First, the offbeat wedding porn is
here and
here (both "heres" are clickys) . These are only a preview of our pro pics, but they are a-ma-zing!
Alternate clicky in case you can't see the facebook albums:
clicky (doesn't have all the pics though).
I have been pondering what kind of reviews/recap to write for this board. I decided to stick to just the "offbeat" elements of the wedding, since that would be most helpful to others here. If you want to know about something I didn't mention, just ask on this thread. I'll check back every now and then.
1. Colored dress - went over quite amazingly well. If anyone didn't like that I didn't wear white, I never heard about it. I definitely encourage others to go this route if they are thinking about it.
2. Vows/ceremony - We had a mostly non-religious one, with a moment of prayer/silence thrown in for our religious friends and families. We did the traditional vows, kept "honor and obey" as a sign of respect, but we both said it rather than just the bride saying it. Then we did a second set of vows that we wrote ourselves, with a little humor thrown in.
3. Pebble/blessing stone ceremony - We had the guests take a stone with them to their seats, hold it throughout the ceremony, and then deposit it into an apothecary jar at the end. We did this to include the guests, rather than doing a unity ceremony for the two of us. We also had the bridal party grab a stone on their way down the aisle. Use google for more info on Irish Pebble/Celtic Blessing Stone ceremony (similar concepts).
4. Homebrew bar - most people are used to drinking Bud, Coors, etc. so our yummy homebrew bar was well received. We had 150 beer bottles, plus 6 bottles of liquor for 65 guests (47 drinkers) and we had plenty extra.
5. The cake topper, which this board helped with, went over very well. Pix in links above. Everyone loved it. I was not sure how a humourous cake topper would look on a pretty cake, but the pastry chef did an amazing job making it all cohesive.
6. DIY reception setup - I know many on TK talk against having friends & family help set up the wedding. I also know the book "Offbeat Bride" is all for it, and I agree with them more. It depends on a lot of factors of course, but if you are not a bridezilla and the amount of setup help needed is reasonable, it can be done. The key is not requiring anyone to help, but graciously accepting sincere offers. It gave our event the community feeling we wanted and allowed us to spend more time with some people. We also only had 65 guests, and I wouldn't have done it for a big wedding.
7. VRBO.com rental for venue - This will require DIY setup (see above). Most places are vacation homes with 3-night minimums. Stick to those where the description mentions they allow weddings/events, and abide by their capacity limits. It's a great way to have a backyard wedding if you don't have a rich uncle with a huge backyard.
8. Etsy finds - I know we all love Etsy! The items you'll see in pics are: Groom's cufflinks, some pieces of the cake topper, the guest "book" poster, and the orange wooden flowers on the aisle runner. [There are also several items from Oriental Trading: B&G chair covers, sunglasses, aisle runner, and mustaches for the photo booth are in the pics.]
9. Hot tubbing: at the end as all the partiers left, we changed into swimsuits and jumped in the hot tub! It was so nice! I was a happy and relaxed bride at the end.
Now, I will conclude with two of my fav wedding photos from our guests:
