Scooter & Robert’s small rustic wedding

The Offbeat Bride: Scooter, Hair Salon Owner and Hairstylist

Her offbeat partner: Robert, English teacher

Date and location of wedding: Terrain at Styers Garden, Glen Mills, PA — June 29, 2013

Our offbeat wedding at a glance: We got married at the Pump House at the Lake in Ridley Park, which is the town I grew up in. To get married there, we had to make a donation to the Taylor Hospice House, which we were totally cool with because the hospice house took great care of my dad before he passed. After the ceremony, we all went back to my mom's house for a laid-back cocktail hour before the reception. It was great getting to see my family and Rob's family interact in such a personal setting. Then it was off to Terrain at Styers Garden, which was number 21 on Buzzfeed's 22 coolest places in America to get married.

I was so excited when Terrain made Buzzfeed's list because it is such a great garden store and cafe. The servers were dressed casually rustic. The bar was a table and cabinets in a green house. Our tables formed a “U” so we could see everyone we loved. Our bread was baked in flower pots. We are both Jurassic Park lovers so our wedding song was the Jurassic Park theme song. We closed out the night around a bonfire roasting marshmallows and making s'mores.

Tell us about the ceremony:
Our ceremony was at the lake in my town. The mayor did some traditional readings and we wrote our own vows. I did not realize how emotional I would be, from the minute I saw Rob to the mayor announcing us as husband and wife. My heart was just so overjoyed that we just got married, I teared up the whole time.

Rob's vows were my favorite. I vowed that Rob would always be my “silent guardian, watchful protector, and dark knight” (since he's a huge Batman fan), and Rob vowed to always protect my positive spirit. He is so great with words, so his vows were something I will cherish forever.

Our biggest challenge:
At first we were planning a more traditionally-sized wedding, and when things got out of hand, we decided to downsize the guest list. So deciding who to invite became a challenge. To avoid hurt feelings, we cut it even more to just family and no friends. We did have a big BBQ with all of our friends the following week, though, which was perfect because it was like two weeks of celebrating!

My favorite moment:
I enjoyed the little ways we included our loved ones who passed, especially my dad, into the wedding. I had a little charm on my shoes with a picture of my dad, so it was like he walked me up the aisle.

I also loved the window picture frame I made from trash-picking an old window and cleaning it up. I made a lot of stuff for the wedding, so my bouquet and all the flowers were synthetic, our runner was burlap that my sister hand-monogrammed, our unity candles were candles I made from pieces of a tree that I burned our initials into, and our guest book was two slabs of a tree with our last name initial burned into it.

What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding?
I vowed to myself that on our wedding day, our love would stay the main focus. The day wouldn't be about lavish details or hundreds of guests, but just getting married to each other.

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?

• Venue: Terrain at Styers Garden
• Photography: Black, White and Raw Photography
• Dress: David's Bridal
• Shoes: Payless
• Candles, centerpiece, bouquets, wristlets, and flower pins: DIY with materials from National Decorative Distributors

Enough talk — show me the wedding inspo!

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David’s Bridal

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Black, White and Raw Photography

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