Turtles! Brunch! Dogs in ties! This rainbow lesbian wedding is all about furever love

Offbeat partner: Caitlin

Offbeat partner: Kris

Date and location of wedding: Woodbound Inn in Rindge, NH — September 2, 2018

Our offbeat wedding at a glance:

We had a private ceremony and a brunch reception. Brunch buffet, sangria as the signature cocktail, games (Jenga, custom Connect 4, Scrabble pieces spelling custom words, and word search cake designed by Caitlin, etc.). Since Caitlin proposed to Kris with the tortoises at the Southwick Zoo, we included the turtles in all our little details including a custom logo designed by Caitlin/paper straws with turtle cutouts (save the sea turtles!), handknit turtle coffee sleeve favors which doubled as a seating chart by Caitlin’s grandmother Marcia, and even more turtle decorations.

Since it was a lesbian wedding, we of course had to include rainbows. The favors/seating chart were spread across the barn wall in rainbow (ROYGBIV) order, each table was a color of the rainbow, rainbow Jenga, rainbow wedding bands, Caitlin’s mother made a floral lace-y veil that was super colorful (inspired by another Offbeat Bride’s custom made cathedral veil).

Other personal touches included a knitted version of Caitlin and Kris by Caitlin’s grandmother, purple wheelbarrow, welcome bags for overnight guests, centerpieces designed by Caitlin and Kris, the table wood centerpieces cut by Kris’ Dad and arrow signs made by Caitlin’s dad. The venue was dog-friendly so we included our three dogs dressed up and had four other doggy guests! There was also a doggy cake (pumpkin and word search-themed like ours!), doggy goodie bags, our dogs' own hashtag and custom logo, and a selfie station for both humans and pups! We had a cutout of our cat, too.

Tell us about the ceremony:

Our private ceremony only had immediate family, close friends, and our puppies. The officiant was Kris’ best friend from high school, Jen. Jen is a writer for Sesame Street and made us laugh with her customized reading. Caitlin walked down the aisle with her service dog, Kalli and her parents. Our other two dogs, Nikola and Kizzi were waiting with Kris.

Since it was by the beach, the wedding party were named “Mates of Honor” and “Captain Officiant.” Kris’ nephews were the ushers. Caitlin walked across instead of vertically (nontraditional but easier due to car accident injury). Caitlin’s parents walked down the aisle with her while Kris’ parents took the dogs when the reading started. Caitlin’s uncle played acoustic guitar, song “Elvis Presley’s Can’t Help Falling in Love.” The Twenty One Pilots version was our wedding song at the reception. Kris wanted to unveil Caitlin so Caitlin had two veils to make this happen but also add color to her dress.

Tell us about your reception:

The reception started with our friend/standup comedian Omar Capra. We had a drag rehearsal dinner the night before that Omar dressed up in drag for! We kept our reception meaningful and classy with brunch, turtles, dogs and LGBTQ themes. Cutting our cake and later the dog cake was really fun. Also, having Kris’ youngest nephew and niece handed out the doggy turtle cookie favors to any guests with dogs. We didn’t have a dance floor but there was so much to look at that no one missed it. We had lots of geometric shapes, succulents/airplants, and a breakfast tray as our guest book. We basically included everything we loved. Our first date was brunch so even the time was picked for a reason.

What was your most important lesson learned?

Delegate! We had a lot of fun with more simple DIY crafts and hosted a “Wedding Crafternoon” to get help exactly one week out. We had family and close friends bring items to the reception. In retrospect, we would have asked for more help. There were even more small details we had planned but couldn’t do everything in time. You will definitely eliminate some ideas from the beginning but don’t be afraid to take on DIY projects. At the end of the day, that’s what really made our wedding stand out and we love looking back at all the little things in the photos. The little things can become the big things!