Sariah & Josh's rainbow glow stick island wedding #Real Weddings: Southern US#beach#breakfast-for-dinner#dry wedding#fall weddings#georgia#outdoor#paper flowers#rainbow#secular#tattooed bride#tent#vow examples#wedding weekend Updated Mar 15 2021 (Posted Mar 25 2013) Offbeat Editors Photos by: Twisted Driver Photos by Sean and Sue McCarthy The Offbeat Bride: Sariah, actor/student Her offbeat partner: Josh, trade's helper Date and location of wedding: Tybee Island Lighthouse, Tybee Island, GA — September 8, 2012 Our offbeat wedding at a glance: The wedding started out as a one-day affair, but quickly turned into a weekend party. Most of our guests came in from out-of-town and I am so thankful that we got to spend so much time with them. We had a rehearsal dinner/cook-out party the night before. Then we had the wedding, with the bars and beach afterward. And then lunch dates the next morning. It was a great, non-stop celebration with the people that meant the most to us. We chose Tybee Island because we went there the first night we met. It's a beautiful island, and we wouldn't have had our wedding anywhere else. We were lucky enough to find the Lighthouse where we could have the ceremony and the reception. And there was so much natural beauty on the island that we barely needed to decorate. We collected wine bottles from everyone we knew for a year to make our centerpieces. My bridesmaids filled them with sand that morning and we spent a few days before the wedding tea-staining the paper for the "messages in a bottle." I made my bouquet and my bridesmaids' flowers over many episodes of Buffy. Our friends and family all came together with their crafting abilities, help, and advice. It was a wedding made by a village. Our catering was a delicious "brinner" (breakfast for dinner) of bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits, spinach, egg, and cheese biscuits, hash browns, fresh fruit, and water and sweet tea. It was a dry wedding, and our reception turned into turned into a glow stick dance party under the stars. Everyone had glow sticks on all night. After the reception, we all went back to the hotel and changed. Then we went out to the bars on the island and hung out on the beach and the pier with our friends until around 2:00 in the morning. The next morning we saw everyone off and got to grab lunch with some friends before starting our honeymoon. I still can't believe how much time we actually got to spend with all of our guests. Tell us about the ceremony: We kept the ceremony short, sweet, and secular. Our officiant was a good friend that was already ordained online. I loved having a friend that had helped us grow together and was so close to both of us be the one to stand with us and help us make our family. Our sister-in-law read from Plato's Symposium, and our officiant read the ceremony out of a copy of "The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." We wrote our own vows and had officiant-led vows. I loved having the two sets of vows because we were able to get creative and express how we felt about each other, but also have that tradition and shared promises that so many weddings before us had. My brother is only 10 years old and I really wanted to include him in the ceremony. We didn't have a flower girl or a ring bearer, but my brother held onto Josh's ring in a plastic Pokeball. Josh didn't write his vows, but instead chose to improvise them. I chose to write my vows down and keep them tucked in my dress for safe keeping. I didn't think through to the part where I would be pulling a piece of paper out of my cleavage. There's a section of my vows that I still say to Josh all the time and really show the type of people we are: "You're the Ash to my Misty, the Link to my Zelda, the Tuxedo Mask to my Sailor Moon, and the Lily to my Marshall." Our biggest challenge: Finances were a huge challenge for us. Our families couldn't contribute much, and we knew going into it that we would be paying for just about everything ourselves. We quickly cut out all unnecessary traditions and expenses and focused on the bare minimum: food, location, and places to sit. Luckily, we have a huge group of talented and supportive people who really made the day come together. We didn't have to spend money we didn't have. We stuck with our budget (okay, so we went over a little bit) and had a weekend of fun, love, and community. My favorite moment: After the ceremony and our freak rain storm, a beautiful rainbow appeared right by the Lighthouse. The rain and some vendor difficulties really cut into picture time for the two of us, but this glorious rainbow made for some sweet photos. One of my favorite moments of the wedding weekend was the night before the wedding. I insisted on Josh and I sleeping in separate locations, so I stayed the night in the hotel we had blocked off for our friends and family. Josh and most of his groomsmen stayed at our house the night before, and I don't even want to know what shenanigans went down that night. But I loved going two doors down to hang out with my aunt and cousins, smoking cigarettes and drinking on the beach with my dad, and sharing a hotel room with four of my closest friends. They say you should get a good night's rest the night before, but we may have stayed up until 4:00 a.m. WORTH IT! My funniest moment: The ceremony had just started, and here comes this white cat down the aisle like he owns the place. He sat down on a chair next to one of Josh's cousins and watched the entire ceremony. He then stayed for the reception, also in a chair at a table. The cat was also included in the glow stick dance party. I still don't know where that cat came from, but he was a great unexpected guest. My advice for Offbeat Brides: Don't feel bad if sometimes the planning gets to be too much. It's overwhelming. There's a lot to do and a lot of people and a lot of changes. It's okay to have a moment. Don't feel guilty about it. Take a breath or a shot or a good cry. You'll feel so much better. Care to share a few vendor/shopping links? Catering: Thrive, A Carry Out Cafe Photography: Sean and Sue McCarthy Dress: Forever Yours Alterations: Bridal Mart Tent, table, and chair rental: Classic Party Rentals Day-of coordinator and videographer: Lauren Leasure Cake: Cake It Away! Venue: The Tybee Island Lighthouse Enough talk — show me the wedding porn! PREVIOUS Gears, skulls, and bikes: Odd Lot Weddings has your wedding invitations NEXT Reader round-up: Dinos, cakes, hoops, and dresses that'll make you say WHOA! Show/Hide comments [ 25 ] You guys take the best pictures! Love all the laughter. 🙂 The rainbow colors look like so much fun too. Congrats! Reply OMG LOVE IT! What a gorgeous location. And Brinner! I love it, we're doing that for our reception too. 😀 Reply So delicious and so much more affordable! Reply That corset-lacing picture is fantastic! Reply It made me laugh out loud at work. I totally know that feeling. 😀 Reply The cat crashing your wedding is awesome! What a great wedding – thank you so much for sharing the rainbow. 🙂 Reply If you've gotta have a wedding crasher, it should be a cat. They own the world, anyway. Reply My heart aches for a vacation to Tybee. DREAMS! Wedding brinner for ze win! Your's looks amazing. The cat story is one of the best things in all of history. Reply Last photo by the lighthouse is my favorite. Lovely color contrast and gives a real sense of the place. Reply Love this, complete with the rainbow in the first shot! Reply LOVE your centerpiece idea… and might be a great way to utilize the boozers in my family! Reply It really is! You're already paying to drink the booze, might as well utilize the pretty bottles too! Reply The bride on the beach pics made me drool and melt all at the same time! Gorgeous all around! Happy forevers 🙂 Reply Thanks so much, everybody! I'm just thrilled that we were able to share our wedding! It wouldn't have been so awesome without Offbeat Bride!! Reply OMG THAT'S MY CAT! Macky how did you get to Tybee Island without me??? Ok not really — but that cat looks like just like him! I never thought I'd see another white cat with apricot markings like mine has. Reply There's so much happiness and laughter in those photos; I was literally grinning from ear to ear while looking at them. I love the paper flowers and the pokeball ringbox especially! What a gorgeous wedding. Congrats! Reply ha, these are awesome! Reply Was your friend/officiant only ordained online? Reply The cat! Lol that cat is the best wedding crasher! Reply Yes, I agreed. Even they do the same thing at my marriage. Reply My parents retired to Tybee Island after falling in love visiting me at SCAD. This wedding is still talked about she says. You'll hear 'rainbow wedding' around town. It also goes to any colorful SCADies who get married out there. I'll be back there in May to see them 🙂 Reply That's so sweet to hear. I still live here and I haven't heard anyone talk about my rainbow wedding, but I do live two islands over so it could be that! I hope it can be good inspiration for any like-minded individuals living in Savannah. Reply Several years later update: Although the marriage did not last (we were divorced almost 2 years ago), it was still a beautiful wedding. I won't be asking OBB to take this page down with hopes that it can still be good rainbow inspiration. Reply I'm so sorry to hear that! You're right, though, it will always be a gorgeous wedding. <3 Reply me and my wife had are wedding the same day we never knew there was a bug for real called love bugs and that they love white we both was in it lol sorry it didn't last Reply Join the conversation Cancel ReplyYour 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.
You guys take the best pictures! Love all the laughter. 🙂 The rainbow colors look like so much fun too. Congrats! Reply
OMG LOVE IT! What a gorgeous location. And Brinner! I love it, we're doing that for our reception too. 😀 Reply
The cat crashing your wedding is awesome! What a great wedding – thank you so much for sharing the rainbow. 🙂 Reply
My heart aches for a vacation to Tybee. DREAMS! Wedding brinner for ze win! Your's looks amazing. The cat story is one of the best things in all of history. Reply
Last photo by the lighthouse is my favorite. Lovely color contrast and gives a real sense of the place. Reply
It really is! You're already paying to drink the booze, might as well utilize the pretty bottles too! Reply
The bride on the beach pics made me drool and melt all at the same time! Gorgeous all around! Happy forevers 🙂 Reply
Thanks so much, everybody! I'm just thrilled that we were able to share our wedding! It wouldn't have been so awesome without Offbeat Bride!! Reply
OMG THAT'S MY CAT! Macky how did you get to Tybee Island without me??? Ok not really — but that cat looks like just like him! I never thought I'd see another white cat with apricot markings like mine has. Reply
There's so much happiness and laughter in those photos; I was literally grinning from ear to ear while looking at them. I love the paper flowers and the pokeball ringbox especially! What a gorgeous wedding. Congrats! Reply
My parents retired to Tybee Island after falling in love visiting me at SCAD. This wedding is still talked about she says. You'll hear 'rainbow wedding' around town. It also goes to any colorful SCADies who get married out there. I'll be back there in May to see them 🙂 Reply
That's so sweet to hear. I still live here and I haven't heard anyone talk about my rainbow wedding, but I do live two islands over so it could be that! I hope it can be good inspiration for any like-minded individuals living in Savannah. Reply
Several years later update: Although the marriage did not last (we were divorced almost 2 years ago), it was still a beautiful wedding. I won't be asking OBB to take this page down with hopes that it can still be good rainbow inspiration. Reply
me and my wife had are wedding the same day we never knew there was a bug for real called love bugs and that they love white we both was in it lol sorry it didn't last Reply