Natasha & Jordan’s Roaring Twenties theater wedding

The offbeat bride: Natasha, Hotel Manager

Her offbeat partner: Jordan, Chef

Date and location of wedding: Varsity Theater, Minneapolis, MN — July 22, 2012

Our offbeat wedding at a glance: I call myself a semi-traditionalist, and my husband is a “nerdy gamer/ninja/chef.” Our day was filled with many details that reflected our two personalities. This included the flower girl tutus my mom and I made, the custom-made invites from my insanely talented and dear high school friend Patrice Soehnlein, the music performed by my father's band, the Kid Koala DJ remix of the Monty Python theme that Jordan walked down the aisle to, Jordan's crazy cool wood and meteorite wedding band, and the amazing 1920s photo booth.

I love glamour, peacock feathers, and the 1920s, so I wanted to really capture all that in the wedding and in my outfit. I wanted lace and not a full-length gown, and one that flattered my curves, which was a bit of a challenge. But thankfully, I had my very talented family friend Steffani Lincecum to help transform a huge traditional ball gown dress into a dress straight out of my dreams.

Jordan had a custom suit made from the most amazing men's shop in St. Paul, Heimie's Haberdashery. The day before the wedding the guys all went to get hot towel shaves and cigars at their barbershop as well.

Our venue allowed us to have the ceremony and reception in the same space, which was very important to me. And being that Jordan is a chef, food was very important to him. Luckily the venue is catered by the delicious Loring Pasta Bar.

Tell us about the ceremony: I was very nervous about writing an entire wedding ceremony from scratch, but we knew this was what we wanted. For me, the officiant was going to make or break it. We threw around some different ideas of who we wanted to officiate, and once we made the decision, my anxiety was greatly diminished. We chose a dear friend of my family who has been a wonderful female role model for me growing up. She gracefully touched on each of our personalities, and our relationship as a whole, while tying in some wonderful advice.

We kept the '20s theme going with our processional music of “Ain't She Sweet” performed by Gene Austin while my grandma was escorted in, and “You Were Meant for Me” while the bridal party came in. I entered to the song “Baby” by Devendra Banhart, and was led in by my four adorable flower girls (who are all our nieces), each carrying a one word sign with the sentence “Here comes the bride.”

Here in Minnesota, we are voting on the Marriage Amendment this fall. It was important to Jordan and I that we take a moment to express our belief that all people should have the right to marry the person they love. Here is the Marriage Equality statement we used:

As we celebrate marriage today, we'd also like to recognize those of us who cannot, by law, take this step. Natasha and Jordan believe that everyone deserves the right to marry, and the emotional benefits and legal protections that come from it. In a just world, we will all be free to make lawful, lifetime commitments. Hopefully, that day will come soon.

We had my Godfather and Jordan's aunt do readings of Pablo Neruda's “Sonnet XVII” and “To Love is Not to Possess” by James Kavanaugh. As well as lighthearted reading of Shel Silverstein's “Hug O' War,” read by the children of some family friends. Once the ceremony was finished, a screen dropped down in front of the stage and some Buster Keaton silent films play while the band got set up on stage.

Both Jordan and I were raised in Catholic families, but neither of us practices the faith. We knew we wanted a non-religious ceremony, and I knew this may cause some disappointment from some family members, especially our very traditional grandmothers. When I read about ring warming ceremonies here on Offbeat Bride, I knew I had to make that part of the ceremony. We had a fairly large wedding, so instead of passing the rings around during the ceremony, we had one of our ushers stand at the back of the theater and ask guests to warm the rings with “a wish, a prayer, or a blessing” as they walked in.

My favorite moment: Jordan and I met while working at the Nicollet Island Inn. I still work there, and so we planned to do our “first look” in the lobby where we met. I felt so special to mark the beginning of our new life chapter, back where it started.

Music was a huge part of my upbringing, and something Jordan and I are very passionate about. My dad is part of a band, The Sons of Sunset. During the ceremony, they arranged a gorgeous three-part harmony version of the Bob Dylan song “You Ain't Going Nowhere.” This was also the song my dad played at my parents' wedding, and a song I heard very frequently growing up.

My funniest moment: One of my favorite moments from the whole day was when Jordan, who is a generally emotional guy and comes from a very emotional family, started to cry pretty heavily during the ceremony. He grabbed his bandanna to wipe the tears, then turned and pointed to his mom and said “This is your fault!” Everyone got a good laugh out of it.

Was there anything you were sure was going to be a total disaster that unexpectedly turned out great? I was afraid my vision of the decor would not translate out of my head into the space. But The Varsity does an amazing job and truly allows you to make the space what you want. They executed it brilliantly with the help of my co-worker and friend Erin Velander of Blomma Designs. She completely understood the jumbled mess of ideas I had in my head, and was able to translate it into a spectacular 1920s wonderland.

What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding? The most important thing I learned was to trust the people around me. Exactly one week from our wedding day, I was sicker than a dog. I called my amazing mother and she was able to put my mind at ease. I have been blessed with an amazing family and circle of friends, and have married into another incredible family. Every one helped out when I needed it most.

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?

• Photography: Candy's Photography
• Photo booth photography: hi {love} photography
• Venue: Varsity Theater
• Planning: Blomma Designs
• Invitation suite: Patrice Soehnlein
• Dress alterations: Stefani Lincecum
• Fascinator: Etsy seller Head Full of Feathers
• Veil: Etsy seller Fine & Fleurie
• Reception Headpiece: Etsy seller Baroque and Roll
• Groom's wedding band: Etsy seller Johan Rust
• Bridesmaids fascinators/headband: Etsy seller Sweet Grass Mill
• Getting-ready robes: Etsy seller Singing Slowly
• Ring bearer and usher ties and bowties: Etsy seller Tux & Tulle
• Groom's suit and groomsmen rentals: Heimie's Haberdashery
• Hair and makeup: Onsite MUSE

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