Posted by
The Offbeat Bride: Brittany, General Manager of Medical Marijuana Dispensary
Date and location of wedding: Jorgensen Farms in Westerville, OH — August 7, 2014
Our offbeat wedding at a glance:
My nickname is “Damsel” and Louis is a true gentleman, so our hashtag on all social networks is #thegentlemanandthedamsel, which became a working title for our wedding day.
I made all of my own bouquets, boutonnieres, and centerpieces using silk flowers and homemade pinwheels. We thrifted vintage suitcases for extra decorations, and the venue provided fresh herbs for hanging in the barn as a final touch. We printed blank coloring pages from the Choonimals Clothing Company so our guests could have some coloring fun before the reception, and we opted for “Advice Mad Libs” in lieu of a traditional guestbook. My jewelry was handmade by a friend using cruelty-free taxidermy supplies and animal bones.
Instead of waiting until the ceremony to see Louis, we decided to do a “first look” photo op. We wrote each other love letters and stood back-to-back while we read them before the final reveal.
My bouquet included photos of my two grandfathers, my grandmother, and my aunt who had passed. It was a special way to honor and remember those who were watching our big day from heaven.
My husband is Puerto Rican, so it was very important to me that we include some of his Latino heritage in our wedding. I wrote the vows for both of us, but he said his in Spanish and I said mine in English.
Tell us about the ceremony:
I didn't want to do a traditional wedding program, so I made a special graphic representation of our love story and printed it on heavy stock paper. I then glued sticks onto those so our guests could fan themselves during the warm, summer ceremony.
Tell us about your reception:
Instead of a cake, we decided to go with a cheaper, more unique dessert option. We had delicious dessert waffles with different topping options including ice cream, fresh fruit, chocolate, whipped cream, caramel, and more. The waffles were provided from our friend's food truck, Hashtag Waffles.
It was really important to us that everyone who attended felt like they were an important part of our celebration. So, we wanted to share our first dance with everyone in the form of a wedding flash mob! We choreographed a short, very simple eight-step dance and taught it to our bridal party that morning. We advised them that during our first dance when the music changed they should join us on the dance floor with that routine as we tried to gather the rest of the guests in to join us.
What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding? Any other advice for Offbeat Bride readers?
When we started wedding planning, I couldn't believe how much the average wedding costs. We had a very limited budget and spending $2,000 on flowers was just not an option for us. I sat down and decided what three things were most important to me about the wedding day, and those three things I was allowed to splurge on a little bit. Everything else would have to be handmade, borrowed, or thrifted. For me, the venue, photographer, and videographer were the most important things. I wanted a venue that would fit our personal style and taste, as well as creative artists who could capture our unique day in a way that would showcase what we were all really gathering for: true love.
Vendors
- Groom's Wedding Ring: Rhodes Wedding Company
- Venue: Jorgensen Farms
- Photographer: Charles Hildreth, Hildreth Weddings
- Videographer: Marina Thompson
- Hair: Sabrina Kohrs
- Makeup: Rachel Grace Lawrence
- Custom Cake Topper: Lovebirds Goods
- Kissing Bell: Refunked Junkies
- Garter: Lola in Lace
- Coloring Pages: Choonimals Clothing Company
- Waffle Bar: Hashtag Waffles
- Dinner: City BBQ Catering
- Drinks and Bar Service: Sidecar Global Catering
- Groom's Wedding Band: Rhodes Wedding Company
About the Author: Offbeat Weditors
Working tirelessly to bring you stimulating content day after day, the Offbeat Wed editors will not sleep until you've gotten your offbeat fix.
Holy moly what a glorious lovefest.
Whaaaaaaat give a lady some warning before showing a bunch of cute guys with man buns! *swoon*
Where did you find the miniature frames for your bouquet? Love those and they are so simple and perfect.
I found it in the jewelry section at Joann Fabrics! It wasn’t really meant to be frames but I just cut photos and glued them on the backside of the jewelry piece
Wait, so the Damsel swooned and the Gentleman fanned her until she could regain her feet. Sometimes when you pick a theme you invoke something, because that is beyond adorably appropriate. 😉
Wow, out-of-this-world style, gorgeous couple, amazing venue and decorations, fabulous photography. How I wish I had the opportunity to shoot a wedding like this in Las Vegas! I would drool over every second.
The pictures are just amazing ! And God, I love her tattoo !!!
This might be one of the most beautiful celebrations I’ve ever seen! Is there any reason why their film isn’t embedded in this blog post? I’d love to see it! More wedding Porn, more wedding porn! 🙂
Wowwww. Everything is romantic and amazing. And you guys know a lot of good-looking people, haha (the girl with the purple hair is rocking that look!). The picture of you looking up, trying not to cry, tugs at my heartstrings, and the picture of you in a puddle of dress, both of you look adoringly at each other, is just awwww. The dangling flowers! The program! I love eeeverything! Congrats, guys. -misty grin-
looooooooooooooooooooooooooove
Suicide girl weddings always make me swoon
All of the right things in this one!! Love it, have tears in my eyes and goosebumps on my skin. As a wedding planner, it’s nice to see people celebrating what a wedding day is truly about: true love!
First off, that photographer is seriously amazing. Secondly, that’s the best wedding program ever, thirdly, you two look so incredibly happy I ended up smiling the whole time while reading this. 🙂
You two have given me such amazing ideas for my special day. But most of all, thank you for sharing your day with us. You’re truly blessed and I’m in love with your story. Peace, love and joy to your long future together. ????????
Hands down the most beautiful wedding I have ever seen! The video had me in tears the entire time. It was simple, sweet and amazing, Every second of the wedding you could feel the deep love and connection that everyone shared. You guys did a great job and I wish you a life of continued happiness and love
Amazing! So beautiful. Congrats to the happy couple!
I am DYING to have a poster made of our story like she did on the program.
Is there anyone that knows how to get in touch with her to find out if she personally did this or if it was a service?
THANK YOU!
Hi Heather! I made the programs myself in photoshop. I purchased vectors/icons from a stock photo website and then used them to make this. It took me a few days but I love the way it turned out!
The photo of you hugging/dancing with your Dad?? made me cry. Your wedding was freaking beautiful! Loved the “program.” Pretty much loved everything.
I love your hair! How did you start/maintain those?
Sweetest wedding I’ve seen on Offbeat Bride so far! And that’s saying a lot!
Thank you everyone for your kind words!!!
Discovering the existence of “cruelty-free taxidermy” has just brightened my night so much! Also, I am a chronic sufferer of heat exhaustion, so I totally feel you! Awesome that you got to turn something so scary and unpleasant into one of your favorite memories. Beautiful wedding. 🙂
hey damsel!
amazing wedding, amazing love, amazing amazing amazing !
i was wondering if you could / would point me in some sort of direction for more dready weddy hair dos. My locks are 6 & I absolutely LOVE what you have done to your do a year ago. (happy belated anniversary babe!) Ah, again super swoon at the love captured in these photos. You makin me jel so hard I can’t find a photographer with that certain style of casual class up here in the north. Also ! amazing dress change ! your such a stunner ! how in the world did you find 2 such perfectly perfect dresses!? ah!!
ho hum
happy love ! <3
I follow you on Instagram and *loved* your wedding posts, so I was super thrilled to see you here on Offbeat Bride! What a beautiful wedding! I love all the rustic details, and the soil + tree ceremony is such wonderful symbolism. I am getting married next year, and we too are prioritizing venue and photography (along with food.) Thank you for sharing your special day! I wish you and Louis all of the love and happiness in the world!
Why is this listed under couples of colour? You are both as pale as my ass.
White people with dreadlocks does not make you a person of colour
Thank you, for pointing this out! I second this.
Thanks pumpkin. 😉
This is listed under “couples of color” because my husband is 100% hispanic and half of our ceremony was in Spanish. It has nothing to do with my dreadlocks.
Please don’t shame my husband’s heritage because his skin isn’t the exact pigment you would like it to be…
BIG OL’ FIST BUMP TO BRITTANY.
Beloved readers, you gotta tread reeeeeal lightly when you get into policing other people’s identities and making assumptions based on appearances. I’ve written about this before: https://offbeatempire.com/cultural-appropriation-police
Many hispanic people are racially white
Hispanic isn’t a race
I don’t think she was policing the groom’s identity, she was probably just confused because they both look white. At least white passing people have most of the privileges of being white.
Being “just confused” is not the same as policing someone. The commenter was pretty rude, they didn’t politely voice confusion about the hashtag, they threw shade at this bride for having dreads while white (in spite of many, many, many cultures historically rocking dreads and them certainly not belonging to one specific culture). That is where the issue lies.
I really want to be friends with this couple!! 🙂
What a wonderful wedding! The memorial bouquet decoration and Story Fan are both ideas worth stealing!