Michelle & Jeremy’s Parisian/Zen wedding

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3309806326 8540077bd9 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

The offbeat bride: Michelle, Wedding Coordinator's Assistant & Domestic Goddess

My offbeat partner: Jeremy, Director of Marketing at an Real Estate Website Company

Location & date of wedding: The Historical Mission Inn Hotel and Spa in Riverside, CA – 9/13/08

What made our wedding offbeat: As an assistant to the wedding coordinators at the Mission Inn Hotel and Spa I've seen every boring wedding that can be done- down to the last damn guestbook. We worked very hard to not only keep our wedding different, but to incorporate our personalities the very best we could.

the guys & their feather adorned boutonnières
the guys & their feather adorned boutonnières

Jeremy speaks 6 languages: German, Japanese, French, Spanish, Russian and Vietnamese, but his favorite of all of these if Japanese. We love to collect Japanese antiques and we love to go out to sushi. I love zee Francias and didn't want to give up a little Parisian touch. So we themed the wedding with a zen combination of bamboo, orchids, lanterns and crystals.

2887887623 e82359b03b alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)
The girls picked out their own bridesmaids dresses and chose some really beautiful cocktail length chocolate brown numbers. Jeremy's staple every day is a pair of chuck taylors so we put all of the groomsmen in them. I added little white feathers wherever I could: the bouquet, boutonniere, my maid of honors hair flowers. We strung lanterns across the ceiling of the reception room and used manzanita trees to hang more orchids and crystals. The buffet was wontons and sushi with jasmine rice. Jeremy's cufflinks were gifts from my dear friend Heather last christmas: they're computer keys symbolizing his sexy, uber nerdiness.

We really went all out and since the guest list was kept to 80 instead of 100+ we were able to really make the event personal.

Ctrl+Alt+Deliciously Nerdy - Im in love with these cufflinks!
Ctrl+Alt+Deliciously Nerdy - I'm in love with these cufflinks!
gotta love sassy bridesmaids with parasols!
gotta love sassy bridesmaids with parasols!

Our biggest challenge: Our biggest challenge was overcoming family to be totally honest. It was just impossible to please everyone: we didn't want kids there, his sister wanted to be a bridesmaid, my cousin and aunt were fighting blah blah blah. As supportive and incredible as most of the guests and all of the wedding party are there is just no way to ensure everyone's happiness. We dealt with it the only way we could.

romantic lighting
the romantic lighting

We kept reminding people who the wedding was about and knew that the people worth having in your life would understand.

My favorite moment: My favorite moment was walking the grounds of the Mission Inn with my new husband. We were doing it so that the photographer could get “romantic” shots of us but honestly it was really nice for everyone to disappear for a moment and have it be just him and I.

My offbeat advice: Write your own vows, seriously, it keeps it really personal. Don't forget lighting and when people ask if you want help say yes and find something for them to help with- I'm a huge control freak and I really should've let my girls help out more.

Enough talk — show me the wedding porn:

jeremyjimmichelle

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