Category Archive

Friends & Family Advice

Whether it’s your mom pressuring you to lose weight or not inviting family to your wedding or how to fire a bridesmaid… this is our archive of how to handle wedding planning drama with friends and family. Be sure to check out our archive of copy ‘n’ paste conflict resolution posts, too!

12282733185 2141c44672 c alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Music, laughter, hugs, and tears: the ways I honored my dad on our wedding day

Then the more our wedding plans coalesced, the more I needed Dad to have a role, somehow, in our wedding. Some friends suggested that we include a prayer in our ceremony to acknowledge him, but this seemed out of character for us. Others proposed placing an empty chair next to my mother to symbolize both his presence and absence, but this didn’t seem right, either. So, to create a space for Dad, Nick and I decided on the following. They may seem minute, but to me, they were huge…

how to deal with homophobic wedding guests on offbeat bride alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

How do you deal with homophobic wedding guests at your gay-friendly wedding?

Do you have family that is prejudiced? How did you handle homophobic wedding guests? This is an important issue… here are a few of our ideas.

4207406089 4198fa2e44 b alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

How I’m using my wedding website to explain my mixed-faith wedding to dubious family members

Our wedsite FAQ will be how 80% of my (very Catholic) family will have the “Surprise! I’ve converted to a different religion!” news broken to them, so it’s important. So I figured I’d share the wording we used, in case someone was in a similar situation and wanted some wording ideas…

offbeat bridesmaid traditional bride alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

How to be an offbeat bridesmaid for a traditional bride

I know this is a space for Offbeat Brides, and not so long ago I was an one, but is there any advice to be had for those of us who are offbeat bridesmaids for more traditional brides? When my most recent engaged friend asked me to be a part of her day as a bridesmaid I was thrilled! But now… some things are making my uncomfortable. How do I explain to my bride that I want to be a part of her day, but don’t want to compromise myself in the process?

upload station alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Make it easy for your guests to give you their wedding pics with a photo uploading station

n our post about incorporating non-techy wedding guests into your modern wedding, Offbeat Bride Monica had a super great solution for getting the digital pics from all your guests…

11413214455 c337e2b3bc c alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

OPEN THREAD: How to kill the hours between ceremony and reception?

I booked the reception venue, which we are only allowed to use after 6pm, way before booking the church. I did not know then that the church would only do a wedding at 1pm. So, assuming the ceremony lasts an hour, we have four hours to kill between the ceremony and the reception. What should we do with that time?