Posted by
The offbeat bride: Elly, small town singer/songwriter
Her offbeat partner: Nick, jack of all trades
Date and location of wedding: Medford, Oregon — September 25, 2009
Our offbeat wedding at a glance: I am a lover of all things vintage, and my husband is a hunting, fishing self-described redneck. I didn't want my wedding to look like I was marrying myself, so we fused our loves together to create a wedding that would unmistakably be “ours.”
We decided to get married after we endured a miscarriage together. We were broken-hearted, but we had learned two important things about our relationship: that we would grow stronger through hard times, and we wanted to be a family.
My husband's parents were visiting from Arkansas, so we decided to squeeze in a weddin' while they were there!
Our biggest challenge: Our biggest challenge was time, since we only had 30 days to get everything ready. Our second challenge was that we had no money! We decided to get married in our back yard, and we roasted a pig in the ground. My mother made my dress for under a hundred dollars, my friend created the bouquets 30 minutes before the ceremony, and my husband's grandmother made our cake. We decorated our tables with thrift store plates and tea sets, and lit it all up with fairy lights and oil lamps.
My favorite moment: The whole wedding was wonderful and meaningful, but the way our families came together to make it that way would have to be at the top. Their help and enthusiasm was essential.
My funniest moment: When I shook my head and said “no” instead of “I do.” It sounds bad, but my husband knows my sense of humor.
My advice for Offbeat Brides: Don't let others, or yourself, tell you that a wedding has to be or look a certain way, or that it has to cost a lot of money. Ours was truly a fusion of the two of us and we were able to have exactly what we wanted on a really limited budget.
Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?
- Photography: Amber French Photography
Enough talk — show me the wedding inspo!
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.
LOVE your wedding! It’s beautiful and fun! Congrats!
Beautiful! The caramel apples and cupcakes arrangement is really cute.
This wedding looked like so much fun!
I love your dress and your husband is gorgeous, as are you 😉
Love the big smiles and wish I could have had some of that pig and a candy apple.
Have a great married life, hugz
Thanks Ladies!
The hubby’s from Alaska:)
OH! Fixed! 🙂
This is gorgeous and awesome. Backyard shindigs FTW!
Wow, what a fun wedding. 30 days with no dough, and you pulled it off, Congratulations
WOW! I am amazed at how beautiful everything is. The love + warmth of family is very apparent in your photos. Best wishes for a happy life together.
How did the pig turn out? I would have been all nerves wondering about the pig
I love your bridesmaid dresses, can you please share where they bought them?
I think they are from davids bridal, they may still be online website there… hope this helps.(the bridesmaid dresses)
” I didn’t want my wedding to look like I was marrying myself, ” This is so perfectly stated. I’d like to think I’m not the only bride who needs to be told this frequently.
The pig turned out perfect! My husband literally dug it up out of the ground as soon as we finished with pictures, and the meat fell off the bone. So yummy.
Oh, and the bridesmaids dresses came off the clearance rack at David’s Bridal. They were a steal!
Awesome Wedding I can See all the love 🙂
Such elegance! Congratulations 🙂
This is perfect. What was your budget for the whole wedding? Can you give any of your choices for food, music? I love love love your dress!!
Love the cake! the inclusion of the baby deer is beautiful and if I guess correctly a lovely way to include your little one. It all looks beautiful and even better than those who spent years planning.