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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.
offbeat wedding crasher alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

The offbeat wedding crasher: the story of how I showed up at a reader’s wedding

As those of you who follow Offbeat Bride on Facebook already know, this weekend I crashed a reader’s wedding (and live-updated the whole thing as I got progressively more inebriated). This is the story of how it all went down, with the added bonus of gorgeous photos and awesome details from Liz and Mark’s wedding in Port Angeles, WA.

8662503850 7e24d1b36e alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Skip the receiving line and do photos together instead

Ah, the receiving line. That thing that many couples sorta dread, where you stand there awkwardly smiling and hugging people and maybe feeling awkward (…or worse). We loved Mary & Craig’s solution…

guests blowing kiss alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Start off your ceremony with all your guests blowing you a kiss

Kim & Cole’s ceremony was officiated by Kim’s father, who did the whole thing irreverantly. Kim explained that to begin with, “The ceremony started off with all of the guests simultaneously blowing us a kiss.” What a beautiful way to start your ceremony with a sense of guest involvement and an outpouring of love! Just have your officiant start with the request for a blown kiss and voila: instant warm fuzzies.

post secret wedding crop alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Why does the internet love snarking about weddings so much?

The internet loves snarking in general, but there seems to be something particularly digitally delectable about making fun of weddings. Sometimes it feels like nontraditional weddings get snarked on the most, but these days it seems you’re just as likely to see people bitching about how all the wedding trends are played out. What I want to explore is WHY? Why does everyone love getting bitchy about weddings? I’m going to put on my sociologist/media studies hat and share a few theories…