Despite having a lesbian mother AND lesbian mother-in-law, one of the things I love about my work with Offbeat Bride is that I'm always learning about the nuances of labeling, culture, and gender identification. Anyone remember when I got corrected for identifying a gender-queer couple as lesbians? That was an awesome lesson. When I launched the reader survey a couple weeks ago, I got an email from someone expressing concern that I only had two gender boxes for people to check — male and female? DOH! Oversight! I quickly added a "neither/both" category.

In this same vein, over the last couple months we've gotten comments from well-intentioned readers concerned about how we title and label the Real Offbeat Weddings on Offbeat Bride. Here's one example: It's too bad we still feel the need to point out that this was a lesbian wedding (I mean, I can't imagine there are too many people who would say "straight wedding")

Continue reading "Let's talk about labels and self-identifying" →

DIY maven, craft fundraiser for Swap-O-Rama-Rama and OBTer Hawkswine came up with a perfecto way to save some of those wedding cards and correspondence that you can't bear to throw away. This project is original and SUPER simple. We love it! Hawkswine take it awayyyy!! – Offbeat Shrie

We got a ton of wedding and shower cards and I’m sooooo not the sort of person to keep cards around, but pitching them just seemed wrong! I didn’t want them to just sit in some box so I decided to turn them into a book that I can flip through and enjoy memories whenever I’m feeling sentimental (so about once ever 4 or 5 years).

This project was actually pretty easy to execute. Luckily, my two largest cards were about the same size so I used them for the front and back “covers” of the book. Also fortunately, one of the large cards was in my wedding color, powder blue, so it worked out as a great front page!

Continue reading "How to DIY a wedding card keepsake book" →

I have to send a great big 'ol shout-out to OBB reader Nancy for ushering us in the direction of a super (and may I even add "duper?") custom wedding invitation by Anna Rummey who shows us all a thing or two about how to make an awesome wedding invitation when you're "visibly up the duff"…

From Anna's blog:

I drew the birds months ago when I was at my folks, just after we arrived back from London. I had no idea that I was pregnant at the time or about to get married. The invite was a bit cheeky but didn't cause too much of a stir, although I'm pretty sure my dad wrote something completely different when he translated it for our relatives in Poland…

To read more and see her equally incredible "Order of Service" creation click over to Anna's website.

Tracy took her inspiration from Martha Stewart's (all hail Martha!) photo centerpiece idea, winged it and somehow created an awesome, true-to-example DIY centerpiece option! Go Tracy! Only a few materials are needed, and this can be constructed using basic crafting skills (no crazy contractor-style tools needed). – Offbeat Shrie

These are really cute and could be made to accommodate a wide variety of themes, applications and color schemes, and in a range of sizes. They're also pretty easy and relatively cheap to make! They just take a little time and a little creativity.

I couldn't find step-by-step instructions on Martha's project so I took a leap of faith and just tried it out! They turned out beautifully and I couldn't be happier with 'em….

Continue reading "How to DIY your own Martha-esque photo lantern" →

Andrea and Pete are combining two different kinds of awesome into one fabulous wedding: they're trying to pay for their low-budget summer 2010 wedding by recycling 400,000 aluminum cans. In a move that it's both uber-eco-friendly as well as budget minded, they're scouring their city of Spokane, WA to find cans to recycle. I cornered Andrea with a few questions about the project, and she told me all about their motivations, goals, and trebuchet bouquet toss…

Andrea, what made you decide to do this?

Continue reading "Spokane couple aims to recycle 400,000 cans to pay for their wedding" →