Untitled original 5045811159 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)
Photo by Erin McCown.

When I saw Cuba and Anna’s Offbeat Very Community-Oriented Wedding, I about died. Because while I love all manner of Offbeat weddings, there's no denying that Cuba & Anna are MY kind of offbeat. That distinctly West Coast, aging-raver/semi-hippie/kinda-Burner convergence. Their entire wedding was gorgeous, but I was especially struck by Cuba's outfit. So, I asked him to give me the details…


bride laughing groom greenery non traditional alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Cuba, how'd you decide what to wear?

Untitled original 5045925293 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)We wanted a colorful event from the very beginning and took our original inspiration from beautiful Indian weddings, which carried over to our officiant's outfit that Anna also made.

Somewhere along the line we settled on a slightly muted orange and dark purple for our outfits and in particular I wanted mine to look spacey, princely and regal. We paired the fabrics with those used in Anna's dress and the motif was a continuation of our floral theme that was present on our invitations and stage deco and that matched our last name.

KnaCA alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)
Photo by Julia Girardi.
Who made it?

The outfit was a collaborative design between Anna and I but she constructed the entire thing from scratch. And that was after creating her own wedding dress, the outfits for our two children, our officiant's suit and after-party outfits for both of us. She's unbelievable, and f**king crazy! Having all of the outfits made by her was incredibly satisfying and embodied our preference for creations made by our community over things rented or purchased.

Did you encounter any resistance to the outfit?

None at all. Quite the contrary, Anna often had her friend Erin come over to provide moral support when she became frustrated or overwhelmed by the scope of the projects.

Everyone who saw what she was making just loved it and we never heard anything but positive words throughout the entire affair.

cubbanna 097 original alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)
Photo by Chad Clark.

Tell us about all the details — shoes, accessories, jewelry, hair? You had such a great look. MUST KNOW ALL!

Everything else was something of an afterthought after all of the energy put into the clothes. I've been partial to mohawks of various kinds for years and we colored it to match the peacock feathers (yet another sub-theme) in Anna's dress and added a hair wrap for flash.

Untitled original 5046432046 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)
Photo by Jaime Mason.

In the rush to get to the location we actually forgot to pack me more than a single pair of shoes which I wore setting up, during the ceremony and tearing down. Most of the night I danced and roamed in bare feet because they were soaking wet the entire time.

My favorite “accessory” to the outfit was our wedding tattoos on our wrists that we had made in lieu of rings. The design is the Buddhist “Endless Knot” surrounded by a band of flowers in colors chosen to contrast with each other. I didn't want jewelry to detract from our tattoos.


Thanks to Cuba for answering all my questions. To get the full scoop on this sumptuously colorful wedding, head on over mywedding.com‘s Delightfully Engaged blog!

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Comments on This groom’s purple outfit will make you squee

    • Seriously! It makes me regret having bought a white dress. Maybe it’s not to late to dye it purple…

  1. This is one of the most GORGEOUS weddings I’ve ever seen! I’m usually on a more semi-traditional end, but…wow. Just everything about this…wow. Every element of their outfits. Their tattoos. THE DECORATIONS (holy peacock feathers)…his HAIR! I never thought hair would be something I’d be obsessed with in a wedding…this is definitely one I could go on for days about. So rad, so loving, and so obviously them!

  2. I’m astounded by what an amazing job the bride did on all of the outfits!! Serious kudos!

  3. Omg… The picture of them kissing with the hair & the fascinator has to be one of the sexiest EVER! What an amazingly badass couple. I love the way the outfits complimented one another. Simply superb. It’s so sweet how much credit he gives to his wife too. Thanks for getting the scoop. This was an excellent feature! More kickass grooms in the future, please. It’s nice to hear from the partners in crime (and my fiance doesn’t have that glazed over look from showing him another wedding dress. Haha) 🙂

  4. That dress! His outfit! The little girl … it’s all just amazing. Kudos to her for all the work on the outfits and damn, that looks like one fabulous wedding!

  5. Psst…it’s burningman.com
    Editz wouldn’t let me correct that!

    LOVE the photos & outfits! Fabulous!

  6. Personally, I’ve found that I am quite traditional. However, those wedding outfits are freaking awesome!! Everything was so gorgeously detailed and colorful, I love it!

  7. I’m begging to know where the wedding was held and where those gorgeous pictures were taken that look like they are on a castle balcony…

  8. I just love these outfits so much! Is the bride creating clothes for other brides, too? 🙂

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