This "Blasian Invasion" wedding channeled films, diversity, and classic NYC • Offbeat Wed (was Offbeat Bride)

Offbeat partner: Fanny, Clinical Social Worker

Offbeat partner: Morgan, Film Maker

Date and location of wedding: Metropolitan Building, Long Island City, Queens, NY — October 21, 2017

Our offbeat wedding at a glance:

Blasian Invasion! We looked at this as a celebration of the union of our incredibly diverse community. My family is Afro-Peruvian and my husband is Filipino. Our heritage is very important to both of us, as well as our need for artistic creativity and expression. We wanted to celebrate in our home city, NYC, a place that really embodies these qualities.

Tell us about the ceremony:

We wanted to show our appreciation for film scores and had a backdrop of music from favorites like Amelie, Royal Tenenbaums, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The wedding party walked down to Sigur Ros, a soundtrack favorite, and I walked down to Lotte Kestner cover of Beyonce's “Halo,” that we saw so beautifully used in HBO's the Young Pope. (I'm also a huge Beyonce fan).

We opted out of some Filipino/Peruvian traditions and the officiant spent a lot of time on the value of family and honoring those who came before us. There was a part after our vows where we turned to our guests while they said "we do" in a vow to always be a part of our community. The ceremony was unplugged and our processional song was "My Baby Just Cares for Me" by Nina Simone. My father made the arch behind us and one of my bridesmaids wrote out the beautiful Bell Hooks quote that made up our backdrop, an understanding of the power of love that we really believe in.

Tell us about your reception:

We were catered by Bogota Latin Bistro, a Colombian restaurant in Brooklyn that we both loved before even meeting each other. It was lots of plantain chips, maduros, empanadas, and good hearty Latin food that we all love.

Each table number featured an image of an interracial couple in film or TV. Our first dance was "Prime Time" by Janelle Monae and Miguel. This wedding was a huge dance success and it was really important to me that we had a limbo line, one of my favorite pastimes, and everyone really enjoyed. People really loved the flip books, which was our homage to the origins of film making.

What was your most important lesson learned?

Having a day-of coordinator was the best investment I made. It allowed me to be present and devour every moment of the day. Money was our biggest challenge which we overcame by planning a wedding over two years and working, working, working lots of extra shifts. I think investing in photograph and video was the second most important because these were the only things left besides the memories in your heart.

Having two years to plan really gave me the time to pursue all my DIY projects, including the centerpieces (terrariums for each table that people got to take home). It really helped the floral cost go down. My advice is to take your time! It's painfully frustrating to wait a long time but it gives you the time to make decisions the way you feel most confident, not because you feel you had to. Every detail and decision we made was very personal to us and all our guests saw a piece of us in every part of this wedding. That's what made it feel so intimate, even in a room of 130 people!

And my advice for plus size brides: don't change yourself because you're afraid of the pictures or judgement. This is a day to celebrate your love with a person who loves and accepts you as you are and that should never change. So what, I never lost the weight I thought I would in two years, and I'm okay with that because in the end, I felt beautiful and I have the pictures to show it.