Claire & Glyn's pink-tartan punk-rock wedding • Offbeat Wed (was Offbeat Bride)

The offbeat bride: Claire, Graphic Designer

Her offbeat partner: Glyn, Warehouse Manager

Date and location of wedding: Registrars and local hall in Stoke-on-Trent, UK — 04/02/2011

What made our wedding offbeat: My husband and I have been into punk for years and years, long before we both met — although at the tender age of sixteen, I saw him singing in his band ‘The Nukes' in a local pub. It was two decades before I managed to find him again and not long afterwards he proposed to me in the doorway of the same pub.

We love punk, alternative music and bright colours so we wanted this reflected in our wedding.

The wedding invites were in the style of the Sex Pistols' famous yellow and pink album cover and the invites instructed guests NOT to wear any beige or neutral colors — bumflaps/safety pins were an optional extra.

I walked down the aisle to Stayte, one of my all time favorite bands. A celtic punk band called Roughneck Riot played at the reception and our first dance was to “Dirty Old Town.”

Tell us about the ceremony: It was at the local registrar's office with a picture of the Queen on the wall!

I heard the opening note of “If you were mine” by Stayte and walked too fast into the room with my Dad, beaming like a cheshire cat. Glyn was beaming back at me. It was such a blur. I can't remember what happened for the rest of the song.

After the vows, we kissed and cuddled so much. Outside it was like herding cats trying to get all the guests in one big group for a photo — loads of Saturday shoppers sat down to watch and in one photo there's an old lady in the background with her shopping.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29530598@N04/5642388389

Our biggest challenge: We wanted a mix of punk-tartan-style with traditional.

I originally looked for purple tartan items, but it was hard to find stuff for Glyn. So Glyn agreed to wear pink tartan and he found pink tartan trousers and ties for him and his son Ben, who was the best man.

I found a pink tartan corset online and matching shoes from ebay. I bought a pink tartan dress that Glyn's mum took apart and used to brighten up black jackets.

I wanted a more traditional skirt and wrap and spent month searching until I eventually found what I wanted on Etsy.

I had some friends come over from the USA to our wedding, one couple packed their cake tins and spent two days making us a pink tartan wedding cake.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29530598@N04/5643213372/

My favorite moment: Walking down the aisle with my dad while my favorite band was being played and seeing that my stepson had dyed and spiked his hair and all our friends turned out so colorful was amazing .

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29530598@N04/5643217622/

Another favorite song of mine is “Planet Claire” by the B52s — it's also apt as Claire is spelled the same as mine. Glyn had re-written the lyrics of the song to be about me and our Usher, Rob read it out. I knew nothing about this until it happened. You can see the first walk and poem here.

My funniest moment: I was laughing all day — it was non-stop happiness!

Our photographer Laura is awesome and wanted us to pull punk rock poses, so it was hard for all to keep straight faces! My friend Angie shook her fist, which she said she did to her staff at work and that made us cry with laughter!

My friends had hired a bright pink Hummer that had a mini bar inside and disco lights. It was awesome, but it only had wine and Glyn doesn't drink alcohol. So after the ceremony, on the way to the reception, the driver had to stop at the petrol station to get Glyn some pop.

Was there anything you were sure was going to be a total disaster that unexpectedly turned out great? All of it!!

I was worried about the music for the evening. It was like organizing a gig and I had no idea what to do! Fortunately our good friend Lee stepped in and sorted the music. He managed to play many of our favorite songs, old and new, no matter how obscure. Roughneck Riot played two sets as someone else had dropped out last minute. All guests enjoyed them — even those who claimed not to be into that sort of thing and some even bought cds of the band! It was weird, but cool seeing my Mum dancing with punk mates and my Dad photographing the band.

Have you been married before and if so, what did you do differently? I haven't, but Glyn has. His last wedding was traditional and he doesn't remember much about it.

What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding? Details didn't matter. All that mattered was that the the man I love was smiling at me all night and my best friends were happy to be a part of it.