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The offbeat bride: Jill, Admin Asst Extraordinaire

Her offbeat partner: Kimeee, Web Admin

Location & date of wedding: Red Apple Farm in Phillipston, MA — 6/27/09

What made our wedding offbeat: The most offbeat thing: the proposal — Kimeee proposed to me at a Halloween event dressed as the Hamburgler and I was dressed as Mr. Peanut… the ring was hidden inside a Big Mac box.

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We didn't have a lot of money nor were all of my family willing to acknowledge or participate, so we knew right from the beginning this was gonna be DIY to the max — just the way we like it. Kim made the Save the Dates and the wedding invites with extra paper we happened to have. We also knew we couldn't afford to pay for a wedding and a honeymoon, so we decided that our friends would understand and we created a site where, instead of giving us gifts, people could donate to our honeymoon if they wanted.

Some of our friends are not dancing enthusiasts so we had games, temporary tattoos, and home made mad libs at all the tables so everyone could have a good time.

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We didn't like the idea of a wedding shower or engagement party so instead we went to a local dive bar, got a bunch of fake mustaches and sang karaoke for a pre-wedding bash.

I wrote the ceremony based on a children's book, tweaked with a few Simpsons references, a promise to provide chocolate ice cream, and even a call and response section where our guests had to yell “woot woot!” I was so worried my older relatives would think we were being to silly but everyone kept saying “that was so you!”

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The proceeds from these stickers went to the fight for marriage equality. Click for more info!

Our biggest challenge: The hardest part was accepting that some very close family members were not going to come to the wedding. Once we realized that was not going to change, we really organized the wedding for us and the people who have supported us.

When you have a gay wedding I feel like there is far less pressure to stick to old fashioned traditions. Many of our older guests had never been to a gay wedding so they honestly didn't know what to expect. So we were able to start from scratch and create some new traditions. We did have to remind ourselves a few times that making the food perfect or the tables really ornate did not affirm that our wedding was just as meaningful as a straight wedding. I knew we had accomplished what we set out to do when everyone kept saying what a wonderful wedding it was.

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My favorite moment: Snuggling with my new wife and reading all the Mad Libs that our guests wrote… and seeing grandmas show off their temporary tattoos!

The custom mad libs.
The custom mad libs.

My offbeat advice: Donation wedding sites are not tacky! I think that parents refusing to attend because there isn't a groom involved is tacky. But there is nothing wrong with telling your friends and family who love you that instead of gifts they can choose to donate so that you can have a honeymoon. Besides, the peeps that made up those TRADITIONAL wedding rules often had their parents shelling out thousands of dollars for one day.

For those of you who take care of everyone else… relax. I promise, if you can have one day where everyone will take care of themselves, make it this day. I spent so much time pre-wedding worrying about old feuds between friends, if the guests in recovery were going to feel comfortable with other guests drinking, etc, etc. But once the day got there everyone was social and smiling and jumping in to help every step of the way. Actually it made me realize I can ask for help more often!

A giant wedding whoopie pie!
A giant wedding whoopie pie!

Make sure to give your bride/groom/partner lots of kisses pre-wedding because you may drive them insane.

Dollar Store!!!! They have tons of goodies.

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?:

  • Dress: Anthropolgie
  • Venue: Red Apple Farm — This is a 3 generations owned apple orchard that has a beautiful barn available for events. The Rose family was so sweet and helpful. And the price was very reasonable!

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