Annie & Kyle’s kid & eco-friendly picnic wedding

Yesterday, you heard Annie & Kyle's genius advice on reigning in their guest list. Here's how the whole shebang turned out. (Spoiler: It was fabulous!) -Becca

The offbeat bride: Annie, stay at home mama and artist

Her offbeat partner: Kyle, chef/local food enthusiast

Location & date of wedding: Kyle's parents' backyard in Woodstock, ON — August 7, 2010

What made our wedding offbeat: The most obviously offbeat aspects of our wedding were that I wore a bright green dress and we were married at 11am, had a lunch reception, and finished the night off with dancing next to a bonfire.

We also DIYed the whole freakin' thing with the help of lots of our friends and family. I searched my way through many a thrift store in order to come up with lanterns, picnic baskets, and props for the photobooth. I also (with the help of some wonderful friends) painted signs, made noisemakers for the kids, made Save the Dates out of beer caps and magazine cuttings, did part of the tailoring of my dress just a few days before hand, and made my own garter.

Both sets of parents and Kyle's grandma helped so much including tailoring our son's suit and making his bowtie, making way too many flags to count, rigging up our photobooth, keeping their property extra gorgeous and searching for cases of Stewart's pops among many many other things.

A friend of the family custom made drop dead beautiful jewellery for all the woman. My sister (and Maid of Honor) poured tons of time into creating over ten hours worth of the best music known to man. One of my bridesmaids did all of our makeup with very little time to spare and the other gathered together all kinds of activities for our guests including a game she fondly refers to as “Testicle Toss.”

The groomsmen and their lady friends surprised us by covering our car with wishes, drawings and the odd slightly obscene comment. On top of all, that my beloved husband (being the amazing chef that he is) handmade all of the food!

We also put a big emphasis on making our wedding as environmentally-friendly as possible. We used only 100% recycled paper products, biodegradable beer cups, served fair trade coffee and local food, wine and beer, we composted, and bought used as much as possible. It took some thought and consciousness to make it happen but we felt really good about it in the end.

Tell us about the ceremony: It was totally heartfelt and filled with family. Our siblings all stood up for us and Kyle's parents walked Quincy down the aisle. Both of my parents walked me half way down the aisle leaving me to walk the rest of the way up on my own and both mothers did readings. Our rings were passed down to us from late grandparents.

Both Kyle and I love crystals and strongly believe in the healing they provide, so at the beginning of the ceremony we had the officiant pass a gorgeous piece of Citrine around so that all of our guests could infuse it with their energy. Crazy? Some guests probably thought so, but it made sense to us!

We also wrote our vows together and both of us cried our asses off while reading them.

My favorite moment: It's not exactly a moment but the ceremony was really the most meaning part of the day. Kyle and I were just so absorbed in it that neither of us even noticed the noise that the kids were apparently making. Everyone cried, and I mean EVERYONE. Even the celebrant teared up at one point. It was amazing to see how touched and happy for us everyone was.

My funniest moment:Once the speeches were all done, a hilarious family friend got up to jokingly tell everyone about all of my misbehaviours as a teenager and my temper as a child, and to complain about how all people ever talk about at weddings are happy things. He then went on to tempt people to start telling all the negative stories they knew about Kyle. He had everyone cracking up and it was an awesome way to end off the speeches (most of which were tearjerkers — he did have a point!).

My advice for offbeat brides: Make sure to write a detailed list of the photos you want! We neglected to do so and even though we ended up with more awesome photos than we know what to do with there are still a few shots that we really wish we had. There are literally only two pictures of our whole bridal party together and very few decent ones of just Kyle and his groomsmen.

Also, consider taking fun photos with your families as well as your friends rather than just the traditional “here we are standing in a line” photos. We are so grateful to have had our photobooth because otherwise decent pictures of our parents would have been few and far between.

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?

• Dress: Elizabeth Noel in London ON
• Birdcage veil and bridesmaids dresses: Angie's Bridal Boutique in Waterdown, ON
• Photography: Taymin Kane. He did such an awesome job, especially considering he was still in school and this was his first wedding!
• Flowers: Mostly Roses in Woodstock, ON
• Suits: Le Chateau
• Eco-friendly products (including Kyle's awesome shoes): Footprints Eco Store in Guelph, ON
• Cupcakes and cookies: Eleanor Faulkner of Green Table Foods in Guelph, Ontario
• Officiant/Celebrant: Mari Sargent hired through All Seasons Weddings
• Bride and Bridesmaids Jewelry: Lesley Penwill of The Gate House in Beachville, Ontario

Enough talk — show me the wedding inspo!

About the Author: Offbeat Weditors

@offbeatbride @offbeatwed

Working tirelessly to bring you stimulating content day after day, the Offbeat Wed editors will not sleep until you've gotten your offbeat fix.