Tanya & Mark’s flamingo themed backyard wedding

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#Real Weddings: Northeast US#backyard#colored crinoline#colored wedding veils#colorful#non-floral bouquet#pennsylvania#red shoes#red wedding veils#short hair#vintage dress

manya 142The Offbeat Bride: Tanya, bookseller/crafty lady

Her Offbeat Partner: Mark, administrator

Location & date of wedding: Parents backyard in Northampton, PA — 6/6/09

What made our wedding offbeat: We wanted to keep our wedding fun, whimsical, and more like an outdoor party. I made everything I thought I could, allowing me to show of my crafty side. I did the invitations, most of the decorations (except the paper lanterns), the centerpieces, and all of the flowers. All of the tables were covered in the vintage table clothes I had been collecting while planning the wedding.

manya 028

I am a huge John Waters fan, hence the slight pink flamingo obsession. We had plastic pink flamingos in the yard and at our gazebo “altar.”

3822494533 1354060bbd m alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)Being music snobs, no DJ was allowed. I worked out a playlist on my ipod of our favorite songs and we walked down the “aisle” to Ceremony by New Order. My wedding dress and my maid of honor's dress were vintage and purchased on eBay. Finding such an awesome dress on eBay saved me a lot of money (it was under $100!).

Our color scheme was aqua, red, and yellow. We had a matching cake and my mom and I made red velvet cupcakes with pink flamingo toppers. There was no traditional bouquet toss or first dance, just plenty of unpredictable fun! At the end of the day, all of ours guests were saying, ‘what a cool wedding, it was so you guys!'

Our biggest challenge: I would say the biggest challenge was allowing myself to delegates things to other people instead of taking control and doing everything myself. Sometimes it is hard to let other people step in when you have an exact vision of how you want things to be.

3822493879 6a0748f1d5 m alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)It had also rained most of the week leading up to the wedding so we couldn't start setting anything up outside until the morning of, which led to a major time crunch since the ceremony started at 1:00.

My favorite moment: It had to be walking down the “aisle” to Mark smiling at me. And of course the high five we gave each other at the end of our vows. Everyone started laughing!

My advice for other offbeat brides: I would say to try not to let others talk you into changing what you feel your wedding should be like. Some people can't fathom the idea of a nontraditional wedding, but if it seems right to you then go for it. Its way more fun anyway!3823296280 c6549e3f09 m alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Also, make lots of checklists and write yourself notes. Otherwise, you might forget some really great ideas.

For outdoor weddings, always remember sunscreen. We forgot to put some on and we got really burned!

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?:

Enough talk — show me the wedding inspo!:

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    Comments on Tanya & Mark’s flamingo themed backyard wedding

    2. it's great to see antoher bride with short funky hair- for some reason I was trying to grow mine out for the wedding but kept hating it and chopping it all off again. Why would I put up with months of hair I hate for one day when this looks so cute 🙂

    11. tanya– where did you get those floofy colorful things on the altar??? did you make them?? love. need.

    13. thanks everybody! i made the tissue paper pompoms…stole it from martha stewarts website..adore her! and that hawt guitar player is my little brother. i dont think i could ever part w/ the dress plus you wouldnt want it..the lace got all ripped by the end of the night! thats what happens when your dress is 50+ years old.

    14. I just found out that John Waters will be speaking at the film festival in our town in November!

      This wedding looked like so much fun, I will be using it as inspiration.

    18. I was looking for those pink flamingos everywhere! all I found was blow up kinds but didnt want that in my wedding. Love the red colors addition to your wedding outfit and your gown is so cool !! Congrats to you!!

    19. Tanya is my friend and has always had the most adorable style it fits her to a T!

    22. Thank you for posting this… as a bride in the midst of the last month of planning, this whimsical, original, and down to earth wedding was just what I needed to see! What a glorious wedding!

    23. LOVE the colors and your dress! Also, your bouquet was amazing! Did you make it yourself or buy it on etsy? I'm thinking of making one in my colors for my wedding.

      Awe inspiring 🙂

    24. Hi Tanya…your mom told me about the web site when i saw her at becky's drive in…….what a great wedding……LOVE the dress and wedding bouquets and everything else…..what a lovely day…….congrats to Yanya and Mark .
      Eileen Korn

    25. oooppppssssss sorry Tanya not Yanya hahahahah soooo….. like me to do that

    29. OH-EM-GEEEE!!! Tanya, your dress is GORGEOUS!!!! I fell in love with it! Your entire wedding looks fabulous, I adore you!!!

    32. Your wedding is beautiful! The dress is amazing and I love the colors. Also, your hair is adorable. At most of the "boring" wedding websites, all the hairstyle are long.

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