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Author of three editions of the Offbeat Bride book and its sequel (From Shitshow To Afterglow, the ultimate offbeat breakup book), Ariel Meadow Stallings is the publisher of all the Offbeat Empire web properties. She lives in Seattle with her son.
music festival wedding alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Beloved festival weddings: inspiration for your music festival-flavored wedding

Next month for the third year in a row, I’m heading to Oregon’s Beloved Festival. To celebrate the spirit of Beloved, it feels like the right time to bask in the beauty of music festival-inspired weddings.

wedding weight loss crop alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Psychology Today: Fighting the Unhealthy Cultural Push for Wedding Weight Loss

I’ve written in the past about the pressure put on so many brides to lose weight for their weddings (and how I suggest people handle it). I love that Psychology Today is now tackling this sticky subject with their article, Fighting the Unhealthy Cultural Push for Wedding Weight Loss

photo by jenny gg alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Bring Your Own Bickering: Why does everyone freak out over BYOB weddings?

Ah, ye olde BYOB debate. Second to the “Are potluck weddings tacky?” debate, this is one that people have some pretty strong and pretty divided opinions about. As always, our answer is “It’s ALL tacky — so what?” but there are some issues more complex than just subjective etiquette and tastefulness police at play here.

audrabayette unpluggedwedding alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Offbeat Bride interview about unplugged weddings on New Hampshire Public Radio

I first wrote about unplugged weddings way back in 2011, with a two-post series. The posts went crazy viral and in the three years since then, the idea has picked up major steam. The Huffington Post noticing the trend in 2012, and New York Times picking up on the concept in 2013. I’m happy to say that the concept is now popular enough that it’s no longer seen as “offbeat” in any way.