Dana & Timothy's Americana harvest themed wedding

The Offbeat Bride: Dana

Her Offbeat Partner: Timothy

Location & date of wedding: Sonoma, CA. The Ceremony was at St. Andrews Church (outside surrounded by horses) and the Reception at Wolf House Jack London Lodge, Glen Ellen, CA. — October 10, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: We made the decision to have a wedding ceremony much to my husbands objections. He would have prefferred eloping. But, I needed the ritual of a wedding. So we ventured into the wedding planning craze, and a year later my husband, with tears in his eyes, thanked me for insisting on the tradition of a wedding ceremony.

We focused on what was truly part of our individual personage and what we were as a union. We fell in love in Sonoma, CA., so Sonoma was where we tied the knot. The ceremony was the first ceremony to be held outside of St. Andrews Preysbertian church. The decorations were grapevines, pumpkins, a horse pasture and an old cross set up to honor a survivor of a fire that destroyed the original church.

The groom and groomsmen wore western attire and cowboy boots from Western Emporium. An old tyme American music band played as guest entered. The wedding party and bride entered to music of Sigor Ros' Olsen Olsen and march out to Saeglopur.

To start the ceremony the bridesmaids gave the bride peices of their bouquet to compose the bridal bouquet — symbolizing their support and hopes for the bride. The brides mother sealed the deal by wrapping a piece of her own wedding dress around the bouquet. The flowers were all arranged by a friend and purchased the day of at the Flower Mart in San Francisco. Wheat was the common theme in the bouquets but each bouquet was arranged with a flower chosen by the bride to accent each individual.

The reception was held on a patio, beside a creek in Glen Ellen. Each centerpiece was hand crafted out of aluminum pots, moss, manzanita branches and baby food jars as votives. Each table had burlap as a table runner with rocks scattered across each table. And the cake was from SAFEWAY. Yummy and cheap! Not a piece was left.

The day after the wedding the bride and groom had a private handfasting ceremony at a labrynth in Somoma. This is where they privately wove their intentions into their union.

Our biggest challenge: Cost. How to have an affordable wedding in the middle of wine country? Our wedding budget doubled in the first six months of planning. We focused on DIY projects. The groom worked in the film business so a couple of friends shot the wedding as a gift. My cousin DJ-d our reception from his computer. All flowers and centerpeices were hand crafted. The groom and groomsmen attire purchased from an online costume shop.

My favorite moment: I have three:

• The way my husband looked at me when he promised forever. His eyes glistening.

• Our first dance to The Avett Brothers "Swept Away".

• Our nephew of seven-years-old breakdancing with our photographer.

Care to share any vendor/shopping links?:

• Photographer: Rachel Balunsat

My advice for other offbeat brides: Create Create Create.

Enough talk — show me the wedding porn!: