The Offbeat Bride: Lizzy, Concert Photographer and Web Designer (and Offbeat Bride Tribe member)
Her offbeat partner: Derek, Cook
Date and location of wedding: Ceremony in a Garden at Niagara Falls and reception at Rapids Theatre in Niagara Falls, NY — May 10, 2015
Our offbeat wedding at a glance:
We had planned to have a “starry night” theme, but last-minute chaos happened and our decorations didn't end up getting set up. Fortunately, the venue of our reception had had a wedding the day before, and were kind enough to set up the decorations from that wedding, which turned out to be prettier than our own.
Aside from that, I have sported various colored hair for the past 10ish years. I refused to tell anyone what color my hair would be for the wedding, so they got a rainbow hair surprise and Derek spiked his hair up in a mohawk. Little did I know, my dad also showed up with a streak of purple in his own hair. I cried on sight.
Tell us about the ceremony:
The ceremony was held outside in a garden at Niagara Falls State Park. We aren't very religious and don't like being the spotlight of attention, so we kept our ceremony super short and simple. My sister was my only bridesmaid and Derek's father was his only groomsman. We wrote our own vows, which incorporated movie quotes from Stardust, one of our favorite movies.
We didn't realize beforehand, but it turned out our officiant had been a local weatherman years ago, so a lot of our family got a laugh out of that. He also recited a latin blessing for us on his own accord, which I found pretty awesome.
Tell us about your reception:
It took us forever to find our reception venue, but when I finally came across The Rapids Theatre, I knew it was the one. I'm a concert photographer, so having the reception at a concert hall fit perfectly. Prior to the wedding, Derek was joking, “We're having an open bar! (…and a wedding!)”
We saved some money by not hiring a DJ, which turned out well, as the theatre had me set up some custom playlists of our music and was able to just plug my iPod into the sound system and let it run. Our wedding RSVP cards had a line for guests to suggest a song, so I included all the suggestions in our reception playlist.
We had a traditional first dance, father/daughter, and mother/son dances. My dad and I had also coordinated playing the song my parents danced to at their wedding, so they (my mom and dad) had a personal dance together. Later on, there were a few unexpected toasts, but my sister topped them all. She tried so hard to start talking, but she couldn't get more than a few words out at a time without crying, which in turn had us all in tears. It was so sweet.
What was your most important lesson learned?
If you write your own vows, don't forget to bring them with you to the wedding (or memorize them). I left the paper with mine in the hotel room I got ready in and didn't realize until about five minutes before walking down the aisle. Fortunately, I'd emailed the vows to myself, so I was able to access them via my phone. They ended up getting written down on a piece of cardboard from a tissue box, since we had no other paper source around!
Weddings are even more expensive than I thought they would be. We decided to save some money by hiring a hobbyist photographer that responded to an ad we posted on Craigslist. She was extremely enthusiastic and reminded me of myself. I was further able to save money since I have experience with photography and Photoshop, so I am able to edit all the photographs myself (which our photographer kindly agreed to).
If you have a venue with a sound system or can bring your own speaker setup, creating iPod playlists worked great for not hiring a DJ. Also, our cupcakes were from a culinary school rather than a bakery. They weren't elaborate looking, but tasted great!
Vendors
- Photographer: Sarah Place Photography
- Dress: Wedding Dress Fantasy
- Reception Venue: The Rapids Theatre
- Hair Styling and Makeup: Dollface Makeup and Hair by Barbara Saric
: Wedding Dress Fantasy
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Lizzy, you are absolutely stunning.
I AM EFFING NUTS ABOUT THAT HAIR!!! It’s beautiful. You guys are both so beautiful.
OH MY GOD HER HAIR. And her dress! So much purple! <3<3<3!
I saw your dress on the Wedding Dress Fantasy Facebook page the day it postex! (I also had my gown custom made from them and am so excited to wear it) Fantastic hair and dress! Tova does an amazing job!
Holy GORGEOUS!!! I’m in love. I totally “SQUEEEEE!!”‘d over that hair and dress combination!!
That hair! Oh my goodness! That hair is STUNNING!
I also love how she edited her own wedding photos! What an awesome way to save money!
I can’t decide which I love more, the dress or the hair! Purple is one of my three favourite colours, *just* behind red and black and all those purple frilly ruffles are beautiful. And then I look again at the hair, I didn’t know it was possible to get so many different colours on one head of hair, it’s just jaw-droppingly stunning!
Love the hair! I’ll have purple hair for my wedding in August so I’ve been looking for photos of brides with fantasy hair colors. And was presently surprised to see this wedding took place nearby!
I’m an August bride too!
I bet your hair is going to look amazing!
Add another hair fan! *swoon*
I would love to see a shot of the dad’s purple streak!
Oh my gosh, I have seen her taking pictures at a few concerts that I have been to and have always been absolutely obsessed with her hair. When I clicked on the article, I was shocked to see her! So awesome! I am getting married in three days and all I wanted was rainbow hair for my wedding but unfortunately my jobs won’t allow it. So I am dying it bright red and then adjusting it afterwards before I head to work. Thank you for featuring this couple Offbeat Bride!
Love everything 🙂
The hair is fantastic! I also adore the dress and the flowers.
Amazing! I adore that dress! You two look awesome together! Wtg guys 🙂
I LOVE the hair! I now want to do this for my August wedding SOOOOOOOOOO badly. I wish there was a tutorial on how she did it!
We are braiding my hair into roses (because it’s a Beauty and the Beast themed wedding) and those colors would look amazing in the hairstyle we are doing.
http://alldaychic.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Rose-Bud-Flower-Braid-Hairstyle-Tutorial-300×207.jpg
OMG I know this Lady from a facebook group we both belong to!!! Its called “Rainbow Hair Colour” and I remember her posting these pics there.
U go Lizzy for getting featured on OBB!!!