The Offbeat Bride: Hope, Teacher
Her offbeat partner: Nate, Software Engineer
Date and location of wedding: Brookside Gardens, Berthoud CO — June 26, 2017
Budget: $10,000
Our offbeat wedding at a glance:
The theme of our wedding was literary nerd. We wanted to include as many different aspects of us as possible: Doctor Who, LEGO, Lord of the Rings, books, quotes from all of our favorite fandoms about love, a photo booth with nerdy props, and even a dragon cake topper!
Tell us about the ceremony:
Our ceremony was performed underneath a book arch on top of two TARDIS bases. All of the music for the ceremony was nerdy, instrumental versions for the processionals and nerdy songs for the reception. I processed to “Clara's theme” and we recessed to the Superman theme.
Each section of our wedding ceremony was named for a chapter from the Lord of the Rings and there were literary elements throughout. There was a rose ceremony where we each presented our own mothers with a rose and then our mother-in-laws with another rose. We assembled a memory book of the pages from our lives leading to this point. Our dear friend read Pablo Neruda’s Sonnet XVII as our ceremony reading.
Our flower girls petal baskets were made of books, and our guest book was a painting of a TARDIS and Up mash-up.
Tell us about your reception:
Our reception had nerdy mash-up coloring pages waiting on tables. The tables were decorated with stacks of books topped with a single red rose and a love quote from different fandoms. We had a photo booth with a plethora of nerdy props. And desserts! Overall, the reception was light, fun, and nerdy with a lot of literary elements.
What was your most important lesson learned?
The biggest wedding planning challenge was trying to stay under budget. We overcame it by enlisting our crafty friends to help with the DIY. My grandma-in-law wrote an article after her daughter’s wedding that said, “when putting together a wedding, you can either do it easily, elegantly, or economically. You have to choose two of the three.” These words are beyond true. However, I would not have changed to an easy wedding. All the little details that came together, the countless hours I got to spend with family and friends putting together this special day, made it all the more memorable.
