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.

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Sonya Nausmann is an Iowa City-based artist who's working on a photography project chronicling 1000 women wearing her wedding gown, the titular Thousand Dollar Dress. Sonya's photography is provocative, and her project offers a pointed commentary on women, marriage, and identity.

Where did the thousand dollar dress come from?
Frankly, it came right off the rack at a Marshall Fields in Minneapolis, Minnesota. My mother took me shopping for the "magic cloth." We looked all day — I had a hard time finding a dress that didn't made me feel like an overly sprinkled cupcake.

Where is the thousand dollar dress going?
The $1,000 dress is going everywhere! Ideally, it will engage in a world wide tour — just like Madonna, minus the virgin. This summer, the dress and I plan to travel to Las Vegas, Texas, California and New York. There are several women in each area who've written via the website and expressed their interest in participating in the project.

Continue reading "Sonya Naumann & The Thousand Dollar Dress" →

When I found Godawful Wedding Crap I was instantly smitten. Here's a blog that highlights the worst wedding paraphernalia on the web, all with a heavy dose of snark tossed in. Offbeat brides need their snark — sometimes it's the only thing that will protect you from the creeping "white blindness" of wedding-planning dementia.

I cornered godawful blogger Riona MacNamara to ask her a few questions about the site and her thoughts on all the bridal detritus that the Wedding Industrial Complex tries to convince brides they need. Read on for her thoughts on toothdix, mermice, and the fine line between offbeat and tacky.

Continue reading "Riona MacNamara of Godawful Wedding Crap" →