Kara & Nicki's Woodsy Weekend Wedding • Offbeat Wed (was Offbeat Bride)

The Offbeat Bride: Kara, Nanny, soon to be grad student and OBT member Kara48.

Her Offbeat Partner: Nicki, Law Student

Location & date of wedding: Log Cabin in Saugatuck, Michigan — March 21, 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: Where to begin? Well, there is the obvious – two brides!

The brides, the man of honor & the bridesmaid/officiant. — The brides, the "man of honor" & the bridesmaid/officiant.

But also there was a black dress, non-matching attendants including a “Man of Honor” and a bridesmaid in slacks. Cocktail hour before the ceremony, we served pizza right out of the box, and pie instead of cake. Origami flowers made from maps. I did my own hair and we both did our own make up. We walked each other down the aisle. Eco-friendly paper plates and thrift store cocktail glasses. Our DJ was an iPod. No bouquet toss or father-daughter dances (we did have a first dance which was one of my favorite moments). A best friend officiant. And it all took place in a log cabin in the middle of the woods.

During the reception some friends gathered around the keyboard and played us a “toast” — they had altered the words to “Come What May” from Moulin Rogue and instead sang “You are Gay, and we love you, on your wedding day…” Another notable lyric — “The christmas lights perfectly light your face, and we won't let all this beer go to waste, we're all here for you…” It was amazing.

The coolest bouquet made out of maps EVAR.

Another pretty offbeat tidbit is that our entire ceremony was a surprise. To the readers we said pick something that reminds you of us. The singers, same thing. Our officiant (and my maid of honor) wrote the entire ceremony herself and we heard it for the first time along with everyone else. Nicki's mom ended up writing us a song! The whole thing was incredible.

Our biggest challenge: Getting everyone to fit in the cabin! And just guest list in general. Once we decided to have the wedding in Michigan, instead of Chicago where we live, we had to cut the guest list dramatically. It ended up working out great — until about mid afternoon on the day when I had a minor panic attack thinking there was no way everyone was going to fit in the room for the ceremony. But cooler heads prevailed, more chairs were brought in and it ended up being super intimate and perfect.

My favorite moment: The whole ceremony was amazing. The surprise factor was just so cool since nothing was expected. Everyone in the room was captivated the entire time — people were vocal, enthralled, grinning, sitting on the edge of their seats.

The moment when Amber (officiant/maid of honor) asked those in attendance, “Upon hearing the vows that these two women will pledge to one another today, will you promise to respect and honor their commitment, and to uphold their marriage with the same validity and recognition that you would for any other consenting, adult human being? If so, please respond ‘We will.'” The response that followed was so loud and so full of energy and love that I immediately just broke down into tears. It was unbelievable. Everyone was so invested. It was awesome.

My advice for other offbeat brides: Try to remember that, when it comes down to it, no one is going to remember most of the little details that you probably spent hours agonizing over — and that's okay! What they will remember is the love and happiness, the grins and hugs and tears of joy.