Christie & Steve’s Lord of the Rings, Celtic, tango dance party wedding

The offbeat bride: Christie, Biologist

Her offbeat partner: Steve, IT Manager

Location & date of wedding: Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield and Terrace Gardens at Ken Caryl — September 26, 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: We were inspired by Lord of the Rings and Celtic culture.

My wedding dress and the groom's tunic was sewn by Steve, the groom himself! He makes costumes for fun so he decided to make our wedding attire. My wedding dress was blue and silver and his tunic was gray and silver, both were inspired by costumes from Lord of the Rings. I just could not imagine being in a traditional white dress when my favorite color is blue, so we built the color scheme around my dresses, I had a second one for the reception.

I created the invites, programs, silk flower bouquets, centerpieces and entryway decorations. We made a play list of Celtic music for the ceremony; I walked down the aisle to “The Mist Covered Mountains of Home” on the flute.

We wanted a guest book that had more than just a signature or “Best Wishes” written in it from each guest. I printed 8.5 x 11 pages for people to fill out with a box at the top for a 4 x 6 photo, that I would affix later, a box for a memory of the bride and/or groom and a box for words of wisdom. Our guest book attendants took pictures of everyone as they entered the reception hall all dressed up. It seemed that guests were better able to think of something to write given the prompt and we received many touching sentiments about marriage.

Our biggest challenge: Being a non-religious bride and groom and having two sets of religious parents, that was the biggest challenge.

In the beginning it was a bit of a battle since we didn't want any religious readings what-so-ever. We discussed the issue and finally decided to have my mother do a reading and the prayer. Even though we aren't religious it was touching and a loving gesture that my mother played a big part in the ceremony. A prayer and reading from my mother, whether I believe what she believes or not, was very meaningful to me. I look back at the wedding and wouldn't have had it any other way. We made the ceremony very personal with a Shakespeare reading, a wine ceremony and the benediction of the Apaches but my mother pouring her heart out and blessing our wedding in her way made the wedding that much more special and personal.

My favorite moment: I think the moment that most sticks out in my mind is my brothers' toast. He recounted a phone call we had when Steve and I were starting to get serious. He described me telling him that, “He gets me, Scott. Other guys have enjoyed me or been amused by me….he GETS me!” It was a great toast and so touching how much of that conversation my brother recalls.

Other moments I recall are the constant dancing! Steve and I started it off with a choreographed tango, and then there were our parents' songs that were played at their weddings, and I also embarrassed my brother by having him dance to Macho Man like when he was a toddler! Of course the Hokie Pokie, Chicken dance and lots of disco! My aunt and cousin even did some sexy zumba lessons on the dance floor with all us girls. Everyone was on the dance floor, including my grandma. The two who caught the bouquet and garter belt weren't shy at all and treated everyone to an impromptu flirty dance. We may have planned the wedding but our family and friends MADE the wedding!

My offbeat advice: Don't give in on the ideas that are most important to you.

I feared my mother was going to be upset I didn't want a white dress but she surprised me and even encouraged me to also get a blue one for my second dress, even when I was considering white. I loved both my blue dresses! Do make sure to still consider your family, it's an important day for them too, and some things may be very meaningful for them, consider that even if some of those things are “traditional.” I gave in a little for my parents' desires and still had a dream wedding that was so much fun and still “us”.

Find ways to incorporate your passions or hobbies into the day. For us it was fantasy, we love to go to conferences like DragonCon; it was only natural for Steve to sew my dress. Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, Celtic design and nature… I found some way to incorporate our eclectic tastes and make a wedding that was totally us.

Remember to laugh at whatever doesn't go right the day of, just have fun; a perfect wedding doesn't mean that everything goes as planned. Often times the hiccups are what you remember and laugh about the most, long after the flowers have wilted.

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?:

• Since we made our outfits I can't help you there but if you have the money a great place I got some ideas for the dress can be found here: Rivendell Bridal
• Circlets- mine was purchased from here and for Steve's circlet we came up with a design and described it to the maker Camias Designs
• Photography- old friend, located in Phoenix, AZ Excellent photographer, so glad we flew him up to do our wedding! Still Frames by Nick
• Cake- best carrot cake ever! Loved it! Cakes by Kristie.
• Flowers- I made the flower arrangements and got most of the supplies here silkspecialties.com.
• Grooms Ring- he wanted a titanium ring, so I found this site, only problem he had was choosing one! Furthers.com.
• Inexpensive dance shoes- love these shoes. We'll continue with lessons since it's so fun and I'll be heading back here for different styles that's for sure.

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