Danielle & Rob’s pin-up style-meets-comic books wedding

It's a bird, it's a plane… it's Offbeat Bride's comic book-clad and caped superhero theme week! Get in the telephone booth and change into your wedding-gawking superhero tights — you're in for crime-fighting fun.

The Offbeat Bride: Danielle, skin care retail

Her offbeat partner: Rob, warehouse shipping lead

Date and location of wedding: Real Life Church, Covington, WA — April 26, 2014

Our offbeat wedding at a glance: When planning the wedding, I wanted to make sure it reflected both of us. Rob has collected comic books since he was a kid and is a super geek. I am an honorary geek and I enjoy learning about his hobbies and interests. I love everything vintage and I especially love 1940s/1950s, so I mushed these two ideas together. It was difficult to explain our “vintage comic book” color scheme. Our groomsmen and bridesmaids wore outfits that reflected this theme as well.

I didn't have a wedding planner, but I had 13 months to figure out what I wanted. I wanted to get married in the church that I grew up in, so that was more traditional. Thankfully our parents graciously helped us with financing the wedding so we were able to do a bit more than we would have without them.

We used a technical college in the area to do our catering. When searching for options, I was amazed at how expensive wedding catering is! Going the college route allowed us to still stay within the budget and get a great buffet service for about 130 people. We also used a local bakery to do the cake. The prices were lower than most upscale bakeries in the Seattle area. It had a blackberry filling which I felt reflected the Northwest well.

I came across our florist while talking to the owner of my favorite coffee stand. Luckily, she was able to get my flowers figured out in less than three weeks (the flowers were something I definitely put off until the last-minute), and she was so helpful in helping me stay in my budget. We used a variety of different flowers in small bud vases so it helped stretch the flowers farther and they looked amazing. I found vintage milk glass bud vases on Craigslist and we put several on each guest table.

I did some looking around online and found on eBay a set of 200+ vintage matchbooks, collected around the world. We decided to use those as the favors along with the sparklers we had set up for our grand exit. We also had a variety of candy dishes set up around the tables during the cocktail hour, almost like a little candy bar.

We had a photobooth that my sister and I made. There is a comic book about Spider-Man and Mary Jane getting married and we painted the comic book cover on a giant six-foot tall plywood piece with holes cut out for the faces. It was a big success and I felt like it was very unique. And it was a blast painting it with my sister! People were surprised when we told them it was handmade. My sister also helped me design our save-the-dates and our invitations. Our save-the-dates were made like a comic book cover with Rob and me on the cover.

Our “getaway” vehicle was something my father surprised us with. An old friend of his is a part of a local vintage car club and he showed up with one of his own to take us to the hotel when we left. I loved not having the traditional limo (although I still have yet to ride in one!).

Tell us about the ceremony:
We had one of my old childhood friends marry us. He and I grew up together and his wife is now my sister's best friend. He is a youth pastor, but has a very nerdy/quirky side to him. We knew he would be perfect, and we were honored that he was the one to marry us. He made an LED lighted Iron Man heart and wore it under his shirt for the ceremony!

We had our officiant do a reading that we found in an Offbeat Bride post:

You have known each other from the first glance of acquaintance to this point of commitment. At some point, you decided to marry. From that moment of yes to this moment of yes, indeed, you have been making promises and agreements in an informal way. All those conversations that were held riding in a car or over a meal or during long walks — all those sentences that began with “When we're married” and continued with “I will and you will and we will” — those late night talks that included “someday” and “somehow” and “maybe” — and all those promises that are unspoken matters of the heart. All these common things, and more, are the real process of a wedding. The symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another, ” You know all those things we've promised and hoped and dreamed — well, I meant it all, every word.” Look at one another and remember this moment in time. Before this moment you have been many things to one another — acquaintance, friend, companion, lover, dancing partner, and even teacher, for you have learned much from one another in these last few years. Now you shall say a few words that take you across a threshold of life, and things will never quite be the same between you. For after these vows, you shall say to the world, this is my husband, this is my wife.
– “Union” from The Beginning to End by Robert Fulghum

Our biggest challenge:
I have never been a very creative person and the biggest challenge of planning the wedding was figuring out my vision for the decor. I had a lot of help in the craftiness department from my sister Karissa. She was a huge help.

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The time of the rehearsal dinner was probably the most stressful. We had the dinner, then immediately after we set up the church for the wedding which was the next day. I pretty much planned the wedding solo, even Rob didn't know the vision I had. So I found it extremely difficult to guide people on what to do and where to put stuff because I was literally the only one who knew where everything went. I realize now that I should have asked for more help and let more people in on my plans and vision. It definitely would have made the setting up process a lot easier and less stressful.

My favorite moment:
Rob and I didn't want to have a first look, however my dad and I did. It was great to be able to sneak up behind him and surprise him. I was very excited to show him my dress for the first time. I am the youngest of four daughters, and the last to get married. I knew he would cry and he did. It was very special to share that moment with him before everything started.

I was completely relaxed the entire day, up until the moment before I was about to walk down the aisle. I was shaking so badly, my dad had to hold me still while we walked. But all of it faded away when I saw him waiting for me. That was the best feeling I have ever felt. I know it's cheesy, but I honestly felt like everything else faded into the background and I only saw him.

My funniest moment:
My dad had planned a surprise for his big speech. When it was time for toasts, he was the last to speak. He ended his speech with, “Let's all toast to the happy couple!” Everyone yelled, “TOAST!” and all held up pieces of toast in the air! It was so my dad, and it was adorable and made us laugh.

What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding?
Have fun with your guests! Because we chose not to do a first look, we had to get our couple pictures done during the cocktail hour, which was sort of a bummer because quite a few people left during this time. But we still got to talk to lots of people, and since we got our pictures out of the way, we were able to drink and dance the night away with our friends and family. That was what was most important to us.

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?

• Photography: Bouncy Robot Photography
• Dress: David's Bridal
• Accessories and bridesmaids dresses: ModCloth
• Flowers: Theresa Althauser
• Cake: Creative Cake Designs
• Catering: Renton Technical College

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