Christina’s Seattle church wedding and grungey bar reception

The offbeat bride: Christina, Architect/intern

My offbeat groom: Michael, Musician/vintage furniture salesman

Location & date of wedding: Ceremony at Trinity Church and reception at Sunset Tavern, both in Seattle, June 2007.

What made our wedding offbeat: We tried to do things our way and not get caught up in everything we “had to have” for the wedding. We were able to have a totally rockin' wedding with a very small budget.

Michael and I aren't very church-religious, but several of his family member's have married at Trinity Church. We like the idea of having a spiritual place that means a lot to the family. Our officiate was amazing — she totally understood what we needed to feel comfortable. She was open to adjusting the traditional wedding service to meet our needs, such as changing wording. She even did a special version of the lords prayer written in a Native American tone. Our readings included, Kahlil Gibran “Song Of Love” and Mirah “Promise to Me” (it's really a song). And the ceremony concluded with the Apache Wedding blessing. The Organist played a song by Neutral Milk Hotel (Untitled — track 10 from In The Aeroplane Over The Sea) for our recessional

The reception at the Sunset Tavern looked amazing. It was also so amazing to see this kinda grungy rock club turn beautiful. We had very minimal decorations — a few lights strung from the ceiling, and lanterns, and lots of votives. A few of the tables had small flower arrangements (I did myself the night before). We served pizza from Madame K's Pizza down the street and Costco platters. Our band was my stepfather's band and they totally rocked. They played lots of classic rock like Tom Petty, and the Stones. It was all stuff everyone could get into.

Our biggest challenge: Our biggest challenge was trying to balance the wedding that we wanted within a budget. We tried to be smart and creative about the issue. We were engaged a whole year giving us plenty of time to plan. Craigslist was our best friend — we found a free photographer and day of the wedding Coordinator! We also received lots of help from friends and family such as my stepfather's band playing at the reception, my sister's boyfriend DJing, and both parents helping out with food and cake.

All the ladies in the wedding found their dresses for cheap on Ebay or thrift stores, one of my ladies made her own dress! Even my wedding dress was a vintage ebay find.

My favorite moment: Our friends decorated our bikes and after the reception we rode away down the street. That night happened to be the Art Walk on Ballard Avenue so there were a lot of people out. Everyone started yelling “Congrats!” to us.

Michael has worked in the neighborhood for several years so many of the shop owners along the street came out and wished us well as we rode by. It was great to be alone, riding our bikes for the first time as a married couple, before we went back to the after party. Later that night we rode our bikes back home and it had to be the funniest time I have ever had!!

My offbeat advice: My advise would be to take one thing at a time and to let things happen as they should be. Don't focus on the negative! And have a good time!!

Enough talk — show me the wedding porn: Check out the gallery. [Side note: Can you believe Christina got that amazing wedding photographer for FREE? Laurence Kim‘s shots are amazing.] Also, you can check out another profile of the wedding on Wedding Bee.

Tell me all about your offbeat wedding!

About the Author: Offbeat Weditors

@offbeatbride @offbeatwed

Working tirelessly to bring you stimulating content day after day, the Offbeat Wed editors will not sleep until you've gotten your offbeat fix.