIY Bride" →