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The Offbeat Bride: Elizabeth, Massage Therapist (and Offbeat Bride member)
Her offbeat partner: James, Systems Technician
Date and location of wedding: The Victoria Inn Bed and Breakfast Hampton, NH — May 25, 2014
Our offbeat wedding at a glance: James and I wanted a simple but fun wedding. Our venue was outdoors so we saved a lot on outdoor decorations for the ceremony. Our reception food was BBQ and we had simple cupcakes and a small cake made by my maid of honor. It was a super economical wedding, but it all worked out since so many people pitched in.
Our ceremony was a handfasting ceremony as I am Pagan, though James is not, so we kept the ceremony non-denominational. We had a first dance but didn't do the mother/son or daughter/father dance since my father is not in my life. We didn't do a bouquet or garter toss either. Also amazing was the work that went into the centerpieces and the cupcake tier. The tier was handmade by James' grandfather and was a pretty lovely part of the wedding.
Tell us about the ceremony:
The ceremony was a non-denominational Pagan handfasting in the Celtic tradition. We used our handfasting cord from the initial ceremony that took place right after our engagement two years ago. So it has two knots in it! It was a simple braided blue, green, and purple satin ribbon cord that my husband and I braided together. My friend, who happens to do this professionally, officiated the wedding.
Our biggest challenge:
I would say the biggest challenge was being financially mindful of everything I was purchasing and prioritizing. I had no issues with friends or family members during this process which I am very thankful for.
My favorite moment:
When the ceremony was happening, everyone was blowing bubbles and they showed up in a lot of the photos. During my vows, everyone was crying, even James. I've never see him cry in public like that. It was extremely emotional as he and I have been together for almost eight years now.
My maid of honor had the most wonderful speech and incorporated The Princess Bride into it — it was perfect and funny.
The most meaningful out of all of these moments was our first dance. We danced to “Fly me to the Moon” by Frank Sinatra. The song does hold special meaning to us as my husband always would sing it to me when I was upset. The dance went smoothly despite us having only one dance lesson.
My funniest moment:
As we are all dancing to “Time Warp” from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, so many guests were really getting into it.
Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?
- Photography: Katie Sansoucy Photography
- Dress: Firefly Path, JoEllen Elam did an outstanding job on my dress
- Jewelry: Thyme2Dream
- Cake Topper: Licorice Wits, Terry is AWESOME
- Caterer: Blue Ribbon BBQ
- Cupcake tier: James' grandfather
- Bridesmaids dresses: Holy Clothing
- Flowers: NHWoods Creations
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What a gorgeous wedding!
AND OMG THAT DRESS!!! STUNNING.
I LOVE that DRESS!!!!!!!!!!!! Headpiece too!!!!! AMAZING!!!!!
Thank you both!!!!! xoxoxo JoEllen does beautiful work highly recommend her!!!
Yes!!! JoEllen is my wonderful friend, a wonderful human being, and stupefyingly amazing dress maker.
She was the EASIEST person I dealt with for the ENTIRE wedding. No joke. There were always issues and delays on everything else BUT the dress. She was perfect from start to finish. If I was to have a renewal ceremony I’m having her make me another dress. She is epic win!
You look absolutely stunning and I am now wildly rethinking my dress plans because OMG I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT YOUR WEDDING OUTFIT!
Oh my goodness thank you 😀 Yes! I actually tried on 23982983298 normal wedding dresses and while 2 looked GREAT on me….I didn’t feel like myself. Nothing like a dress the shades of lilacs to brighten your day. I even wore lilac perfume. It’s my favorite flower 🙂
Omg this. Your dress, your wedding…its incredible. Also, I LOVE your cake topper idea! My fiance and I have two kitties to, and this is the best cake topper idea I’ve seen yet. Fabulous!
This wedding is so beautiful, and that dress is amazing.
Thank you!! Spent 3 years planning it! Really appreciate your kind comment xoxox
I want to list all the things that I think are amazing about this, but then I would be listing ALL THE THINGS!
Bride=stunning! and I totally love that group picture, the lifted up babies made me chuckle a little
Oh my gosh thank you so much!!! <3 Etsy is my friend!! lol! And thank you I felt so beautiful on that day 🙂 Ah yes the babies! One is my niece and the other is a friend's son! They were such good babies!!! xoxoox
Thank you all so much!!!! <3
And if anyone is wondering who the officiant was – Her name is Robbi Packard and she does this professionally. I am sorry I did not put the link to her website initially. She is located in Massachusetts and has done MANY wedding ceremonies. She did a phenomenal job with our ceremony.
http://www.therobinsnestma.com/handfastings-weddings-rites-of-passage.html
Beautiful wedding and I have seen your picture in Facebook because I have Firefly Path on my like list and seen many of her beautiful crafty works that inspires me to make crafty stuff too. Love your red hair with your mixed colored dress, somehow it all worked out well together with your hair piece !! Congratulations!!
Thank you!!! Yes her stuff is AMAZING she does beautiful work!! I’ve had my red hair dyed for years but I wanted it SUPER RED for the wedding 😉
Your wedding is absolutely gorgeous!! And you are stunning! Congratulations!
Thank you so much!!! 😀 <3 xoxoxox
<3 the photobombing babies in the group photo 😀
A Victorian wedding with the Princess Bride and the Time Warp? Umm… I swear I didn’t steal your wedding for my upcoming one! 😉
Also, your dress and headpiece are ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!
Your wedding dress is absolutely stunning – the colors fit you perfectly.
Looking at her makes me feel like I’m watching a real royal theme wedding. How nice it would be have them wed at a palace or old church. Haha. And her tiara? Oh God. I’d love to have one. For sure, One Heart wedding planner could make this possible too.
That crown oh my gosh. Breathtaking. I love these pictures, it looks so magical. <3 You look like a fairy princess and everyone looks so happy. I love the teacup candles, such a cute touch!