Jessica & Mikel's private, sweet, and playful wedding #Real Weddings: Southern US#fall weddings#florida#outdoor#plus size#purple hair#short dress#simple wedding#tattooed bride Updated Oct 12 2015 (Posted Feb 6 2015) Offbeat Editors offbeatbride Photos by Stephanie Whisler The Offbeat Bride: Jessica, hairstylist Her offbeat partner: Mikel, railcar mechanic Date and location of wedding: Treaty Oak, Jacksonville, FL — October 18, 2014 Our offbeat wedding at a glance: We made it as simple as possible. We had our mothers there as witnesses, Mikel's good friend as the officiant, and Mikel's daughter there so our new family could do this together. We wrote our own vows, took photos, and then went to brunch. The reception was the next day so that we could keep the stress levels in check. We had lots of fun choosing purple accessories and I dyed his hair teal and mine bright orange. Tell us about the ceremony: We both wrote our own vows. We did it under a 200-year-old oak tree at 9:30am. The weather was perfect. We had our matching purple, gray, and white Converse sneakers on, he had on purple suspenders and I had a purple petticoat. Our biggest challenge: Because we were having such a small ceremony, we couldn't really reserve the Treaty Oak. We showed up hoping another couple hadn't reserved it for the same time. Turns out we were the second couple of three who had arrived that morning for a quick wedding ceremony! My favorite moment: My beautiful bouquet was a gift from my boss. Having our mothers there was huge because they had both been diagnosed with breast cancer when we got engaged. Riley, Mikel's daughter, was climbing the tree while we took photos and I gave her my bouquet after the reception. We wrote our own vows and actually chose the same closing sentence without realizing it. My funniest moment: Our cake was made the night before as a gift from Mikel's sister. She asked what kind of cake we wanted and without hesitation we both chose "funfetti!" What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding? Focus on each other. All the details and stress of traditional weddings were very unappealing to us, not to mention the outrageous budget required. We kept a small budget (we spent under $5,000 altogether). We chose to spend more money on the honeymoon (London and York!) than the ceremony and reception. Care to share a few vendor/shopping links? Photography: Stephanie Whisler Dress: ModCloth Petticoat: Amazon Shoes: Converse Mikel's suspenders: Hot Topic Enough talk — show me the wedding porn! Reporter Name * Reporter Email * Original text Enter the original text here. Edited text* Enter your suggested copyedit here. Notes You can add a note for the editor here. * Required information. Fix Typo PREVIOUS Use floral-infused ice blocks instead of bags of ice NEXT Handmade shoes for you, from Etsy, for your wedding! Show/Hide comments [ 8 ] York is our favourite city, we're getting married there later this year- I hope you have an awesome honeymoon there. The is a charming teashop called The Little Shambles on the corner of the shambles and the market- they do a really good cream tea if you are peckish 🙂 Reply I LOVE York and Harrogate (lived in Harrogate for 8 years). I went back a few years ago and still miss it. I love the Harrogate Betty's. Reply This is so sweet. You both look so in love and happy. This really moved me. I love the simplicity of it. Reply I love, love, love this. We also want a very small, very simple wedding with just our parents and my grandparents. It's so nice to see such a beautiful, simple ceremony executed so well. Have a wonderful honeymoon!! Reply FUNFETTI! Reply Your hair!!!! I'm in love. 🙂 May I ask what brand/color of dye it is? Orange is my favorite color. Reply It's Goldwell Top Chic 7OO and Elumen KK@all! Reply Does your wedding dress have…. pockets!? Amazing! Reply Join the conversation Cancel Reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Sign me up for your offbeat awesomeness newsletter! No-drama comment policy Part of what makes the Offbeat Empire different is our commitment to civil, constructive commenting. Make sure you're familiar with our no-drama comment policy. Biz owners & wedding bloggers Please just use your real name in your comment, not your business name or blog title. Our comments are not the place to pimp your website. If you want to promote your stuff on Offbeat Bride, join us as an advertiser instead.
York is our favourite city, we're getting married there later this year- I hope you have an awesome honeymoon there. The is a charming teashop called The Little Shambles on the corner of the shambles and the market- they do a really good cream tea if you are peckish 🙂 Reply
I LOVE York and Harrogate (lived in Harrogate for 8 years). I went back a few years ago and still miss it. I love the Harrogate Betty's. Reply
This is so sweet. You both look so in love and happy. This really moved me. I love the simplicity of it. Reply
I love, love, love this. We also want a very small, very simple wedding with just our parents and my grandparents. It's so nice to see such a beautiful, simple ceremony executed so well. Have a wonderful honeymoon!! Reply
Your hair!!!! I'm in love. 🙂 May I ask what brand/color of dye it is? Orange is my favorite color. Reply