The average American wedding costs over $25,000 — which is completely insane. I encourage brides to find innovative, thoughtful ways to reduce their bridal budgets, and if you do choose to spend money, spend it on independent vendors and thoughtfully-made merch.
I’m totally all SQUEE-y over these custom offbeat illustrations from butterflieskiss.com.
Donna, the illustrator who runs butterflieskiss.com crafts custom images that you could use on save the dates, wedding invitations, thank you cards, wedding favors … or even wedsites.
Let me let you in on a little secret: I’m tempted to commission Donna’s illustrations for offbeatbride.com! I mean, does it get any more OBB than this lovely inked bride illustration?
Donna does illustrations catered to semi-traditional wedding invitations too, but she’s got amazing images perfectly catered to diverse offbeat brides needs including goth and circus-y/vaudeville brides, lesbian brides, bollywood brides, and even pregnant brides!
And if those wedding-y illustrations too tame for you, Donna has another line — donna-matrix.com, catering to racier images perfect for bachelorette party invites or heck: even your wedding invitation if you’re planning a fetishy wedding. (HOT!)
Donna’s offering 10% off on custom illustrations when you mention offbeatbride.com — so get on that shit, ladies!
And who knows: next time I redesign, you might see some of Donna’s stuff in the header of offbeatbride.com…
I’m all for white dresses, red dresses, blue dresses, purple dresses, but ZOMG I actually gasped out loud when I saw this picture of Kelly Devoto’s fantastical colorful peacock-y wedding dress — which it turns out was actually designed to be a prom dress.
Seriously, it’s like a My Little Pony and Tinkerbell totally got it on nasty-style in a magical rhinestone shop and this dress was their sparkling bastard love child. And I mean that in the very best possible way! I’m totally in love.
I’ve got a detail shot of the bodice and bouquet below, along with the bride’s story of where she got the dress. I’m looking forward to telling you much, much more about this Los Angeles wedding some day in the future.
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We all know I love Wai Ching wedding dresses — but I’ve never seen an entire wedding party decked out in Wai Ching. It’s hot!

Even the groomsgirl got her own coordinated dress:
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So, y’all remember Whitney Lee Photography, right? Whitney’s advertised on Offbeat Bride before, and she’s back … only this time I want to introduce you to her second in command, Leah Muse.
This is actually a small world story, because I’ve read Leah’s blog since 2001. Imagine my surprise then when I realized that now Leah’s assisting one of Austin’s most popular offbeat wedding photographers … what the HUH!?
I remember when Leah called herself TIME GIRL and wore two watches in high school. I remember when Leah grew up, got engaged, and then got married to her hotty rock star husband Taylor.
Anyway, this post isn’t actually about all the things I know about Leah from stalking her online for 7 years. Rather, it’s about the amazing wedding photographs she takes in her work with Whitney Lee…
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So you’re in LA and you want to get married, like, TODAY. Enter Los Angeles wedding officiant Elizabeth Oakes and marriagetogo.com.
Elizabeth is a non-denominational minister and notary public authorized to issue marriage licenses in Los Angeles. She’s conducted weddings in four-seater planes, bait shops, limos, hip-hop clothing stores, In ‘N’ Out Burger, trailer parks, celebrity homes, hospital rooms, The Museum of Jurassic Technology, and about a bazillionty other places.
With the recent shifts in California wedding laws, Elizabeth has been doing a ton of same-sex weddings lately, as you can see from this gorgeous shot of her with a couple on the beach. One of marriagetogo.com’s weddings was recently featured in the New York Times.
Elizabeth can do civil ceremonies, elopements, interfaith ceremonies, non-religious ceremonies, and just about anything else. And for those of you looking for a green eco-wedding, Elizabeth has got you covered:
I am in the midst of developing Zero-Emissions Bike Wedding services, for which I will bike to any local ceremony site on a two-wheeler, lead a half-mile post-ceremony bridal bike parade along the route of the couple’s choice, and make a donation to TreePeople, our local urban-greening program.
For more information about Elizabeth and to get married, uh, TODAY!, head on over to marriagetogo.com.
I am absolutely in love with this head-to-toe striped ensemble. A little goth, a little vaudeville, a little circus — all stunning.
…Perhaps I’m a teeny bit biased — I own a version of the custom bustle jacket by Kambriel that the bride is wearing.
But it’s not just about the jacket — look at that hat! The little adorable top hat! I know this is my second top hat in a week, but I love them! Looks like this one was made by Topsy Turvy Design.
Lots more pictures from this fabulously goth Ohio wedding on acid_poptart’s livejournal.
New England custom design and couture gowns from Seams —
If your dream gown is gold lamé with a 12′ train held by fairies with animatronic wings, Harper from Seams can make it! Specializing in corsets, Harper can also remake vintage and antique gowns. More info at seamstheshop.com.

Everafter Images recently shot Patrick and Kelly’s wonderful eclectic downtown Austin wedding at the Austin Symphony amphitheater. As this shot shows, they definitely tapped into the bride’s sass. Everafter Images’s Raymond Malkiewicz explains, “It was a casual and comfortable wedding – with humor provided by the officiant who started the ceremony with the marriage voice inflection from the movie A Princess Bride. His ‘maiwidge’ generated laughter from guests and wedding party alike.” You can see more wedding porn from this Austin wedding over here.
Everafter Images definitely caters to all sorts of nontraditional brides, with their wedding photography blog currently featuring Renaissance themed Renewal of Vows and a heavily pierced/inked semi-traditional-but-not Jewish wedding.
And these Austin wedding photographers are looking for offbeat brides to photograph — and to prove it, they’re offering a 10% discount to all offbeatbride.com readers! You can get in touch with Raymond and Debra via the Everafter Images website, or call them directly at 512-989-6952. Just mention you found them on offbeatbride.com to get the discount.
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