Brittany & Louis' rustic farm wedding with the sweetest heat exhaustion moment ever • Offbeat Wed (was Offbeat Bride)

roman_story_64 copy — Photos by Charles Hildreth, Hildreth Weddings

The Offbeat Bride: Brittany, General Manager of Medical Marijuana Dispensary

Her offbeat partner: Louis, Technical Support and Spanish Translator

Date and location of wedding: Jorgensen Farms in Westerville, OH — August 7, 2014

Our offbeat wedding at a glance:

My nickname is “Damsel” and Louis is a true gentleman, so our hashtag on all social networks is #thegentlemanandthedamsel, which became a working title for our wedding day.

I made all of my own bouquets, boutonnieres, and centerpieces using silk flowers and homemade pinwheels. We thrifted vintage suitcases for extra decorations, and the venue provided fresh herbs for hanging in the barn as a final touch. We printed blank coloring pages from the Choonimals Clothing Company so our guests could have some coloring fun before the reception, and we opted for “Advice Mad Libs” in lieu of a traditional guestbook. My jewelry was handmade by a friend using cruelty-free taxidermy supplies and animal bones.

Instead of waiting until the ceremony to see Louis, we decided to do a “first look” photo op. We wrote each other love letters and stood back-to-back while we read them before the final reveal.

My bouquet included photos of my two grandfathers, my grandmother, and my aunt who had passed. It was a special way to honor and remember those who were watching our big day from heaven.

My husband is Puerto Rican, so it was very important to me that we include some of his Latino heritage in our wedding. I wrote the vows for both of us, but he said his in Spanish and I said mine in English.

Tell us about the ceremony:

For our binding ceremony, we collected soil from Louis' childhood home in Puerto Rico and my childhood home in Wisconsin. Our unity was symbolized through the pouring of two individual containers of soil. As the two containers of soil were added to the young tree, the individual containers of soil ceased to exist, and were joined together as one. We plan to nurture the tree and watch it grow together for years to come, just as we will nurture our relationship and watch it grow together from that day forward.

I didn't want to do a traditional wedding program, so I made a special graphic representation of our love story and printed it on heavy stock paper. I then glued sticks onto those so our guests could fan themselves during the warm, summer ceremony.

In the middle of the ceremony, I had a sudden wave of heat exhaustion and felt faint. We ended up sitting down right after our exchange of rings and remained there for an entire song. At first I was mortified, but as Louis fanned me and we shared a few giggles, my embarrassment was replaced with gratitude. It was a happy accident, but it ended up being my favorite part of the ceremony, and my favorite photos from the whole day.

Tell us about your reception:

Instead of a cake, we decided to go with a cheaper, more unique dessert option. We had delicious dessert waffles with different topping options including ice cream, fresh fruit, chocolate, whipped cream, caramel, and more. The waffles were provided from our friend's food truck, Hashtag Waffles.

It was really important to us that everyone who attended felt like they were an important part of our celebration. So, we wanted to share our first dance with everyone in the form of a wedding flash mob! We choreographed a short, very simple eight-step dance and taught it to our bridal party that morning. We advised them that during our first dance when the music changed they should join us on the dance floor with that routine as we tried to gather the rest of the guests in to join us.

What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding? Any other advice for Offbeat Bride readers?

When we started wedding planning, I couldn't believe how much the average wedding costs. We had a very limited budget and spending $2,000 on flowers was just not an option for us. I sat down and decided what three things were most important to me about the wedding day, and those three things I was allowed to splurge on a little bit. Everything else would have to be handmade, borrowed, or thrifted. For me, the venue, photographer, and videographer were the most important things. I wanted a venue that would fit our personal style and taste, as well as creative artists who could capture our unique day in a way that would showcase what we were all really gathering for: true love.