Posted byWe were introduced to this couple via a recent Monday Montage and fell in love. Here's the whole story.
The offbeat bride: Lisa, pastry student (and Tribe member)
Her offbeat partner: Kevin, aspiring comic book writer
Date and location of wedding: Victorian Valley Chapel, Orcas Island, Washington — June 2, 2012
Our offbeat wedding at a glance: We wanted our wedding to be really personal, so we did a lot ourselves. I spent the six months before our wedding scouring the Pacific Northwest for china and milk glass, and sewing bunting, tablecloths, and napkins. I made felt boutonnieres for the groomsmen and my bridesmen.
Kevin is a comic book lover, so we had Marvel postcards in place of a guestbook and Lois Lane-in-a-wedding-dress escort cards. He made an activity book with Mad Lib Vows, crosswords, mazes, puzzles, and connect-the-dots.
His father died a year before our wedding, and he was a coin collector all his life. We inherited a few pure silver coins, so we had a rad blacksmith melt a coin down and make us wedding bands out of it. The week before the wedding I made 60 quarts of caramel corn (for pre-ceremony lawn games) and three wedding cakes.
The day before the ceremony we went to Pike Place Market, bought 40 dozen peonies, and drove them up to Orcas Island. We rented out the small and lovely Orcas Hotel for us and our families for the weekend, and had a nice afternoon doing our flowers and visiting with our friends.
Tell us about the ceremony: We had a friend of ours marry us. He read something we had both written about each other (but hadn't shared with each other), there was a short testimonial from one groomsman and one bridesman, and our 13-year-old niece Maya read “The Day the Saucers Came” by Neil Gaiman. We wrote our own vows, did the traditional exchange of rings, and exited to “They're So Incredible” by The Revenge (the Revenge of the Nerds talent show song).
Our biggest challenge: Doing everything ourselves was a blessing and a curse. I genuinely enjoyed doing everything until the morning of the wedding. I woke up absolutely nauseous from anxiety and stress and paralyzed with my mental to-do list. This means I spent the morning of our wedding on the floor of our hotel bathroom, sick. Because I hadn't let anyone help me, no one knew what to do. They didn't know where anything went, or how I had wanted anything to look. In the end, they improvised and put everything together without me, and I ended up not caring in the least that it was different from my plan.
My favorite moment: My sister walked me down the aisle in place our late father, which was wonderful. Looking at my husband while he read his vows to me was really touching and sweet as well. He cried pretty much throughout our ceremony. I expected to cry a lot also, but right before walking down the aisle I felt a wave of calm that lasted throughout the rest of the day.
Dinner was also great! We had pecan-crusted fried chicken, hush puppies, baked potato salad, coleslaw, grilled corn on the cob, tofu sandwiches, and root beer floats. Looking up from our table and just quietly watching everyone feast and laugh was amazing.
My five-year-old niece later asked if she could do a toast. She stood on a chair and said “My Dee Dee (family nickname) is the most special girl of my life.” She said it so quietly and sweetly that I had to repeat her for everyone to hear.
My funniest moment: I put together our playlists, and put one song at the end of our reception playlist for a very specific reason. I chose Phil Collins' “In the Air Tonight” because I thought that by the end of the night everyone would have had a few drinks, would be in a good and mellow mood, and if I was lucky I'd get to see our friends and families spontaneously air drum to the middle part of that song.
You know what? They totally did it.
Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?
- Photography: Carly Bish Photgraphy
- Wedding dress: Simply Bridal
- Bride's shoes: Anne Klein
- Groom's tie: Pierrepont Hicks
- 1960-era engagement ring: Isadora's
- Hair and makeup: Pacific Brides
- Reception venue and catering: Orcas Hotel
- Photo booth: Usnaps
- Flowers: Pike Place Market
- Bridesmen seersucker suits: Brooks Brothers
- Invitations and programs: Etsy seller MyBigDayDesigns
- PosterL Etsy seller ElloThere
Enough talk — show me the wedding inspo!
photography: Carly Bish Photography
About the Author: Offbeat Weditors
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I now have a toothache from how adorably sweet this was!!
Everything about this was pretty durn sweet, but I especially love the wedding rings made from your inherited silver coins. So unique and meaningful and beautiful!
Congratulations! Everything is so adorable and beautiful.
Thank you!
so happy, so personal, and I LOVE the long-distance shot of the chapel.
the rings are also very special.
congratulations on your wedding and your marriage!
Thank you, I appreciate that!
Oh man, I wish I could go back in time and still that “OMG MARRIED” banner…. Brilliant!
Love the OMG banner as well, and the chapel long shot. But really love how Lisa and Kevin incorporated so much of themselves into design of the day– not just decor for decor’s sake, but actual fun and meaningful touches. Very cool.
I always air drum to that song, no booze required!
Who was the rad blacksmith? Been looking for one in Washington and those rings look great!
Her name is Jana Brevick, she works here in Seattle. She makes lovely jewelry.
This is so sweet. The chapel & surrounding area are beautiful. The illustration is adorable too!