A night wedding with an ombré dress and constellation jacket

Offbeat partners: Michele & Rob

Date and location: 8/11/2023, Swan Club on the Harbor in Roslyn, NY

The night wedding at a glance:

Michele is a schoolteacher, so a Summer wedding was a must… and she also wanted a night wedding, in order to properly showcase the lanterns she'd decided to theme the wedding around.

night wedding michele lanterns 38 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Rob loved the idea and was on board with her vision of the night wedding from day one, and together they sought out ways to make it real with inspirations from Instagram and Pinterest. And holy heck did they ever:

night wedding michele lanterns 52 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride) — *dip dye delight*

Michele had tried on 100+ dresses across 3 states before deciding on a Martina Liana. She'd already tried the dress in question on at 3 different shops until deciding it was The One, and ultimately purchased it at a trunk show happening at her fave dress shop. The dip-dye alteration is the work of Kerianne Meehan, whose work and overall energy clicked perfectly with the bride to be.

night wedding michele lanterns 11 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Their connection expanded to Rob, who commissioned a custom jacket for himself, featuring a design based on the night sky at the time of their first date, November 11th of 2019!

night wedding michele lanterns 54 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride) — *stellar starman*

Their amazing day had a soundtrack straight from the glorious 80s and 90s: Rob walked the aisle to “Times Like These” by the Foo Fighters, Michele chose Spandau Ballet's “True“, their recessional song was “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None The Richer, and finally, “Frolic” (the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme) as they arrived at the reception.

Their vows were full of love and good-natured ribbing – as you'll see from these snippets, this is a couple who really get one another:

MICHELE: Let’s be dumb together – just plain stupid. Make bad choices, eat the wrong things, then complain about tummy aches, take wrong turns, and get lost, then let’s tell great stories, the same ones – forever and ever until no one can stand us but each other.

I want your worst – give me your bad hair days, your lost keys, stained shirts, broken gadgets, give me you every day, and I will give you my love to make it alright.

night wedding michele lanterns 41 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

ROB: Michele… so here we are. This is not a wedding. This is an intervention to address your lantern addiction. I mean seriously… what is with all these lanterns? You should know our neighbors started calling you “The Mistress of Illumination”. They even spread a rumor that you are either collecting fireflies for a satanic sacrifice or you are trying to create your own Instagram filters.

Your backyard burping shows is always embarrassing, as the neighborhood assumes it’s me. So basically you are going to annoy me forever.

Their beautiful, hilarious vows deserve their own post, which we'll be featuring soon. Stay tuned!

The night wedding reception:

Their starry cake included both a silhouette and a sculpture of their dog, Luke!

night wedding michele lanterns 35 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

They waltzed to “Crazy for You” as their first dance. Michele had a couple of surprises in store for Rob: she'd been secretly taking singing lessons since their engagement in order to sing “Lover” by Taylor Swift, which he adored, followed by a drag show set to Madonna's “Dress You Up” from the lovely Bella Noche, the “Mermaid of New York“!

night wedding michele lanterns 33 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride) — *eye to eye, we need no words…*

night wedding michele lanterns 45 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride) — *Michele told us that people are *still* raving about Bella's performance*

What was the most important lesson learned from the night wedding?

Michele's advice: “Include your partner on the planning and get their opinion! My husband got excited by my unique ideas and it inspired his own (which led to the custom starry suit). I told him it's your wedding too… you should do what you want and you can be fancy too! Rob loved planning the music and picking out when they would play. We also enjoyed taking breaks with periodic no-wedding-talk time – crucial!”