Sonja & Wade's original, retro, steamPUNK DIY wedding • Offbeat Wed (was Offbeat Bride)

When I saw this wedding in the OBB Flickr Pool, I was like “OMG! I must know everything about this amazing red haired, punk rock, mohawk wedding! EVERYTHING!” And it was WAY awesomer than I thought — there is a body modification ceremony, co-mohawks, the Looney Tunes theme song, and a DIY cake. As Ariel said recently, while all of us love all kinds of Offbeat weddings, we, also, all have our own fantastic brand of Offbeat. This is mine, y'all! Enjoy! – Becca

The offbeat bride: Sonja

Her offbeat partner: Wade, senior developer for Wolfgans Vault

Location & date of wedding: Spoontonics Lounge, Walnut Creek, CA — November 15, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: I threw out tradition and invited creativity and sentimentality. No stuffiness, just pure joy, celebrating the miracle of our love.

The ceremony was performed by a dear friend and written about the most romantic moment in our courtship.

The cutting of the cake included a battle axe, the top layer smashed in my face and a full fledged cake fight! We made a disaster of the floor and our faces. It was a blast!

We set out memorial candles with name cards and a Book Of The Dead for all our loved ones who have passed. That way they had a place reserved and an open invitation to join us on our special day.

Guests were encouraged to dress however they felt, so we had zombies to represent our love of horror. We had parents and uncles drinking with goth chics, nerds, 1980's divas, side show freaks, a famous horror spokeswomen, rockabilliys, bikers, and corseted sex-pots!

Tell us about the ceremony: The ceremony was written around body modification. Wade had me use a scalpel to carve MY chest scars into HIS chest. He said that they are the reason I am still alive and was able to meet and fall in love with him. Therefore, he wanted to have a permanent reminder of just how special our love is. (So romantic!) The story was no surprise to those that knew us and tears were a plenty.

As we were pronounced husband and wife, the bar became an uproar. We told everyone to bring a camera since we has no photographer, but we had no way of foreseeing the onslaught of flashes to come!

Our exit song was the theme to Looney Toons, which brought plenty of laughter.

Our biggest challenge: I baked my own cake, and there was an error with the fondant the morning of the wedding. My heart started the anxiety train, but our best man calmed me down and got me focused again. With a little help, we were able to fix it well enough for me to be happy with it.

My favorite moment: Since we'd only known each other two and a half months, some thought it was a bit soon to marry. But we each knew the moment we met, that this was it. We convinced the house of that with our vows. They were the absolute most wonderful moment for me. We each wrote our own and the amount of love he professed almost dropped me to my knees. He's such an eloquent writer — there wasn't a dry eye in the house! This is the kind of love you see in the movies! [Intern's note: This wedding happend in 2008. They've been married for two years now! Take that, doubters.]

My funniest moment: The cake fight was by far the funniest moment of the reception! I had cake up my nose; he had it in his ears! It was amazing. And when we got the pictures back, seeing the looks on the guests faces was priceless!

Was there anything you were sure was going to be a total disaster that unexpectedly turned out great? When I went to get ready for the reception, I realized I forgot my blow dryer! Our thing was: hair down during ceremony, hair up for reception. Well, my mohawk won't go up without a blow dryer because it's soooo long. Luckily a friend of mine helped me with the hairspray to get a decent look. Whew! And in the photos, it turned out looking better than I thought!

My advice for offbeat brides: Let the wedding take a life of its own. Forget perfection and flow with the unexpected! Things WILL happen that you can't foresee, try to enjoy the change! We were supposed to have a first dance , but it turned into a disco dance floor so, we went with it. Your wedding is supposed to be a CELEBRATION of your love, NOT a rigid series of moments without meaning. Drop the “dream” wedding, and grab the Loving Celebration instead!

What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding? I learned that weddings or even events of any kind, can and WILL take on a life of their own. They ebb and flow, and your best bet is just to go with it. You'll find fun and joy if you stay relaxed and let errors happen. Just laugh!!!

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?
The whole wedding cost about $1200!

Outfits: All our outfits were upcycled from thrift store finds, except my blouse by Bebe. My dress was modeled after my great grandmother's who married in 1904. The veil, crown and bouquet were hers! I took her style and made it mine with a touch of punk and a dab of industrial.
Decorations: Since we were marrying on the heels of Halloween, we took advantage of all the sales and decorated in a spooky style on a dime.
Our favors were complimentary barf bags that we made. Everyone said we were so cute it made them sick, so there you have it! Inside we placed a nut and bolt to represent the fact that I've always been nuts, and I finally found my bolt.
Altar painting: Our friend Jen Ann Tonic spun her artistic web and created our altar piece; the painting of us kissing.

So basically, we took things we had around, hit thrift stores, dollar stores, used some scrapbook supplies I already had and a printer. This, with a little imagination, can make for a great wedding!”