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The offbeat bride: Sarah, dog groomer/nightclub security
Her offbeat partner: Eddie, motorcycle mechanic
Location & date of wedding: Genesee Theatre, Waukegan, IL — October 10, 2010
Our offbeat wedding at a glance: We planned a brunch wedding, which cut the costs down by about 50%. And brunch is just tasty. I think the best part of our wedding was the role our communtity took in it. We never would have been able to afford a wedding like ours if we didn't have the help of our wonderful friends and family. They did hair and makeup, played live music, DJed, sang, cooked, took photos and video, made invites, paper goods, and centerpieces. People would say that they were doing something, and like magic it was there.
I actually showed up on the day of the wedding and saw a videographer rig being set up and said “huh, I didn't know I had one of those coming.” It turns out that one of Eddie's long time friends did that for a living and decided to make that part of his gift to us. (See the video here!)
Oh yeah, and we had a meatloaf wedding cake.
Tell us about the ceremony: We were married on a sunny Sunday afternoon in an awesome art deco theater. The ceremony was officiated by a friend of ours who took on the role of circus-like ring master of ceremonies. We were surrounded by about 200 of our friends and family. I wore a beautiful dress made by Chrissy Wai-Ching, which thankfully still fit my then-20-weeks-pregnant body at the time of the wedding. Instead of flowers, I carried a vintage purse that belonged to my great-grandmother.
A friend played Tesla's “Love Song” on the guitar for the processional, and the recessional was Billy Idol's “White Wedding.” During the ceremony, we had friends sing Yaz's “Only You,” and the best man read from The Velveteen Rabbit. We wrote our own vows and promised to always love, laugh, and dance with each other.
Our biggest challenge: Putting together a wedding that was uniquely us, but still considerate of others' wishes was a challenge. We had to pick our battles, and some things are definitely not worth the fight. After all, you still have to deal with all of the people after the wedding is over.
My favorite moment: I loved our ceremony. There was something so amazing about being on a stage in front of all of those people, and feeling like it was just us. However, the time I spent with my father before the ceremony was the most meaningful to me. We didn't know if he was going to be at the wedding, having spent six weeks in a coma the previous summer, and nearly dying from complications of his cancer.
Before the ceremony, we sat up in the balcony watching all of the people walk in, just talking and laughing until it was time to walk down the aisle. During our father/daughter dance, he told me how proud I had made him and I just lost it. I had managed to not cry during the ceremony by some fluke, but I couldn't help it.
My advice for offbeat brides: Think about what is most important to you and your signifigant other, and if something is not all that important to you, it's okay to make a compromise for the sake of someone else's happiness. Our wedding was not just about us. It was about our family and our friends too. These people had played an important part in our lives up until this point, so making sure that they felt like a part of our wedding was important.
Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?
- Dress: Wai-Ching
- Invites: Etsy seller LostDollyGraphics
- Video: Wedding Masterpiece
- Jewelry: Body Art forms
- Wedding Cake: The Meatloaf Bakery
- Venue: Genesee Theater
Enough talk — show me the wedding inspo!
dresses: Wai-Ching
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WOW that was beautiful! I must admit I snuck a peak at your wed vid and WOW WOW WOW!!!!! Your hubby’s vows brought a tear to my eye lol.
Just wanted to pop on and send hugs 😀
Okay, so at first I thought your back tattoo was part of your dress, and thought it was interesting you had a black lace panel on your dress, then I realized it was a tattoo, and thought it was still so lovely and interesting. So glad your father got to be there with you. Your wedding was lovely 🙂
Oh that dress… with the back tattoo… *swoon* I love it so much.
Your dress is to die for!!!
I loved our wedding being set an an Art Deco era theater. Those are special and when they are restored and preserved I am so happy to see it. If you don’t mind me asking… do you have a daughter or son now, name and how old??? Best Wishes
We have a son named Bishop and he is awesome! Life after marriage as be one heck of a journey.