Jenny & Qwenton's Wyld Wyoming Backyard BBQ Bouncehouse Extravaganza • Offbeat Wed (was Offbeat Bride)

The Offbeat Bride: Jenny, Massage Therapist/Small Business Owner

Her Offbeat Partner: Qwenton, House Painter/Small Business Owner

Location & date of wedding: Last Meander Ranch (husband's parent's backyard) Lander, WY — 7/19/09

What made our wedding offbeat: We did everything our own way, had a TON of help from all our friends, and had the best party of our lives! We even had yard games (corn hole and monkey nuts) and a bounce house. It was a great excuse to get all of our friends and family together for a celebration.

We didn't have a Maid of Honor or a Best Man, just a huge and equal wedding party. The guys wore non-matching zoot suits, and the gals got non-matching handmade sun dresses. The girls carried fans instead of bouquets, and we put girls and guys on both sides, as they are all OUR friends. My older brother was our ring bearer. My dad played me up the aisle on his trumpet, and when I realized I was too nervous to walk by myself I recruited two very close friends to escort me.

We wrote our own ceremony and included lots of corny quotes from tv shows and movies that we love — “May your love grow faster than a speeding bullet and be more powerful than a locomotive, and by the power invested in me and by the power of greyskull, I pronounce you husband and wife.” I threw a bouquet that I made with origami flower dollar bills, so people would actually want to catch it. We had 5 different flavors of cake and Superman and Lois Lane cake toppers. What a great excuse to throw our best party ever!

Our biggest challenge: Being the procrastinators that we are, our biggest challenge was pulling it all together without leaving out anything vital, or any of the elements that were really important like writing our own ceremony (which we finished the day of) and renting a bounce house.

My favorite moment: The dip and kiss was very surprising and fun. And our first walk together as a married couple was a great way to get away for a moment to collect our thoughts and enjoy each other's company away from all the chaos. Also dancing to our friend's bluesy country rock band, the Patti Fiasco, was awesome!

My advice for other offbeat brides: Don't be afraid to ask for help, and let other people take control. Drink lots of water and breathe, a good b vitamin stress supplement doesn't hurt either. Let yourself cry. Get a massage. Keep it simple and don't sweat the small stuff, chances are you are the only one who will notice if something is missing. Be true to yourself, and let your fiance help with all of the decisions. It is all over with so quickly so slow down look around you and enjoy all your hard work.

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?: