Alexandria & Tyler's rainy day rainbow wedding on a mountain

We're in the mood to bring some rainbows, glitter, and colorful details into your life. It's a prismatic rainbow and colorful wedding theme week!

The Offbeat Bride: Alexandria, Special Educator

Her offbeat partner: Tyler, Musician/Music Teacher

Date and location of wedding: Dreaming Mountain, Johnson, VT — May 25, 2013

Our offbeat wedding at a glance: Tyler and I designed our wedding together with an equal amount of effort from both of us. We made as much as possible at home and kept nearly everything else local — created by family, friends, or our larger Vermont community. I had my hair done at home and did not wear makeup. Our products were sustainably-sourced, our food was vegan, our dog Jack was our ring bearer, and we spent our wedding night in a yurt!

Neither Tyler nor I felt comfortable with the expectation of the woman taking the man's name after marriage, so we came up with something that worked for us. We combined letters from our surnames and our mothers' maiden names to create a new family name that held special meaning to each of us: Magnolia! During the ceremony, our parents helped us plant a Magnolia tree and we exited the ceremony to the song "Sugar Magnolia" by the Grateful Dead.

Tell us about the ceremony:
Tyler's best friend from childhood officiated our wedding. We wrote our own vows and included readings from Khalil Gibran's The Prophet, The Little Prince, and a poem by e.e. cummings.

Our biggest challenge:
We planned an outdoor wedding at the end of May in Vermont. We expected a beautiful spring day, but it rained for the week before the wedding. Roads were washed away on the way to our venue, there was mud everywhere, and we had to send out last-minute emails warning guests to bring boots and warm clothes. It even snowed during the ceremony! Our friends and family pulled together to make sure there were enough boots and umbrellas for everyone. We were able to get a tent and a heater and we danced the cold away!

My funniest moment:
I included a line from The Big Lebowski in my vows ("you're a good man, and thorough"), and I read a story Tyler had written when he was a little boy during our thank-you speech at the reception.

My favorite moment:
I loved reading our vows to one another, feeling the support of our family and friends, and sharing our first dance to a song played by the band we would go see together every week when we first started dating.

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?

• Photography: Shannon Partrick
• Venue: Dreaming Mountain
• Catering: Have Your Cake Catering
• Cupcakes: My Little Cupcake
• Photobooth: Planet Vermont
• Dress: Foxglove Custom Bridal Gowns
• Jewelry: Designer's Circle Jewelry
• Hair: Jordan Girouard
• Videography: Carter Oswood
• Potted plants: Adams Apple Orchard & Farm Market
• Poster design: Shawn Rice
• Band: Kat Wright & The Indomitable Soul Band

Enough talk — show me the wedding porn!