Barbara & Don’s eclectic LA gallery wedding

The Offbeat Bride: Barbara, Video Editor

Her offbeat partner: Don (Skeet), Veterinary Technician

Date and location of wedding: Voila!, Los Angeles, CA — December 12, 2012

Our offbeat wedding at a glance: Our goal was to have a casual ceremony and then head to eat at a restaurant. I thought it'd be easiest (and cheaper) to get married in a space that came decorated since we were only going to be there for a couple hours. So I emailed a dozen art galleries in LA, and only two replied. I took one step in Voila! and was swept away! It was perfect. The showroom was an eclectic mix of old and new with a hint of creepy. They have an easy-going vibe, and were cool about chair delivery and music. My sister-in law hung a paper fan with our logo on it to personalize the space. Surprisingly, we were their first wedding, but I don't think we'll be their last.

Our main ideas for our reception were an open bar and delicious food. Lucques was the perfect place — I still have dreams about that food! They had such great service, and the manager even brought us out some hors d'oeuvres because we arrived after they were done serving.

To keep with tradition, we got a small cake to cut with some toppers that I made. And for our guests, we went with mini-cupcakes and macarons from Buttersweet Minis (their black sesame flavor sealed the deal). We had a lot left over, so we took them to our house and guests ate them later as the evening wore on.

I looked online at a lot of wedding invitation designs, and thought, “they're nice, but not quite right for us.” So I used real pictures and formed a silhouette of us for our wedding logo and incorporated it into everything printed for our wedding.

We decided on canvas grocery bags for our favors because they are something our friends and family could reuse (plus our logo looked cute on them!). I made the design and printed them using a Yudu my mom gave me for my birthday. Silk screening close to 80 bags took a whole day.

We decided to get married on December 12, 2012 at noon. We thought it was an unforgettable date, and also helped our budget since a lunchtime wedding on a Wednesday was in our price range.

Tell us about the ceremony: We're not religious, but we wanted someone special to marry us, so we asked my brother to get ordained. Our ceremony focused on love rather than prayer.

We wrote our own vows, which included bits about my obsession with Flamin' Hot Cheetos, how Don's eyes are “like a secret garden,” and how we're going to be “BFL: Best Friends for Life.”

Our biggest challenge: I had gotten a (huge) tattoo earlier that year, and most of my family didn't know. My dad is uber conservative, so I called to prep him since I was going to be wearing a strapless dress. Luckily on the day he was really cool about it, and didn't say anything. We just enjoyed the day as if it were no big deal.

My favorite moment: My sister-in-law makes amazing jewelry, so we asked her to make Don's ring. She invited me to secretly come help texture it so his ring had hammer marks and scratches etched in it by me. When he put it on and it fit, I was so relieved. And when he really liked it… even better. I was so happy!

My funniest moment: Since we didn't have a rehearsal, we overestimated the amount of time it was going to take to walk down the aisle… by a lot. We picked a song and it went on so long, we just stood awkwardly up front, half crying, caught up in the heaviness of the moment. My brother (the officiant) made us laugh by saying, “Breathe.”

What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding? Tell a friend to take photos with your camera if you want to see photos right away. Ours eventually rolled in, but we would have loved to look at some sooner.

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?

• Photography: Gabriel Ryan
• Dress: Nicole Miller
• Shoes: Poetic License
• Barrette: InglenookAccessories
• Veil: Brenda's Bridal Veils
• Necklace: Gojo Designs
• Groom's ring: Custom from Octopus Me
• Bride's ring: Custom by Danielle Miller
• Flowers: Katie Nopala
• Hair and makeup: Amalia Moscoso
• Ceremony: Voila!
• Lunch: Lucques
• Desserts: Buttersweet Minis
• Cake topper: DIY with dolls from IUsedToBeATree
• Car service: Uber

Enough talk — show me the wedding inspo!

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@offbeatbride @offbeatwed

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