We got a sneak peek of the flower fairies from this wedding in a recent Monday Montage. Here is the rest of the waterfront wedding.

True love

The offbeat bride: Flora (Tribesmaid)

Her offbeat partner: Kristy, Assistant Manager of Whole Body Dept. at Whole Foods

Date and location of wedding: Celebration on Water, North Vancouver, BC, Canada — August 1, 2012

Our offbeat wedding at a glance: I suppose our wedding was offbeat lite. Some people thought that because it was a lesbian wedding, it would be really different. We kept some traditions, and omitted others. We honored our Celtic roots by including a handfasting ritual, a toast from a wooden Irish wedding goblet, and ended with an Irish blessing.

our flower faeries

We wrote our own vows, and the ceremony was poetic and personalized. I incorporated my Pagan beliefs by setting up four little vases in a circle around us with coloured glass beads, to represent the four elements/directions. I love fantasy and fairy tales and had to have flower fairies.

flower faeries at work

Celebration on Water- our incredible venue!

Our venue was a renovated ferry boat permanently docked in the Burrard Inlet in North Vancouver. It was gorgeous and we couldn't have been happier to celebrate there.

our altar


treasure chest card box

To save money, we also did a ton of DIY: our invitations, our treasure chest card box, my hair flowers and bouquet, the flower faery crowns, the petal cones, and lots of other venue decor. Our wedding was on a Wednesday evening, and we didn't have a sit-down dinner, just appetizers and desserts. We saved a lot of money with both of those decisions. This way, we were able to celebrate with more people!

fist bump!

jumping for joy

Lastly, we tried to be environmentally conscious throughout the entire planning process. Everything we used was recycled, second-hand, biodegradable, or useful post-wedding.

aisle decor

Tell us about the ceremony: One of my favourite lines from the ceremony was, “And so it is with your marriage, from this day forward, you walk together as a powerful force for good, consciously creating a better world with your love.”

at the altar

Here was our explanation of the Celtic elements:

Flora and Kristy have chosen to further honour their Celtic heritage by including the 17th Century tradition of an Irish Wedding Goblet. The goblet and two rings are carved from a single piece of wood in order that the rings remain unbroken. When the newlyweds toast each other on this their special day from the same goblet, the unbroken rings symbolize strength, unity and eternity, and invoke a very powerful bond for their future together.

exchanging rings

The final Irish blessing:

May flowers always line your path and sunshine light your day;
May song birds serenade you every step along the way.
May a rainbow run beside you in a sky that's always blue,
And may happiness fill your heart each day, your whole life through.

last swing of wine

we did it!

Our biggest challenge: Our biggest challenge was budget. We were both in University last year (we both graduated in April 2012) after returning to school as “mature” students. Needless to say, funds were tight.

At first we thought we'd have a very low-key, inexpensive shindig. However, our family got so excited for us, and we soon realized we wanted a big wedding. Figuring out how to pay for it all took work (and a low-interest student line of credit). We were lucky to have our parents contribute, plus we threw a successful dance event as a fundraiser. We also put our tax returns towards it. After everything, our guests' generosity covered the remaining bills. We consider ourselves very, very lucky. We did everything for $12,000, and had just over a hundred guests.

our first dance

My favorite moment: The ceremony was incredibly special. We asked for a group declaration of support for our union, and our guests responded enthusiastically. We were overcome by all the love. Family and friends had traveled from all over the continent to be there, and it was very humbling.

My other favourite moment of the day was walking towards Kristy before our “first look.” My heart was racing and I was trying to be so present. I kept telling myself, “This is it! The moment is now!” The time flew by too quickly, and I wished I had magic to make minutes last hours that day.

rockin out with Dad

My funniest moment: During the reception, the funniest moment had to be the father/daughter dance. My dad and I hadn't practiced or anything (we live a few hours apart) but I had assumed we partner dance. Well, my dad doesn't really do that. After about 10 seconds, he breaks free and starts interpretive dancing. I match him with some air guitar and noodle arms and we're completely goofing off, looking wild compared to Kristy and her dad, quietly two-stepping.

Father Daughter dance

Was there anything you were sure was going to be a total disaster that unexpectedly turned out great? I was a bit stressed out that our numbers were fluctuating in the week leading up the wedding, and worried about whether we'd have enough food. But, it all evened out. We had some last-minute cancellations that balanced the last-minute additions. There was enough food to go around.

my butch bride

My advice for Offbeat Brides: Discuss at great length with each other what you envision, and why. That way when you are questioned on your unconventional choices, you can both answer clearly why or how you are doing something. If goes both ways: some people will question it if you are following tradition, others will question you if you aren't.

I didn't prescribe to the “your day, your way” mentality. That's not what we wanted, since we were throwing a wedding so our families could meet and we could all celebrate together. We definitely considered our guests and their comfort. That being said, I acquiesced on a few little things because I didn't want to be too pushy, and I realize now that I could have been assertive without ruffling any feathers.

garter toss for the ladies

What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding? That's it's easy to go overboard, even when you're trying to stay modest. I'm glad I waited on certain things that I ended up changing my mind on, or not caring about anymore.

My one shameful secret is that I am a two-dress bride. I bought too early, from online, so I couldn't try it on. I decided to keep it when it arrived, even though I didn't love it, because it was cheap. Months later, I was so sad about it. I ended up finding a different dress, on sale, that I loved. I'm still trying to sell the first dress.

the whole wedding party

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Comments on Flora & Kristy’s full moon fairytale wedding by the sea

    • I still consider what we spent A LOT of money- it’s just nuts how much weddings cost. But as I mentioned, we had support, and luckily we raised, saved and were given what we needed.

  1. Gorgeous wedding!! Love love love! Where did you get Kristy’s outfit, her shirt specifically? My Broom would love something along those lines and we’re having a hard time finding an outfit for her. 🙂 Thanks!

    • your “broom”? Lol! cool. It was custom made, by a local seamstress. She had it done for $120. I highly recommend going that route- she felt comfortable and it fit her perfectly!

  2. I love it, I actually wonder if that is one of the boats I saw when I was out west. I love what you’re both wearing, and have always loved the goblet/rings being carved from the same wood. Everything looked really nice. I’m glad that there are people who opt to wear their glasses. It’s so important that people are able to be comfortable. We may steal that irish blessing, if only because our gay friends are goading us about having zero rainbows present, we can say ‘it said it in the verse at the end, we totally gave a nod to the lgbt’ We’re going to have mix & match shades of turquoise, but telling everyone they can find the cut that suits them best, I think your purple theme is so nice.

    • Steal away! It was a nice way to finish the ceremony.

      Going for shades of any colour really helps de-stress the whole process of outfitting your wedding party. I originally wanted turquoise/teal!

      thanks everyone for the love…

  3. Mtnhoney, your avatar looks awfully familiar. Are you on Wedding Bee by any chance? I go on there fairly often to browse the forums for some ideas for my own nuptials.

    I’m so glad I’ve gotten to see the actual photos of your wedding. Everything looks so beautiful!

  4. Ok, seriously this was cool. What a fun wedding. Makes me want to get married all over again and do something fun like this.

  5. Love this wedding!! I’m Pagan as well and we will be having a handfasting ceremony!! Your day looked perfect and beautiful! Congrats 🙂

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