We've featured tons of non-floral bouquet alternatives, but here's one alternative I think we'll be seeing more of in the future: Rachael's bridesmaids carried red glass lanterns instead bouquets … and the result was stunning…

Rachel had a TON of a great details at her red & black wedding. Check out all the photos here, and be expecting a full profile in the near future! Oh, and if you're inspired by the lantern idea, you can find a few here.

So, here's the deal: you're ready to marry your sweety. You would propose, but you think they may already be planning something and you don't want to step on their proposal planny toes. What do you do? Sit around and wait? HELL NO! You follow Shelby's example here and make a video letting your partner know, "I Am Ready":

The video was filmed by Audre Rae Photography, and the music is "Wonder-Dummied" by Brooke Waggoner.

While perusing the OBT, as I do, I often come upon brides using pins as creative ways to personalize their weddings. OBT member "Reenie" (of "comic book style wedding invite" fame) posted in her wedding update that she's DIYing the boutenniers for the guys and has accented them with cool/nerdy pins [see right]. And it struck me that pins are definitely becoming a full on offbeat trend…

Continue reading "Wedding pins and buttons personalize the heck out of your wedding day" →

Offbeat Bride Carolyn Cambell has a great spin the mustache wedding trend:

As she says:

When I was making the programs/fans, I didn't know what to put on the back, so I thought about what I wanted to see when I looked out at the crowd. Of course! My aunt with a mustache.

For more photos of Carolyn's "Schwartz + Campbell = Schwambell" wedding, head on over here.

After doing a ton of wedding profiles, I started to notice a recent offbeat wedding trend. Apparently, Jessica McClintock has captured the hearts of offbeat brides this past season with her black and white wedding dresses.

With it's dramatic contrast between black and white  and vintage-style lace, it's like a classic wedding dress with a punk-rock edge. And it's easy to see why brides are having a love affair with these dresses. Of course, in true OBB style, each bride who wore this fabulous dress made completely her own…

Continue reading "Did Jessica McClintock create the perfect offbeat wedding dresses?" →

I just got this email from a reader named Katy, and thought I would share it as part of my Mailbag series…

Recently, I was looking through the offbeat photo pool and came across picture after picture of weddings with ideas I had been throwing around for a while. This cake picture especially caught my eye. Months and months ago I had found a picture of a cake almost exactly like that, the chocolate dripping down, and honestly I fell IN LOVE with it. On another site, I found that exact cake topper. Yep, exact. In my little wedding obsessed mind I had put them together and…VOILA! dream wedding cake! And here it was, at another wedding, another bride's dream wedding cake.

Now at first, I was a little disappointed, I'll admit. It's like my unique, offbeat bride bubble had burst. "But…but…how is my wedding supposed to be unique? I'd wanted that cake! I'd wanted to rent a photo booth! I'd wanted converse shoes! I'd wanted a black dress! Boo!"

But then I thought about it, and I smiled…

Continue reading "Trends vs. Super Awesome Ideas" →

I'm confused by the "trends" that have been emerging with Offbeat Bride. To me, it feels like the concept behind the book and the site are supposed to be "Offbeat = Personally Expressive," but lately it's been more of "Offbeat = Red Dress, Birdcage Veil, & Sneakers."

The message seems like it's getting lost. Instead of people getting swept up in mainstream insanity and wedding ideals, they're doing the exact same thing with the "Offbeat Wedding," like they're trying to fit into the trends. -Anonymous

Hoo-boy! This is something I think about a LOT actually, and it's way bigger than offbeat bride and wedding trends, although that's a part of it. Please, allow me to put on my sociologist hat and pontificate for a moment …

Continue reading "The fallacy of offbeat trends" →

After working on offbeatbride.com for almost two years now (and Offbeat Bride the book for another year before that!) I've started to see some definite trends in offbeat bride styles.

I mean yes: we're all doing our own thang, but there are definitely elements that seem to pop up repeatedly in offbeat weddings.

To celebrate this, I decided that this Halloween I would dress up as, well, YOU! I wanted to see how many offbeat bride trends I could pack into one outfit.

No one in Seattle will get this costume at all — "goth drag queen?" "weird mary poppins?" — but I don't care. I did it for y'all because I love your style.

SO, how many offbeat trends can you see in these shots? We'll start easy: Red wedding dress? Check. Actually a prom dress? Check. Purchased off eBay? Check!

Oh, but there's SO much more…

Continue reading "My halloween costume: YOU!" →