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The Offbeat Bride: Dana
Her Offbeat Partner: Timothy
Location & date of wedding: Sonoma, CA. The Ceremony was at St. Andrews Church (outside surrounded by horses) and the Reception at Wolf House Jack London Lodge, Glen Ellen, CA. — October 10, 2008
What made our wedding offbeat: We made the decision to have a wedding ceremony much to my husbands objections. He would have prefferred eloping. But, I needed the ritual of a wedding. So we ventured into the wedding planning craze, and a year later my husband, with tears in his eyes, thanked me for insisting on the tradition of a wedding ceremony.
We focused on what was truly part of our individual personage and what we were as a union. We fell in love in Sonoma, CA., so Sonoma was where we tied the knot. The ceremony was the first ceremony to be held outside of St. Andrews Preysbertian church. The decorations were grapevines, pumpkins, a horse pasture and an old cross set up to honor a survivor of a fire that destroyed the original church.
The groom and groomsmen wore western attire and cowboy boots from Western Emporium. An old tyme American music band played as guest entered. The wedding party and bride entered to music of Sigor Ros' Olsen Olsen and march out to Saeglopur.
To start the ceremony the bridesmaids gave the bride peices of their bouquet to compose the bridal bouquet — symbolizing their support and hopes for the bride. The brides mother sealed the deal by wrapping a piece of her own wedding dress around the bouquet. The flowers were all arranged by a friend and purchased the day of at the Flower Mart in San Francisco. Wheat was the common theme in the bouquets but each bouquet was arranged with a flower chosen by the bride to accent each individual.
The reception was held on a patio, beside a creek in Glen Ellen. Each centerpiece was hand crafted out of aluminum pots, moss, manzanita branches and baby food jars as votives. Each table had burlap as a table runner with rocks scattered across each table. And the cake was from SAFEWAY. Yummy and cheap! Not a piece was left.
The day after the wedding the bride and groom had a private handfasting ceremony at a labrynth in Somoma. This is where they privately wove their intentions into their union.
Our biggest challenge: Cost. How to have an affordable wedding in the middle of wine country? Our wedding budget doubled in the first six months of planning. We focused on DIY projects. The groom worked in the film business so a couple of friends shot the wedding as a gift. My cousin DJ-d our reception from his computer. All flowers and centerpeices were hand crafted. The groom and groomsmen attire purchased from an online costume shop.
My favorite moment: I have three:
- The way my husband looked at me when he promised forever. His eyes glistening.
- Our first dance to The Avett Brothers “Swept Away”.
- Our nephew of seven-years-old breakdancing with our photographer.
Care to share any vendor/shopping links?:
- Photographer: Rachel Balunsat
My advice for other offbeat brides: Create Create Create.
Enough talk — show me the wedding inspo!:
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.
I will this, of all the weddings I've been too, this one was off beat! But I loved it.. oh, and the old cross at St. Andrews was a stone Celtic cross..
love her dress
Ahhhh! Your first dance was to 'Swept Away'? I cannot say how exiting it was to read of an offbeat bride that loves the Avett Brothers!! My fiance and I are considering getting married next January just so we can have 'January Wedding' played as our first dance!
(and if you don't know who they are go to http://www.theavettbrothers.com and check them out, you'll be glad you did)
We love love love the Avett Bros. We have seen them 3 times. I think 'January Wedding' would be a great song! Congratualtions and have fun!
I love the hubbie's vest! Where did he get it?
Awh. Thanks!
Check it out: WesternEmporium
http://www.westernemporium.com/western.php
haha. when i was reading your description of the bouquet formation i felt like you lifted it from my thoughts. How was that visually and did people comment on it? Also, i'm glad you convinced your man to have a ceremony, because it looks and sounds like you and your guests had a wonderful time 😀
I am glad we did the bouquet thing…it meant something to me. I'm not sure if everyone knew what was going on. I liked how it provided some silence after walking down the aisle and kinda help send me off (rather than just my dad "giving me away"). I definitely recommend doing it!
And we don't regret having the ceremony at all! Very worth it.
😀
Absolutely beautiful wedding. Congratulations!
This was one of the funnest weddings I ever photographed. I LOVE Dana & Timothy! Thanks for letting me be part of your special day. I gotta get these pix up on my new website: http://www.RachelBalunsat.com xoxo!!
YOU are the most amazing photographer ever Rachel. I felt like you were part of my wedding party…in fact I should have given you a bouquet! 😉
Thank you!
A gorgeous bride, handsome groom and the venue was breathtaking! Thanks for sharing!
I've always wanted to walk down the isle to Sigur Rós! That just makes me so happy. I love Sæglópur!
hey, can I ask who the musicians were? Friends or pros (or maybe both)?
The musicians are a band called Huckleberry Flint. We saw them playing in the streets of Eureka on Arts Night and we started following their music locally in SF. They are professionals but soooo friendly. They have a couple of albums. They played before the wedding and throughout the reception. They were awesome. 🙂
http://www.humboldtmusic.com/webpage/index.cfm?ID…
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Huckleberry-Flint/2…
My fav was the old blue grass band w/ the huge bass in the wedding hall… literally took my breath away!!!:)
Great post! Useful tips and beautiful Harvest themed wedding pictures… Thanks for sharing!