Nevada & Trevor’s Alice in Wonderland glamorous garden wedding

The Offbeat Bride: Nevada

Her offbeat partner: Trevor, Demolition Estimator

Date and location of wedding: Burnaby Central Park, Burnaby BC, Canada, The Metro Hall, New Westminster, BC, Canada — August 10, 2013

Our offbeat wedding at a glance: Let me start by stating that Trevor and I have very different interests. I'm a rock ‘n' roll-loving, tattoo-covered lady who loves Tim Burton, horror movies, and everything '50s. He is fairly mainstream, a relatively conservative dresser, and has no visible tattoos. He loves Top Gun, sports, and playing poker. We really wanted a wedding that would reflect our individual personalities, and also represent the life we shared together.

It wasn't very long before we decided on the theme of Alice in Wonderland! It was perfect because it incorporated our favorite colors of black, red, and white, which are also the main colors associated with poker.

We drew inspiration from the original books Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass, which gave us lots of vintage-inspired quotes and imagery to use throughout our stationery and decor.

Tell us about the ceremony:
Our ceremony was very special because we had it officiated by Trevor's grandmother, whose husband had passed away about six months before the wedding. We had no idea what she was going to say, but she definitely tugged on our heart strings when she spoke about hoping our love would be as true and lasting as the love she shared with her late husband.

We also had my brother, an accomplished musician, play all the ceremony music. He played the acoustic guitar and sang some of our favorite love songs, and reworked some of our special songs to accompany the seating of the mothers, and me coming down the aisle. I walked down the aisle to a beautiful folk version of “Without You,” originally done by David Guetta and Usher. I had never heard his rendition before, and it was a really special tear-filled moment.

Trevor and I are not religious, so we chose to write our own vows to each other. I had written mine on paper, while he surprised everyone and whipped out his iPhone when it was his turn to recite. This was a very telling moment to the differences between us, and how our personalities work together.

Our biggest challenge:
We had originally selected a different park for our ceremony, and had mapped out all of our decor and post-ceremony activities for that location. About four months before our ceremony, and well after paying for the site rental, we showed up to do some planting of flowers only to find that the city had erected a baseball diamond directly beside our picnic area.

It was a big struggle to get our money back, let alone finding a new ceremony location that we were happy with. We re-visited some of our original options, and found that another park, although a bit further away, was actually a better fit with our plans and gave a classier overall feel.

My favorite moment:
Here are some of my favorite moments:

• My mother hanging out in the bridal suite as I got ready; she lives far away so we don't often have those type of moments or experiences together.
• My sister and maid of honor lacing up the corset back on my dress. This is when I started to cry!
• The look on Trevor's face when he first saw me coming down the aisle.
• The high five at the “altar” between Trevor and my father; it was a genuine reflection of the type of relationship they share.
• The song that my brother played to serenade me down the aisle.
• The vows that we said to each other.
• The speech my grandmother gave at our reception.

Have you been married before and if so, what did you do differently?
This time around, we spent the time and money necessary to have a memorable event. When I got married the first time, I compromised everything I felt was important to suit our tiny budget, and I always felt that I'd settled.

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?

• Dress: Sew Sweets
• Photography: Chris Loh Photography
• Wedding planner: Behold Weddings
• Decor rentals: Celebration Party Rentals

Enough talk — show me the wedding inspo!

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