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The offbeat bride: Charli, Advertising
Her offbeat partner: Steve, IT
Location & date of wedding: Mercury Hall in Austin, TX on August 23rd, 2008
What made our wedding offbeat: We partied the only way we know how. Go big or go home. Everything we did for this wedding was unique and true to us. Every detail was customized to our style and anything we couldn't find we built/made ourselves.We didn't bother to take ourselves too seriously and made the ceremony and reception the best party of our lives.
As people arrived they got their drinks, found their seats and got ready for the production that was the ceremony. We had it at night outside and handpicked more contemporary songs for the ceremony. Steve even edited down an instrumental version of Coldplay's “Viva la Vida” for me to walk down the aisle. We had our friend perform the ceremony since neither of us are religious and Steve surprised me with having our dog be the ring bearer and come down the aisle during the ring exchange.
After the ceremony we asked that all of our bridal party, including parents, danced their way back down the aisle to the reception. Everyone participated and turned the recessional into a soul train. Steve also hid two friends in the bushes to set off fireworks when he and I were dancing down the aisle. It was the most eventful ceremony I've ever been a part of.
We customized the reception to our needs. We made all our own centerpieces, cake topper, cake stand and had a friend make the freakin' fabulous cupcakes.
We set up the photobooth and asked people to put together a scrapbook page using the pictures they took in the photobooth as their way of “signing” the guestbook. All of the pictures from the booth were put together in one big book for us to remember how much fun everyone had. The pictures from our photographers do a better job of showing how ridiculous it was. Best party of our lives.
Our biggest challenge: Our biggest challenge was doing everything we wanted without spending a fortune. We didn't want anything to look cheap or unfinished so it took a lot of work to make sure we executed our offbeat ideas in a way that looked classy without being expensive.
Steve and I took A LOT of time to research different ways to keep traditional ideas in place, but revise those traditions enough so it was something custom to us. After settling on our ideas we figured out how we could do it ourselves. Making things yourself for your wedding is really time consuming, but worth it when you see everything in place.
My favorite moment: My favorite moment was dancing down the aisle right after the ceremony and hearing the fireworks go off above me. Time stopped for me when I realized that I just married my perfect partner, we were dancing in celebration and there are fireworks announcing the happiest moment of my life. They were a complete surprise and a perfect punctuation to the ceremony.
If you're just slightly offbeat like I am, take traditional ideas and spin them to be unique to you and your partner.
My offbeat advice: If you're just slightly offbeat like I am, take traditional ideas and spin them to be unique to you and your partner. You can do things that will be fun for you as well as quiet down the peanut gallery and naysayers.
Enough talk — show me that wedding porn: Click the photo below to see memorable shots of Charli & Steve's Fireworks & Family Dancin' Wedding
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This looks like it was sooooo much fun. Way to go and congratulations!
I love this! Looks like huge fun. You guys are so lucky to be able to get married outside – can’t do that in Engalnd (but you can in Scotland…hmmm..). We’re mostly keen on getting people to kick off their shoes and dance the night away and now I see it can be done!!
Congratulations!
wow .. i actually got teared up thinking about how much this groom showered his bride with HUGE love. Dog-bearer, fireworks, how cool!! Congrats on finding your perfect partner!
Thank you for posting this awesome wedding. I love OBB for all of the unique ideas, but I am much more in the vein of this “slightly offbeat” girlie and her beau. Great inspiration!
Agreed. While I’m amused with by various goth and rockabilly weddings featured, this is a wedding that clearly shows heart and initiative. It just looks sincere and fun. Congratulations!
Wow, Charli and Steve! I’m another ‘just slightly offbeat’ bride, and this is such an inspiration. You clearly had the best party of your lives on your wedding day, which is what I’m hoping for when I marry my perfect partner. Beautiful!
this is seeeeriously my kind of wedding.
as someone who attended this wedding, i can attest to the awesomeness of the event! charli & steve threw one great party! it’s obvious how much this couple loves each other 🙂
I Love your wedding! This looks like it was such a blast and so effortless. Good job! My favorite part is you and your new husband look soo in love and comfortable with each other. Great party. Congrats. I hope my wedding pictures are as fun as yours!
have a great day.
adorableadorableadorableADORABLE….you guys pulled off a beautiful & unique wedding, suitable only to a beautiful & unique couple. Each detail suited you guys perfectly, from the music to the “just married” buggy. I love you guys and can’t wait to see what’s in store for the 50th anniversary party!
those cupcakes looked freaking gorgeous, and your photographer gets a zillion brownie points for capturing the essence of the evening, rather than the standard stuffy posed mannequin photos that get bandied around at waaaay too many weddings.
where was the photobooth rented?! i’m into the whole “create your own” thing with a camera with a timer and a stool, but i ADORE the kitch factor of a real, old fashioned photobooth!
we got the photobooth from a local company called partybooth pix. we saw a few different styles of photobooths, but we liked this one because it looked old fashioned. there are some vendors who offer booths that accomodate more people, but i think it’s nostalgic to watch people try and cram in that thing.
Hey, I remember this wedding and I wasn’t even invited! I live on a cul de sac behind Mercury Hall! Everyone came out of their houses to see the fireworks! HA HA! We were wondering what the hell was going on! I’m really glad to see the pictures now. Very lovely!
I love the dress. and from the looks of it the couple had so much fun
wow! it is really a heart stopping moment when there are fireworks while you dancing. Just like a fairytale.
By far the best wedding I’ve ever been too!
I’m also getting married at Mercury Hall and think you’re wedding looks so fun! I’m so excited to see this post. But please tell me, what were the rules on the fireworks and who is your photographer? I’d love to use both! Thanks.
Thanks! The rules are dicey on the fireworks. You can go rogue and risk getting a fine from the city or you can hire a fire chief to come out and supervise. Either way you have to find a fireworks stand open and there are only certain months that you can actually buy fireworks. Our photographers were Anne Marie Photography and we really really liked them. Good luck!
Charli! The wedding was beautiful, and the pics are fabulous. They look like they are part of a photography book. I hope you make a coffee table book out of them. The wedding was perfect for you and Steve. Totally sums up who you are, and I love that.
Love the photos! Looks like a wonderful fun wedding! Looks like you had a really great time.
I also love your bird cake topper! Where did you find it?
thank you for the nice words. we made the bird cake toppers out of birds from hobby lobby and some fabric. i found bird toppers that i liked online, but the lady was selling them for $300-$400 a pair and that was just too much for me to comprehend for a cake.
Your wedding looked fabulous and like so much fun and you and he look like a great couple! Your pictures were great. Can you tell me where you got those awesome koozies? I’ve looked around for some, but haven’t been able to find any I really like so far.
Wow! What an amazing wedding! I don’t even know you yet I wish I was there. It looked so fun and you two look like you truly are soul mates! Congrats!
Shawna- thanks so much! we designed those ourselves based on a concert poster we stole off the side of a building and we ordered them from dollarimprint.com. They had good cheap prices and didn’t make up use clipart.