Dog ring bearers and a group walk down the aisle at Marcia & Zach’s Maine beach wedding

The Offbeat Bride: Marcia, special education (high school life skills) teacher

Her offbeat partner: Zach, IT at a high school

Date and location of wedding: Linekin Bay Resort, Boothbay, Maine — 10/12/2014

Our offbeat wedding at a glance:

We got married in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. My mom is from Maine and I have spent every summer there since I was born. When Zach and I started dating we started vacationing in Maine together and it soon became our favorite vacation spot as well.

We wanted a fun, low-key wedding where everyone could relax, let loose and have some fun. The place we got married was basically in the middle of nowhere off of a dirt road. The resort had no TVs or phones and cell service was spotty at best. While this was scary for our guests, it was important for us that for once people unplug, enjoy nature, and the company of friends and family.

Zach and I got married in a small secret ceremony first so I could have health insurance. I found out I would lose my health insurance and we were soon married by a mutual friend in the middle of a snow storm in front of the little red lighthouse under the George Washington Bridge. The only people who even knew about the wedding were the ones in attendance, my mom and sister, Zach's parents, our mutual friend who married us, and my college best friend and her husband. Since our first wedding was a secret we decided to make the second one public.

Tell us about the ceremony:

Zach converted to Judaism before our wedding. He was raised both Jewish and Catholic and in recent years had fallen in love with Judaism. Knowing how important it was for me to be married by my childhood Rabbi, he converted before the wedding so the Rabbi could marry us and we could have a “traditional” Jewish wedding. This included standing under the chuppah, smashing the glass at the end, and saying Jewish blessings.

Our biggest challenge:

My biggest challenge was my father and his family. My father is not from this country and that entire side of the family lives abroad and does not speak English. We'd had a falling out over the first wedding and attempting to explain why my father was not attending our wedding and why they now felt like they couldn't come was a nine-month long struggle that did not end peacefully.

My favorite moment:

My uncles, mom, and “stepmom” walking me down the aisle was amazing. My dad wasn't there, as I mentioned before, so without hesitation, both my mom's brothers were eager to step in.

My dad's partner of 15 years helped raise me and is an important part of my life. Therefore, I knew I was going to have one uncle walk my “stepmom” down the aisle right before the rest of us so that all five of us were walking down almost together.

My funniest moment:

My nephew Apollo (a pitbull), Derek (french bulldog), and son Riley (min pin) were the flower boys and ring bearer at the wedding. While walking down the aisle, my sister and maid of honor had to stop because Derek's fisherman hat (that she insisted he wear) fell off and she had to stop walking to put it back on. Then Riley kept crying and yelping because he was being held by my stepmom while his parents stood just out of reach getting married. I finally had to pause the wedding to hold him because he got so loud and upset.

What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding?

Enjoy every moment and try not to stress about the small stuff. As a “non-bride bride,” I honestly did not care one bit about the small things. I hired who I thought were amazing professionals so when it came time to pick the types of flowers I wanted, the music to be played and other details, I told the vendors to run with it!

By letting go of the small things there was nothing for me to be disappointed or upset about when my wedding rolled around. Since I had little to no expectations, I loved EVERYTHING.

Vendors

• Photography: Colleen MacMillan Photography
• DJ: Jim Smith
• Flowers: Michelle Peele
• Venue: Linekin Bay Resort