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The Offbeat Bride: Mandy, Railway Signaller (and Tribesmaid)
Her offbeat partner: Nathan, Storeman
Date and location of wedding: Yarra Ranges Estate, Monbulk, Victoria, Australia — October 27, 2013
Our offbeat wedding at a glance:
We wanted a fun day, not just for us, but for everyone who came to celebrate the day with us. That's why we included things like the photo booth, a candy bar, personalised crosswords and find-a-words, and fun “did you know?” facts on the back of each place card. We also wanted no white dress, no long ceremony, no bouquet toss or garter throw, and we definitely wanted to see each other before the ceremony.
Tell us about the ceremony:
We kept our ceremony short and sweet because neither of us really enjoy being up in front of people. These were our cheesy vows we wrote:
Nathan: I choose to live with you and laugh with you.
Amanda: To stand by your side, and sleep in your arms.
Nathan: To be joy to your heart and food for your soul.
Amanda: To help you love life and to always hold you with tenderness.
Nathan: To bring out the best in you always, and, for you, to be the most that I can.
Amanda: To love you for all that you are, all that you have been, and all you're yet to be.
Nathan: I promise to love you, even when you're in a bad mood, not just when you're fun to be with.
Amanda: I promise to laugh with you in good times, to support with you in bad.
Nathan: To speak words when words are needed.
Amanda: And to share silence when they are not.
Nathan: To always listen to what you have to say, even when we don't see eye to eye.
Amanda: And to remember love is saying ‘I feel differently' instead of ‘you're wrong.'
Nathan: I vow to trust and value your opinions, and stand by your actions.
Amanda: I vow to always treat you as my best friend and equal.
Nathan: My heart will be your shelter and my arms will be your home. As I have given you my hand to hold, I give you my life to keep.
Amanda: My heart will be your shelter and my arms will be your home. As I have given you my hand to hold, I give you my life to keep.
Nathan: May this ring forever be to you, the symbol of my endless love.
Amanda: May this ring forever be to you, the symbol of my endless love.
We also had a rose ceremony, exchanging a single white rose each, our first gifts to each other as husband and wife. This meant a lot to me, as it is now a symbol for each of us to say we love each other. So if we ever have a fight, we can remind each other of our love, with a single white rose.
Our biggest challenge:
The only challenge I had was my corset. When it was first done up, clearly it was done too tight. I was fine at first, but once we got in the limo to go to the venue, I started having trouble breathing. Once we got to the venue, I just wanted to get out only the limo driver wouldn't let me. Once I eventually got out, the girls fixed up my dress and I could breathe again!
Make the first dance less nerve-wracking: GROUP DANCE!
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My funniest moment:
The funniest moment has to have been our first dance. Neither of us are big dancers, but especially Nathan — he hates being in front of people. We did our awkward sway to “Still Into You” by Paramore, but once the bridal party came up to join us, Nathan decided to have a little fun. He had so much fun dancing with his best mates. It was one of the funniest things I've ever seen.
My favorite moment:
The first look was so meaningful for us. Sneaking up to Nathan, and just being able to hug and kiss him, knowing what the rest of the day would bring, was incredible. While people were taking photos around us, we got to just stand with each other and talk a little bit.
Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?
- Photography: Ateia Photography
- My dress, veil, and Nathan's boutonnière: Rebecca Cobbing Couture
- Shoes: T.U.K.
- Necklace and bracelet: Beserk
- Hair colour: Manic Panic Violet Night
- Bridesmaid dresses: Parody Petals
- Venue: Yarra Ranges Estate
- Videographer: Burgess Video
- Celebrant: Julia Doeven
- DJ: Party Hire Productions
- Photo booth: In The Booth
- Limo: Enrik Limousines
- Candy bar: The Candy Co Company
- Lollipop Topiaries: Edible Weddings and More
- My bouquet: How Divine
- Bridesmaids bouquets: I made them from products from Floral Land and Aubabi78
Enough talk — show me the wedding inspo!
decor: Edible Weddings and More
photography: Ateia Photography
About the Author: Offbeat Weditors
Working tirelessly to bring you stimulating content day after day, the Offbeat Wed editors will not sleep until you've gotten your offbeat fix.
All of the signs are wonderful.
We are doing a similar thing and I’m just wondering how you did the text. Is that printed or painted or what?
They’re drawn on with a metallic silver gel pen. What I did to make sure the writing was actually nice looking was print the words out on paper, then traced them onto the sign using carbon paper. Then went over the faint outline with the gel pen. Bit of effort but it turned out so it was worth it. 🙂
Beautiful purple hair!! I have always wanted purple hair like that but can’t due to my work dress code requirements. I also love the candy bar options. And me thinks the bridesmaid dresses are adorable! Great pictures, looks like everyone had a blast…. Congratulations to the bride and groom!!! oh I almost forgot … I also love the vows you shared too!!
Thanks 😀
My work dress code doesn’t let me have awesome hair either. I just made sure I was on annual leave when we got married so I could have purple hair. It’s back to plain old boring black now. Work sucks lol
How did you go from black to that gorgeous lilac so quickly?!? I always have huge problems trying to get the blue-black dye out of my hair when I’ve tried to do bright colors in the past.
Oh no, I was blonde before the purple. Spent the year before the wedding bleaching my hair to get all the build up of god knows how my dyes lol
Omg. . . Y’all’s vows are so sweet! They made me tear up! So beautiful and sincere! Totally kicks the whole “til death do us part” thing’s backside!!!
This whole wedding is lovely, and you two look so happy. My favorite photo is that last look/going away shot with the sparklers! So pretty and romantic, and the look on the bride’s face is magic.
Mandy- so gorgeous! I LOVE your hair and you have the most beautiful smile. +I loved your vows. They were truly beautiful. Thank for sharing some lovely wedding inspiration!
Hooray for First Looks!!!! I encourage everyone to have one! Ours really helped us calm down and become bonded in an intimacy that lasted throughout the entire event.
Your wedding is BEAUTIFUL! I adore that bubble photo of you two on the dance floor, and did I spot the Time Warp???? Congratulations!!!
The first look made the day seem more natural. I didn’t like the idea of avoiding my partner for the majority of the day lol.
Yes, yes you did spot the Time Warp. There’s a picture of a lot of us on the floor (including me in my dress) at the end of the song 🙂
Wow! The dresses are awesome, your hair is awesome, and the bubble photo rocks my world. My fiance and I want to do a similar thing with sparklers (New Year’s wedding), so I also like the sparkler photo!
So utterly gorgeous!! Love everything about this wedding! Congratulations!!
That hair! That dress! That bubbles photo! Oh my gosh I love it all. Amazing.
I love everything about this wedding, especially the bridesmaid dresses, the sparklers, and the vows. But that purple mushroom table? OMG I CAN’T EVEN. How did you make that piece of loveliness?
Thank you! The awesome mushroom table and chairs was an awesome creation by my father and myself. My dad did all the woodwork, the “stems” were the hardest part. Each on is made up of two pieces of flat (but thick) wood, cut to the bulbous shape, which were then cut and put together in a cross. We then added chicken wire to the outside of it, stapled it down on the edges of the wood so it would make the stem shape. After that I covered it in a lot of paper mache, painted it and then coated it in a clear weatherproof varnish
Oh so beautiful!!! The dress is just stunning
omg!!So amazing!! And i love the vows!!
Absolutely GORGEOUS bride & wedding attire! Love everything about this wedding.
I just wanted to share our wedding highlights video that I got to see for the first time today >.<
Wow! I love your wedding, it’s gorgeous! You both look like you had a wonderful day.
We’re having a relaxed small wedding in a few months and I’m so happy to see some local inspiration.
Thank you!
I was just beginning to droooool over this wedding and got distracted by the shoes…ohhhhhhhhhhhh the SHOES!!!! So of course they took me off on a wholly different adventure and it was over an hour before I managed to come back and finish ogling the rest of the pics lol!
I know! The SHOES!!!!! Loved em!
OMG! LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS!!!!!!!!!! Loved EVERYTHING ABOUT IT!!!!!!! Made me teary-eyed! I cannot wait to marry the love of my life and THIS is soooooo US! Thank you for sharing. It just made me smile so hard! <3