Paige & Elliot's woodland secular Scottish wedding • Offbeat Wed (was Offbeat Bride)

Holy shitballs, this wedding is amazing — wonderful big, poofy, black and white dress, the Star Wars theme played on a bagpipe, Violin groom's cake, and, of course, lots-o-kilts for day 4 of Kilt Week. – Becca

The offbeat bride: Paige, Website Dev. and Graphic Designer (and Tribe member)

Her offbeat partner: Elliot, Bassist and furniture salesman

Location & date of wedding: Patapsco Valley State Park, Maryland — October 10, 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: Our wedding was an interesting mix of traditions and weirdness. Sure, I walked down what you might call an aisle with my parents. I did it to a bagpipe rendition of the Star Wars theme.

My bridesmaids chose their own dresses within a basic theme. I wore a huge black and white confection of a dress and a feathered hat that earned me the title of Pirate Queen (I made the feather hat myself). The Mister wore a custom-made kilt with his family tartan. Here's non-traditional for ya: his outfit cost about three times what mine did.

We let the woods take care of most of the decorating for us. Though we did take four months over the summer to hand fold 1000 origami cranes.

I did all the flowers the night before the wedding.

Instead of a unity candle, we lit a unity Jack-O-Lantern.

We did everything our way 100%, and though it was a lot of work and a lot of stress right up until the last minute, everything came together perfectly.

Tell us about the ceremony: Our ceremony was short and sweet. Neither of us is religious, so we incorporated quotes from some of our favorites in science, philosophy, and literature. Our “Brofficiant” prepared a wonderful intro and closing to the ceremony, just the right amount of funny and sweet.

Our biggest challenge: I was working full time, but I was sure I could be super DIY queen and handle everything myself. No, no, no! I took on too much and was at my wit's end the day of the wedding. Luckily, I had some wonderful bridesmaids and a fabulous friend acting as coordinator who told me to chill and breathe.

My favorite moment: My meaningful moment: You mean, besides the getting married to my favorite person ever, in the company of family and friends? Well, Ell's brother was our officiant, and we wrote our own vows. In true geek form, we quoted Carl Sagan, Nietzsche, and Jack Kerouac to supplement our heartfelt original content. Laughter, tears, and “awwws” all happened in the course of the ceremony. Success!

My funniest moment: My husband likes to relay the story of my big entrance. I arrive, step out of the limo, and my parents and I are getting situated to get our walk on. The guests are sitting quietly, trying to be prim and proper since this IS a wedding and all. I start walking, and the bagpiper begins the processional: the Star Wars main theme. The mood in the crowd immediately loosens, everyone giggles and relaxes.

My personal favorite was after we'd said our vows and our Officiant, Ell's brother, is pronouncing us. He said to me something along the lines of, “Do you take my idiot brother…” and the whole wedding party lost it.

Was there anything you were sure was going to be a total disaster that unexpectedly turned out great? It threatened to rain that morning. We had a big pavilion, so it would not have been the end of the world, but it would have seriously put a damper on things. Luckily, the drizzle stopped just as the wedding started.

My advice for offbeat brides: Remember, this day is about you and your partner first. Don't be afraid to try the DIY option — I was pleasantly surprised with my results and it felt great to be making things for my special day. Last but not least, let people help you if they offer. You absolutely cannot do it all! I almost went stark raving mad trying. You'd be surprised how something small can really ruin you day when you have all the responsibility.

Have you been married before and if so, what did you do differently? BWHAHAHAHA! I mean, yes. I was married once before, when I was 21, to a Mormon Canadian. Short answer: I did everything differently this time. That might be because I had almost zero say in how things went down in my first wedding. It was very traditionally dictated — I tried to please all the parents and him before myself. Le sigh.

What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding? In putting this crazy shindig together, I realized my husband and I are an unstoppable force together. We're each other's balance and strength. I chose wisely.