Angel & Dave’s old-school glamour, “Dangelous” backyard wedding

The offbeat bride: Angel, Fulltime Mommy (and OBT Member)

Her offbeat partner: Dave, Lineman

Location & date of wedding: My grandparents' backyard in Dousman, WI — June 26, 2010

What made our wedding offbeat: We'd discussed doing a theme, but realized doing a theme (regardless of how fun it sounded) was a bad idea for two people like us. We don't have enough in common for one thing and for two, its hard to categorize everything we wanted in our wedding to one central theme. We decided that we'd just keep bouncing ideas off of each other, and if we liked them we'd use 'em. It became a real mash of ideas, that somehow came together in colors of reds, blacks and silvers.

We wrote our own vows, and had rings made for each other that included a part of the vows engraved upon them. Dave's sister suspired us with a poem she wrote for us. My brother was supposed to read but ended up saying, “What I wrote is great. But its not ceremony appropriate so I'll save it for the reception, folks!” Which made us all laugh.

We had two guys and six girls stand up, as well as two flower girls and a ring bearer. Before we got married, a lot of people expressed confusion when it came to the man vs woman ratio in the wedding but I think that in the end they saw that it really did come together beautifully.

Tell us about the ceremony: Our ceremony went pretty quickly. We had a standing, outdoor ceremony so we didn't want anything too long. Dave's sister Sarah wrote a poem for us and read that as the first reading. We then said our vows (which we wrote ourselves), and said ‘I do.'

Next came the unity ceremony. We decided to kind of make our own up. We used a traditional German Bridal Cup to drink our favorite beer out of (a raspberry dessert beer, the first beer we ever drank together). Turns out the Best Man totally spaced and forgot to bring the beer outside though so while he ran back down to find it, we had our second reader come up and read “What Is Real” from Velveteen Rabbit. We finished with our unity ceremony and the kiss.

Our biggest challenge: The biggest challenge of all was the slowly diminishing groomsmen. When we first started planning the wedding, we had four groomsmen. Then one dropped out because he lost his job, and didn't want to say he could get a tux when he might not be able to. Then my best friend Daniel (who was supposed to be my best man) called me a month before the wedding, totally heartbroken, he couldn't get leave to come to the wedding. Of course, we understood, and so I called my brother up and asked if he would stand in for Daniel. He told me he'd be honored.

Then, two days before the wedding the last groomsman told us he wouldn't be coming to the wedding. We were down to two groomsmen to work with, but it worked out great after all. My brother insisted that he and kyle run down the hill and walk each girl up so they didn't have to walk alone and all in all, I think it looked pretty classy.

My favorite moment: Besides the entire thing being a very emotional and meaningful event, I'd probably single out a couple of odd things. Such as, my son running up to us to “bust the ghosts” trying to ruin my wedding (he is obsessed with ghostbusters). Trent had a big stick, and was making laser noises. He looked at me and said, “I saved the day mom. I busted all the ghosts up here now.” It brought some much needed hilarity to such a serious event… Dave and I really aren't very somber or emotional people and it just cut some tension I know we were both feeling.

Seeing Dave see me for the first time was pretty breath taking too. I think I faltered a little bit, just overwhelmed by the moment. My dad nudged me and said, ‘He's waiting for you,' to get me moving again. When I got up there Dave told me I took his breath away.

The speeches really touched our hearts too. My brother's speech almost made me cry. He said, “Who gets to marry the girl next door anymore now a days? Dave does. Who gets to marry the first boy they ever kissed? Angel does. I looked up definitions of love, and none of them do these two any justice.” As well reliving many old moments in our past. Our friend Jon ended up rickrolling the reception by singing “Never Gonna Give You Up” mid-wedding speech.

My funniest moment: There were a few of them. One was when it was time to take pictures, my daughter was NOT having it. She made the most adorable angry faces however. We couldn't stop laughing at her. She's quite the over actor.

OR, the fact that when it came time to do our unity ceremony. We realized that the best man forgot to bring the beer. He ran back into the house and couldn't find it. It took two bridesmaids to help him, and then as they came up the hill my uncle chased after him saying, ‘You need the bottle opener!' That made us all laugh pretty hard.

Then at the reception hall, we kept noticing cupcakes going missing, but couldn't figure out who was taking them. We hadn't cut the cake yet, so no one should've been eating them. Then we heard the giggling and saw a hand reach up from under the table. Our daughter Bela had gathered all the other little girls under the table for a cupcake feast, and was the ring leader of the group, haha!

My advice for offbeat brides: Don't let people tell you that a wedding has to cost a lot of money. We had an amazing wedding on a budget under 2000 dollars. The key is keep your eyes open for great deals, and don't be afraid to ask people for their help. Most friends and family are more than happy to help. Our photographer was a friend of ours, and did our pictures as a gift. The program maker, the baker, the dj… were all friends who were honored we asked them to be a part of our big day.

Also, if you want it, include it. At the end of the day, it matters what you thought of your wedding. Sure, there were a few complaints or some shocked older relatives but it just doesn't matter much. I can't even remember anything negative anymore, just how epically amazing the day was.

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?

• Bride's dress: a cute local bridal boutique by the name of Hartland Bridal.
• Headpiece: a great little shop on etsy: Boring Sidney. The customer service was phenomenal!
• Cake topper: Etsy as well, Bella Smiles and this seller was fantastic to work with.

Enough talk — show me the wedding inspo!

About the Author: Offbeat Weditors

@offbeatbride @offbeatwed

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