Amy & Mike’s “come for the cupcakes, stay for the wedding” Wedding

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#Real Weddings: Canada#colorful#cupcakes#LEGO#mama bride#ontario#purple hair#short hair#toronto
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The Offbeat Bride: Amy, full time stay-at-home mom

Her Offbeat Partner: Mike, software developer

Location & date of wedding: Fantasy Farm – Makebelieve Ballroom in Toronto, Ontario — November 16th, 2008.

What made our wedding offbeat: We wanted a wedding that would be, above all else, FUN! We did away with certain traditions — I walked down the aisle with my husband and I didn't throw a bouquet or garter, but it held most of the elements that one expects at a wedding. We tried to make it unique in the details, without straying too far from what we feel a wedding is.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/webwench/3342359264/

Some obvious “offbeat” choices were my black/purple hair, showing off my tattoos, a tea-length dress with fishnets and pin-up style shoes. We had a board game table, candy buffet, and magician to entertain the crowd. They were all quite a hit!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/webwench/3342358380/in/set-72157614963280013

A lot of the wedding was DIY to try and cut down on costs. I made the bouquets myself out of fake flowers used in the DIY centerpieces. We used seamstresses, etsy and family whenever possible! My husband and I slaved away for a long time on our invitations ourselves. My mother-in-law made the purple ties my husband and son wore. My father in-law spray painted all the centerpiece vases to help fit the colour scheme, my maid of honour and sister organized the polaroid photo-booth guest book, and our friend came in for us as a last minute DJ. It was definitely a joint effort, and in the end, we heard nothing but compliments. It was a fantastic evening!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/webwench/3342398626

Our biggest challenge: Quite honestly our biggest challenge was figuring out what we wanted to do to make the day special. I had always dreamed of having a medieval wedding for some reason. A fairy-tale day with costumes. This is what made us choose our venue which is very medieval themed. We realized, after telling guests it was a costume-themed wedding, that while the idea of a medieval-themed wedding seemed nice, it really wasn't us. If we couldn't bring ourselves to dress up for a medieval faire, why dress up for our wedding? It was hard to do a complete 360 and plan the wedding from scratch again, but we did, and were very glad we did. What we came up with in the end, was very very us.

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My favorite moment: It's hard to pin-point a specific event, as the whole day feels like a blur now. I would have to say having everyone come together for a group shot was my favourite moment. Seeing all our friends and family gathered in one big group, giving a peace-sign to the photographer, was just a great moment I was happy to have done. I really recommend a group shot!

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My advice for other offbeat brides: Really think long and hard about what you want to do BEFORE you tell other people what your plans are. My biggest mistake was constantly telling people my ideas, and changing them, then telling them something else. Wait until you are sure you know what you want to do before letting everyone else know. (One friend had to return the costume he ordered when we told him it was going to be medieval!)

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Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?: My dress was a white full-length bridesmaid dress with pickups that cost me $175! I made it my own by having a seamstress tailor it to exactly what I had envisioned. My shoes were on sale for $40 at Aldo. My husband wore a suit from Le Chateau. Decorations were fake-flower centerpieces from Walmart and lanterns with battery tea-lights from Ikea. The maid of honour and flower-girl both wore custom dresses.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/webwench/3341526937/in/set-72157614963280013

Specific vendors I can link are:

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Comments on Amy & Mike’s “come for the cupcakes, stay for the wedding” Wedding

  1. There are very few – actually, none that I can think of – weddings that I look at and feel genuinely inspired by, but that’s exactly how I feel about this. Beautiful length on the dress, cute hair, cute shoes, cute kids and lovely flowers. Maybe it’s because we’re from Ontario as well or that we’re.. well.. dirt poor, but my boy and I both love this and are totally taking tips from this post!

    Beautiful fun looking wedding! Congratulations! <3

  3. Wow what a beautiful wedding. Seriously stunning and you both look so happy. Congratulations!

  4. I heart this wedding – they just look SO happy. And every time I see that cupcake picture I want to eat it…

  6. Thanks for the awesome comments. The wedding made us really happy too 🙂 The Offbeat Bride site as well as the tribe really helped me to realize a wedding is what you want it to be. Want a white dress? Wear it! Want purple hair? Go for it! In the end, do what makes you smile.

  7. Awesome! Love the shoes and the altered bride’s maid dress idea is a good one.

    My biggest mistake was constantly telling people my ideas, and changing them, then telling them something else.

    Oh, man, I’ve learned this the hard way! I feel so sheepish having to tell people I’m not actually going to be able to do the exciting things I’ve talked about.

    Did your magician do a little show or did he just wander around entertaining people at random? I met a magician I really liked and if we can afford him (doubtful!) I’m not exactly sure what we’ll do with him!

    • I know!
      I do too!
      Where did you get them? I couldn’t find them in the online lego store…

  8. My boyfriend would geek out over your Lego bride and groom cupcake toppers on the invite. That’s such a great idea!

  9. Wow. We’ve been putting together ideas and having discussions for months about doing our wedding completely DIY. Honestly, there’s lots of DIY areas that I hadn’t considered or didn’t think were possible. We want our wedding party and nuclear family to feel like they’re part of the success of our wedding by giving them different, important ways that they can help. Just as I was starting to imagine the bill for the various pros we’d have to hire, and fretting over what tasks I could deligate to friends and family, I read your post and was inspired by how much your wedding party was able to accomplish. Now, I think we can cut costs even more and get more done ahead of time. Thanks for sharing!

  11. *squee* As a possessor of black-and-pink hair, I want to thank you for the inspiration that, yes, indeed, a bride can be a bride with punky-coloured hair.

    You look so beautiful and so happy!

  13. i am your melbourne, australia equivelant – I LOVE IT! thankyou so much for adding even more inspiration to my day <3

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