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The offbeat bride: Jessi, Microbiologist
Her offbeat partner: John, Waiter
Location & date of wedding: The Sherwood Room, Chicago, IL — October 31, 2009
What made our wedding offbeat: Well, first of all we decided to get married on Halloween.
For our favors we made Dia De Los Muertos Bride & Groom chocolate bars from molds I bought on ebay, and added a personalized guitar pick. We also gave out masquerade masks to everyone.
I bought pre-made red rose bridesmaid bouquets from Michaels, ripped off the white ribbons, re-wrapped them with black and skull and crossbone ribbons and added black accents.
I smooshed two bouquets together to make my bouquet and added black roses. Little skull beads and a spider were added to the guys' boutonnieres.
My centerpieces each had a theme of a different classic horror film that John and I love.
Our cake was AMAZING! It was chocolate fudge cake with cookies ‘n cream filling and red velvet with butter rum filling topped with creepy chocolate drizzle and Frankenstein and his bride.
My little brother was the ring bearer, and instead of carrying a pillow, (he was twelve) he carried a guitar hero controller!
Tell us about the ceremony: I walked down the aisle with my mom and dad to the “Love” song from Halloween.
We walked back to the Tales from the Crypt theme song. Our best man and minister was John's best friend, Robb, who performed a beautiful hand fasting ritual. Our ceremony was quick, I felt like I blinked and it was over, we were married!
Our biggest challenge: Explaining to people that our wedding would be a “no children” wedding, and then having to defend to them the fact that my flower girl was three years old. In the end, the people who were able to come and support us did attend, and that was all we could ask for. People will always have their own beliefs about what you coulda woulda and shoulda done, but they are not the people paying for the wedding, spending hours planning, worrying about ideas/vendors that fall through, and making sure the night is exactly how YOU envisioned it.
My favorite moment:
- Seeing John for the first time before the wedding in that beautiful courtyard was magical. I'm so glad we decided to take pictures before the wedding. It was so much more intimate.
- Having John's best friend preside over our wedding.
- Taking a party bus to the financial district to take the Abbey Road picture was so much fun.
- Our first dance was to Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd, and my Father/Daughter dance was to Sweet Child of Mine by GNR. And finally dancing with my Fred Astaire of a papa to My Girl
- And most of all, the friends and family who came to support us.
My funniest moment: The DJ appropriately starting off dinner to Feed my Frankenstein.
Also, me getting down on the dance floor so my cousin could teach me how to breakdance!
My advice for offbeat brides: If you want certain centerpieces/decor/etc. at your wedding and you cannot find it, make it! Don't be afraid or discouraged because you can't find that perfect centerpiece. Use those creative juices! You can find local/student artists in your neighborhood and tell them you would like to feature their work at your wedding.
All of my Horror Movie themed centerpieces were pieced together with items my dad and I made and/or bought. I realized that once I got the black candelabras to the hall, they were just too short in the middle of the table. So my dad and I made bases for them that I covered in beautiful Halloween fabric. To quote Tim Gunn, I had to “Make it Work!”
Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?
Photographer: Penn/Carlson
Dress: Maggie Sottero
Cake: Babushka Bakery
Personalized Guitar Picks: In Tune
Personalized Bridesmaid gifts: Dunham Designs
Zombie Heels: Iron Fist Clothing
Wedding Hall: Garden Banquets
Personalized Shot Glasses: Discount Mugs
Bulk Masquerade Masks: E-Mardi Gras Beads
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.
Wow! I love everything you guys did. I especially like the Abbey Road idea!
I’m guessing this wedding actually happened in 2009 – otherwise, this wedding happened in the future? I think that makes it extra fabulous.
I loved the centerpieces, the zombie shoes and the abbey road-esque picture.
From one microbiologist to another: Well done.
Oops! Yep – it happened in 2009. Fixed. Sorry about that and thanks for letting us know.
– Becca
As Jenni said, I’m guessing it also 2009 but what a fabulous wedding. I would have LOVED to pick your brain since we are wedding twins almost! Congrats!
I would love to know where those masquerade masks were bought! Please share!
emardigrasbeads.com
Oh my – can you PLEASE tell me where you got the Frankenstein & Bride cake topper? That is amazing! We want to do a horror-themed wedding as well and that is so perfect! Also, what about the toe tags?
I bought separate Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein action figures off of ebay and glued both of them down on one of their bases. The toe tags are from orientaltrading.com, they’re actually drink tags for parties, so you don’t lose your drink, but we used them as seating cards for our guests! We hung them on a black christmas tree sitting on out guest book table.
Absolutely amazing. I’m so in love with your cake topper that I’m tempted to ask if I can buy it from you, ha! 🙂
Thank you for the tip on the toe tags, too!
I totally have those shoes
Where was this dress from? It’s beautiful!
It’s a Maggie Sottero dress. I had the custom corset back put in at the bridal salon.