Category Archive

wedding industry

Ariel Meadow Stallings scaled alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

A letter to our vendor community about the future of Offbeat Wed 💌

Hey, vendor friends! It’s me, Ariel, the publisher of Offbeat Wed. I wanted to reach out today and let you know how I’m seeing Offbeat Wed evolving in 2024 — because it has big impacts on you.

JC Lemon Photography seen in the New York Times as seen on Offbeat Wed. scaled e1692223263891 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Offbeat Wed in the New York Times: How to Find Wedding Vendors That Celebrate Inclusion

I was interviewed recently for a story in the New York Times about how to find inclusive wedding vendors who align with your values. I hate that the 2023 Supreme Court ruling made this issue something that we need to talk about, but I’m honored to get to speak up on behalf of those of us in the wedding industry willing to take a strong stance around inclusivity.

inclusive marketing for wedding vendors on offbeat wed alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Inclusive marketing for wedding vendors ready to be AWESOME

It’s 2023, and we like to think that wedding vendors know better than to assume that all folks getting married are straight, right? But when it comes to inclusive marketing for wedding vendors, remembering that some folks are LGBTQ is just the beginning…

how to become a wedding planner alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

How to become a wedding planner, by an offbeat wedding planner

After planning a commitment ceremony for myself and seeing how difficult it was for gay weddings in 2010, I’ve been wanting to get involved and be a gay planner for several years. I can’t quit my day job while getting there though. But with all of this quarantine free time, I thought it would be good to start looking into it…

Why I'm putting down the wedding clickbait

Why I’m putting down the wedding clickbait

It’s not too long now until the love of my life and I get married and promise to tolerate one another until one of us dies, and I have reached the conclusion that I need to stop reading wedding clickbait. They’re making anything other than a courthouse wedding seem ill-advised. You know that I wasn’t ready for?

“What’s your wedding hashtag going to be?”

Bait-and-switch brides: would you lie to vendors to get a better deal?

Bait-and-switch brides: would you lie to vendors to get a better deal?

If you’re planning a wedding, you’ve probably realized just how much wedding vendors will mark up their prices when they know it’s for a wedding. You may be pretty peeved that you’re having to pay a “wedding tax” for something that would cost less on any other kind of occasion. But in most cases, these extra costs are incurred with good reason. Despite this, some couples are trying to snag a better deal from their vendors by withholding the fact that the service will be used for a wedding instead of, say, a vow renewal, family party, or similar. We’ve heard these called “bait-and-switch brides.”