Stacy & Mike’s nerdy after-the-legal-wedding party

The offbeat bride: Stacy, student (and Tribe member)

Her offbeat partner: Mike, imaging clerk for Aviva

Location & date of wedding: Shelterhouse porch on Lake Shawnee, Topeka, KS — October 30, 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: Well, it was strange to some of our friends and family that we had a ceremony following our legal knot-tying.

I wrote the ceremony, which was basically a handfasting with Babylon 5 and The Princess Bride quotes thrown in.

Mike and I threw rock/paper/scissors to determine who said their vows first.

Our two friends who were ordained online weddinged us.

I made our (cup)cake topper from perler beads. I also made all the chili and cupcakes. My mom lovingly made a ton of pumpkin pies and cheese bread.

For favors, we did a candy buffet and used old glassware I had bought second-hand.

Our wedding card box was made from a couple of cheap gift-wrap bags and made to look like Frankenstein.

We didn't really have a theme or set colors. We just did whatever struck our fancy.

Also, my mother was one of my bridesmaids. At first, she wasn't thrilled about the idea, but she finally started getting into her role. My mother is one of my best friends, even if she does drive me nuts occasionally.

Our biggest challenge: I faced some unexpected hostility from friends about our decision to not change my name, as well as Mike having input on our wedding choices. I had expected our families to be more conservative than our friends, but that did not appear to be the case. They had nothing but love and support for us.

We originally had a caterer, but they outsourced our wedding just before we put down a deposit! This did not fly with us, so my mother and I did most of the food.

The biggest hiccup was when I woke up fairly ill on the big day. I got very little accomplished, which was a mixed blessing. It wasn't exactly what we had envisioned, but we also realized there are so many more important things, like each other.

My favorite moment: I had a few. Seeing my Mister all dressed up and him seeing me in the dress for the first time was pretty special.

I really liked playing rock/paper/scissors to see who does the vows first. In fact, the whole ceremony was pretty nice. You could tell where our friends were sitting from the eruption of laughter during the reading of The Princess Bride quote.

Also, our photographer David, made sure to get a picture of just me, my mom, and my dad, which hasn't happened since the divorce.

My advice for offbeat brides: Make sure you write out your game plan. I woke up sick as a dog the day of the wedding. I didn't get to the site until 2pm.

Thankfully, Mike's groomslady is a marvel of organization and got everyone organized and running. I realized I should have had a written out list ready to go. Don't get me wrong, I had a list, but it was on the computer and I was sick enough not to think to tell Mike to find it.

Also, go easy in the beginning! I got a little carried away with getting decorations early. I did end up using most of them, but it is definitely a better idea to scout around and come up with a solid game plan.

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?

• Dress: Maggie Sottero (though mine was used)
• Photos: David Harbert (include inquiry in friend request)
• Ties: Cyberoptix Tie Lab

Enough talk — show me the wedding inspo!

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