Hailey & Delainy’s outdoor wedding with an heirloom dress, log ceremony, and fake tattoos

The Offbeat Bride: Hailey, Mine Rescue Coordinator

Her offbeat partner: Delainy, Mine Blaster

Date and location of wedding: Gatzke Farm Market in Oyama, British Columbia, Canada — 08/16/2014

Our offbeat wedding at a glance:

We had a few goals when we started planning: as little debt as possible, an outdoor wedding, a non-religious ceremony, and for our guests to feel comfortable and to have fun. We found our marriage commissioner through the British Columbian government website and simply emailed him out of a list of names. Without knowing it, we did ourselves a huge favor by securing him because he was local to the area, and we were planning from afar. He gave us contacts and suggestions that made planning less stressful. Scrapping things that just were not necessary helped with stress and budget. I didn't need a bouquet, we didn't need a cake, and we didn't need a stylist or planner.

We looked at a few different venues in locations that were (mostly) central to both of our families. We narrowed it down to three venues and then picked one as it most suited our needs and we had never even laid eyes on it aside from photos.

Tell us about the ceremony:

We planned a short but meaningful ceremony. Our officiant, Stu Pike, has a lot of experience with weddings so he guided me as I wrote our ceremony myself. I incorporated the idea of being equals into our vows, and added the following statement: “Do you accept Hailey/Delainy as your wife/husband, honouring their growth and freedom while being both freed and bound by your love?”

Stu also wanted to incorporate a blessing before announcing us as man and wife. He gave me a few options, but I wanted to write one that was tailored for us. From the beginning we have talked about being on the same wavelength. I got a wave tattoo for Delainy only months after dating, and he has one too. So I wrote this for our blessing:

“Hailey and Delainy: like water you will flow freely around any obstacle. Like waves you will rise again from each fall. Like rain, you will nurture the fields where your love grows.”

Instead of a ring exchange, we had a log-cutting ceremony, which signified our first task as husband and wife.

Our biggest challenge:

I lost my mom when I was 11 and it was hard to not have her there during the entire experience. Delainy has significant people missing from his life as well, so we made an In Memory table with photos of people who we really wanted to acknowledge on such an important day. I chose decor items and ideas with my mom in mind, and used a lot of her personal items for things like card boxes and displays. My grandma is not well and could not come, so I used her hand-crocheted tablecloths all over the place to honor her.

A couple days before the wedding, my aunt who has become like another mom to me in my later life had to tell me she wouldn't be able to make it due to complications with her battle against breast cancer. We were both devastated and I really was aware of her not being there that day.

My favorite moment:

I wore my mom's wedding dress. This was a no brainer as it was gorgeous, fit me, and with minimal alterations became my own. Due to her passing, I felt like it was an honor to wear the dress in which she got married, starting a chapter in her life full of hopes and dreams that included my brother and I.

Something that was very special for Delainy and I was being able to listen to the first song we had in our relationship being performed live. My brother hired the hip hop couple Snak the Ripper and Jaclyn Gee to come and perform their song “Over You” live for us. They performed a couple other ones as well that were special to us. My brother is also a hip hop artist and he performed as well. Music is really important to us and we really enjoy hip hop, especially Canadian hip hop, and his gesture meant the world to us.

My girlfriend hand-made us a large wooden hand stitched sign that reads “Crazy Over You,” the lyrics from our song. Handmade things like this made everything so special. Delainy's mom made bunting in the lace and gold fabric that I loved and it looked gorgeous. We turned an old door and a wooden mirror into chalkboards. One of my girlfriends made some vegan pies to accompany the inexpensive Costco pies we purchased for dessert and set out ourselves after the dinner. Delainy chainsawed and sanded 70 wood rounds for me to place my hand painted gold and glitter glass jars on for the flowers.

My funniest moment:

We chose to do our photos before the ceremony. We rented cabins on location for us and our wedding crews to stay in so it wasnt a hide before the ceremony situation. After the photos were finished, but before the ceremony, my step daughter Lennyx got into the fake tattoos we had at the kids table and was literally covered in Disney Princess tattoos during the ceremony. She looked adorable, but the funniest part was when her father pointed at her with his arm that contains a full sleeve of tattoos and said, “NO MORE TATTOOS.”

Vendors

• Photography: Kyle Perison
• Hairpiece and bride's stepdaughter's hairband: Crocus Floral Design
• Sequin table runners that were a nod to the bride's mother and her love of all things sparkly: rented from Yuriko at Vintage Origami
• Bride's stepdaughter's dress: Glitz and Glam Tutu