Celeste & Jason's geeky, vegan, sci-fi extravaganza • Offbeat Wed (was Offbeat Bride)

The offbeat bride: Celeste, Fandomania Assistant Editor and Podcast Co-Host (and OBT member)

Her offbeat partner: Jason, Online Comics/Collectibles Store Owner and Fandomania Managing Editor and Podcast Co-Host

Location & date of wedding: Orlando Science Center, Orlando, FL — 11.14.09

What made our wedding offbeat: We are both extremely geeky (we met at a convention while Jason was running the Joss Whedon programming track), which is why we chose the Orlando Science Center, specifically the Dino Digs room, as our venue.

Our geekiness showed subtly during the ceremony via the processionals (“Many Meetings” from LOTR and “Admiral and Commander” from Battlestar Galactica), along with the inclusion of G'Kar's “Declaration of Principles” from Babylon 5 as one of our ceremony readings (and we even got the guests to say “So Say We All!”). Also, our titanium wedding bands are engraved with the words “I know” (Star Wars reference).

Some other things that made the ceremony kind of “offbeat,” at least by probably most people's standards, were that it was not religious, we walked down the aisle together, I had a Best Man and Jason had a Best Woman, and I didn't change my name.

Each table at our reception was named after a fictional location from TV, movies, books, and video games (e.g., Sunnydale, Tatooine, Hogwarts, Rapture), indicated by signs and place cards I designed in Photoshop and printed. Additionally, we had a “First Rock Band Duet” along with our dances, which was a big hit.

Aside from being geeks, we're also both vegetarian, with me being vegan, so it was important to us that the wedding also reflect that. Accordingly, the entire affair was vegan, and everyone raved about the food, including the cake, which more than one person said was the best wedding cake they ever had!

Cake Table & T-Rex — A vegan cake at risk of being attacked by a T Rex!

Our biggest challenge: Definitely reconciling our desires with those of my parents, who were financing the wedding. The biggest issue was the food, as my parents had a hard time at first believing that a vegan meal could satisfy the wedding guests.

Neither of us drink, so originally we also wanted the wedding to be dry, but we compromised on that in order to achieve the more important goal of having a wedding in line with our moral beliefs.

Actually going to the tasting at the caterer's helped allay my parents' fears as well. Our caterer was awesome and provided us with great options.

And in the end, all the guests — even the ones who have given us a hard time before for our dietary choices — complimented the food and were impressed with the quality as well as the variety of food that they didn't expect at a vegan meal.

My favorite moment: There's not really one particular moment that stands out. The whole night was fabulous; having all our friends and family there supporting us and giving us so much love was amazing. Almost everyone came from out of town, some from out of state, to attend our wedding, so we really appreciated their being there. Since it was a relatively small group (just under eighty), we were able to spend at least a little time with each guest (of course, not as long as we would have liked!).

My offbeat advice: There is nothing wrong with following traditions as long as you understand why you're doing it. Following them blindly is not following them at all. This is basically the way I look at everything in life, but it was especially difficult during the wedding planning because EVERYTHING to do with weddings supposedly already has a “right way” of being done, and everyone has an opinion on what that is.

Being yourself should always be the goal. You may have to make allowances to expand that to include other people involved in the wedding as we did, but you should not have to compromise any major part of yourself for your wedding. Conversely, you shouldn't feel like you need to buck every tradition just because it's a tradition. If you like it and it makes sense to you, then go for it. If it doesn't, then scrap it. That's my advice for wedding planning and for life. =)

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?

Dress: Maggie Sottero
Best Woman & Bridesmaids: Victoria's Secret Convertible Dress
Groom & Groomsmen: Men's Wearhouse
Groom & Best Man's Ties: K&G Fashion Superstore
Custom Chucks: Converse.com
Titanium Wedding Bands: e-WeddingBands.com
Caterer: Puff ‘n Stuff
Vegan Cake: The Sugar Suite
Officiant: Renee Silverman
DJ: Maria Shafer
Photographer: Photography by Greg
Videographer: Elegante Films
Bouquets/Boutonnières, Ceremony/Head Table Backdrop, & Centerpieces: Carly Ane's Floral Studio