A "Love Wins"-themed playful Oregon wedding

A Love Wins playful Oregon wedding (with pizza and toys!) — Photos by Robyn Icks Photography

Offbeat partner: Tonya, medical social worker

Offbeat partner: Teri, small business owner of a jewelry manufacturing and design store (designed and made both our wedding rings!)

Date and location of wedding: McMenamins Edgefield in Troutdale, Oregon — August 13, 2016

Our offbeat wedding at a glance:

Our playful Oregon wedding vibe was fun and simple with colors of grey and orange. I like bright and happy and Teri likes dark colors. We did not have a wedding party, just an awesome flower girl who rocked it in Converse shoes and a ring bearer who went rogue by running in the opposite direction of the ceremony. Adorbs.

The tables were adorned with little toy critters. When we visit our friends’ homes we leave these toys in funny places such as in the refrigerator or bathroom shower. We love silliness, so it seemed natural to have them in our reception. We collected random vases from thrift stores for the centerpieces.

Tell us about the ceremony:

I walked down the aisle with both parents and my partner danced her way down with her aunt. Our ceremony was one of our favorite parts of the day.

We “rick rolled” a part of our vows to Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up.” We each sang a verse of the chorus and then came together in song and dance to jam to the song.

Tell us about your reception:

We sure do like junk food and we are very casual types so we had a pizza party! There were appetizers, pizza, an open bar, cupcakes, and a candy bar. Corn hole, Giant Jenga, and Inflatable Bowling was set up outside for games. And of course, we had dancing. Our DJ was an all vinyl type of guy. Our favors included sunglasses, a fan (it was 95 degrees), bubbles, and some more toys. Guests also took home loot from the candy bar, and of course the aforementioned toy animals.

What was your most important lesson learned?

I was really worried about how things would turn out since we did not hire a wedding planner for the day. Turns out, we have awesome friends who stepped up to help set up for the day. My advice would be to allow your friends/family to help out if they're willing. Things really fell into place and it was such a freaking great time.