Kris & Tony’s red, cream and black feather destination wedding

The offbeat bride: Kris, Accounting Manager (and OBT Member)

Her offbeat partner: Tony, Applications Engineer

Location & date of wedding: Twenty miles off the strip at a garden with a reception hall, Las Vegas, NV — March 15, 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: As a southern girl, my wedding experiences were steeped in tradition. However, Tony and I both wanted something that felt like us. We desperately wanted to create a night where we could celebrate our love and have our guests glad they paid to travel to the wedding. I knew immediately I wanted feathers and a bird theme and Tony quickly signed on.

We went for a wedding ceremony that felt traditional because we are Christian and yet chose an eclectic mix of unusual and traditional elements for the dress, decor and reception. We had two maids of honor and no groomsmen. We chose a location that would allow our guests to entertain themselves and create a vacation if they wished. We live in Seattle but our friends and family traveled from at least seven states to attend! The centerpieces were designed and created by one of our MOH and myself in order to get the desired look as well as maintain our budget. My dress was the perfect marriage between the all red dresses I considered and my love of cream wedding dresses (and Tony adored it). We honored our families in the ceremony and chose readings that will forever verbalize our hearts. The reception was all about our friends, family, good food, drinks and awesome music.
Our biggest challenge: We had a destination wedding because our families and friends live all over the United States. We also wanted an intimate wedding. Our families said they understood that but when the guest list was being set numerous folks were added. We tried to take a stand and that caused a lot of drama. I had read that it was rude to invite people to a destination wedding that would not be able to attend. We ended up agreeing to invite more folks than we originally thought. Our families were happy because they wanted to share their happiness with their loved ones. If I had it to do over again, I would invite everyone we care about and let them decline rather than trying to maintain a certain number of guests.

My favorite moment: The most amazing part of our wedding was the hour taking photographs before the ceremony. I felt like the most beautiful woman in the world when Tony first saw me. We couldn't stop hugging and he cried. It was an intimate hour even with the three photographers and guests arriving. We had time just the two of us to laugh, smile, kiss, hold hands and become calm prior to the ceremony. Romantic and full of joy, that was my favorite part of the whole event.

My advice for offbeat brides: I thought about what I wanted our pictures to look like and how I wanted to remember the evening twenty plus years from now. Then I took that feeling and created the details. I involved Tony as much as he wanted to be and took his word when he said whatever I wanted – it left some surprises for him. I researched for hours online and in stores but enjoyed every minute of it because I kept in mind the reason for my planning. We tried to pick our battles with our families and as I learned parents do feel like this is there day as well. I loved giving my business to talented and creative individuals and in return found an insane level of customer service and support – definitely recommend the smaller vendors!

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?

• My amazing headpiece
• The outstanding cake topper
• Place cards and menus
• Awesome Vegas photographers (now friends): Sheer Elegance Photography
• Victoria's Bridal of Seattle for the dress and couture jacket
• Las Vegas Weddings at the Grove

Enough talk — show me the wedding inspo!