Tash & Sean's fire hooping flow fest wedding • Offbeat Wed (was Offbeat Bride)

The offbeat bride: Tash, professional hula hooper

Her offbeat partner: Sean, professional hula hooper

Location & date of wedding: Memory Lane Event Center, Dripping Springs, TX — September 16, 2010

What made our wedding offbeat: I, myself, am not a big one for tradition and rituals or the concept of marriage in general. However, this was very important for Sean. We had been committed together as life partners for some time now, and Sean had delightful visions of himself as a groom and husband. Marriage was very important for him, and I couldn't say no to a party where I get to look friggin' fabulous! So even though we knew that we didn't need marriage to validate and define our relationship, keep it together, or somehow transform us into a more “loving” and “legit” couple, we decided to do it anyway, because I love him, he loves me, and why the f@#$ not?

While we were planning the event, Sean and I wrote down our some priorities. Most of the priorities revolved around us looking fabulous (him wearing a top hat and dapper vest and me wearing a dress by Momo Falana and an LED feathered headdress), a first fire dance, involvement of “The Community,” Hula Hoops (fire, glow, and otherwise), and a ceremony that felt sincere. We also had a Queen cover band — which was strangely offbeat for the hippies. Queen is truly us. And so was the lack of icky beer in favor of delicious hard cider!

Sean and my first dance was to David Bowie's “Rock ‘N' Roll Suicide” and we transitioned it into a costume changing fire Show!

Tell us about the ceremony: Our ceremony opened with our cousins and friends lighting incense around the venue and setting the table with a table cloth we acquired from our adventures in Asia.

Our parents had their own entrance. Then Sean and I both had separate entrances where we walked down the aisle to Beats Antique's “Oriental Uno.” It felt like a Gypsy rap battle.

Somewhere amongst the hubbub our officiant Wes “appeared.” We made blooming tea that we served to our parents and each other as a sign of honor. We wrote our own vows that featured a live journal entry I had written about Sean the day we met. It was all very heartwarming. Then we exchanged rings, kissed, and exited to Maynard Ferguson's “Birdland.”

My favorite moment: After the ceremony, food, costume changes, fire, cider, and sangria, I found myself abandoning my hoops and dancing wildly barefoot to the sounds of Queen's “You're My Best Friend.”

I was incredibly sweaty and Sean had removed his dapper vest and fancy shirt, and we were just clutching each other, gesturing wildly and singing at the top of our lungs. Total interpretative dance. It felt so incredibly intimate and out of this world blissful.

Was there anything you were sure was going to be a total disaster that unexpectedly turned out great? Against all odds, Sean looked AMAZING. I must admit, I was beginning to doubt his vision, but he proved me wrong! Let's here it for all the men out there with very particular and confident fashion sense.

We also decided not to do any flowers and I was starting to worry about this as the wedding was approaching. But I loved our illuminated centerpieces made from candles, assorted jars, and spirit flow lights.

My advice for offbeat brides: Ask for discounts. Because Sean and I are The Gyronauts, we're used to selling our fabulousness. We got our photography about half off, managed to get our catering at cost, and got deals with vendors just for asking. Do your research, shop around, and sell yourself! You are worth it. (We also had our wedding on a Thursday, and made sure to mention this, so that helped).

What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding? Do your best and then let go. Do as much as you can to experience and enjoy the present. It's much easier than trying to force the minor details into place the day or minute of. Enjoy!

And when your family is driving you nuts, drink some more champagne and remind yourself of the honeymoon!

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?

Gown and the Maid of Honor's dress: Momo Falana
Tailor: Triana Tailors My gown was a vintage wedding dress that was altered and dyed a pretty peachy gold/pink/blue color. The custom dyed crinoline was separate. I then brought the dress and crinoline to Triana Tailors in Austin and had the seven foot train transformed into a giant bustle and the crinoline was elongated to prevent tummy bunching.
Headdress: Plumed Serpent (who has been featured here and here, is an Offbeat Vendor!) We bought the dress to match the headdress (and Sean's pants). It features long ostrich feathers, vintage rabbit fur, vintage jewelry, and glow-y LED flower lights that can be turned on by the addition of a battery!
Sean's custom Vest: Machete N Sons
Sean's Orange Pants: Etro We found the pants at an outlet mall really early on in the game, and Sean fell in love. So since it's HIS day, we basically tried to piece everything else in the wedding to match these oddly colored burnt orange pants. It was pretty scary, because orange is such a bold choice and most of his outfit was purchased online.
Sean's Top Hat: Gentleman's Emporium The flare on the hat was a combination of a hairpiece from Plumed Serpent, the ribbon from my Momo Falana wedding gown packaging, and silk flowers and tall feathers added by me!
Photographer: Brett Buchanan