Sarah & Jenn’s backyard fairy wedding

The offbeat bride: Sarah, writer

Her offbeat partner: Jenn, typist

Location & date of wedding: Our meadow, Basom, NY. September 29, 2007

What made our wedding offbeat: We wanted our wedding to be a reflection of our deepest spirits – and said spirits just happen to have wings ;D


My wife is very much a Winter person, and I'm very much an Autumn person – so we came up with a vision of how we'd pull it off. Our dresses were sewn by my wife's mother, and we ordered wings that would reflect the seasons. We couldn't imagine a more magical place than our own meadow/backyard to get married in, so we dressed it up as a Faerie meadow — ribbons, flower petals and branches with autumn leaves were everywhere.

All of the guests humored us by dressing up in wings and fancy fairy garb, and our officiant was a happy purple fairy~ We were married at Twilight, and the entire ceremony quoted from Shakespeare (A Midsummer Night's Dream) or was written by us, invoking all of the faerie realm. The candle that we lit during the ceremony (our unity candle) stayed lit all throughout that night — despite the wind … we like to think the faeries tended it.

Our biggest challenge: One of the biggest challenges was definitely my dress! Jenn's (my wife's) mother had sewn our dresses for us, but she lives in Pittsburgh, and we live in Buffalo – we weren't available for fittings! They arrived a few days before the wedding, and mine was HUGE. I can sew, but not that well, and I had no idea what to do with this Renaissance gown! I was in tears… I could not find a single person in the area who could take the dress before the wedding and alter it – until I called my own mother! She was able to take it in at the back without making it look like a potato sack (which my alterations would have ended in)!

Aside from physical challenges, our biggest challenge was definitely finances. We had no money to put the wedding on, and had put the date off three or four times (for two years) before this one… until our friends stepped in! Several people online (and in real life) began to create art to sell in our wedding's name or donated their time and artistic talents in order to get us the funds we'd need… everyone rallied! It was incredible. In the end, almost one thousand dollars was donated to us for the wedding, entirely because of their big hearts… we would never have been able to get married if it wasn't for their kindness!

My favorite moment: We set up a “dancing hall” in the back meadow, lined with candles and the speakers for the DJ (our friend). Everyone was dancing to one of the last songs of the night, my wife was wrapped in my arms, and overhead was this brilliant, perfect September night sky. I could see every star. This sticks out so strongly to me – at that moment I looked around at everyone who had helped so much with the wedding, and I ended looking up at my wife – and it really hit me that we'd pulled it off. That we were married. I think that was the most perfect moment of my life.

Never forget to count those amazing blessings you have right in front of you.

My offbeat advice: I think the most important thing to remember is that you have friends. I mean – real friends. The kind of people that will help you carry branches out of the woods because the leaves match the table cloths, and the kind of people who will help you set up the arbor for the wedding an hour before it has to go on. The kind of incredible people who will play frisbee in your backyard the day of, trying to help you relax.

You're not in this alone – you have help, and it comes in the form of your friends. If you remember, and if you ask, they'll be more than willing – I promise. Never forget to count those amazing blessings you have right in front of you. And never forget to be grateful for the chance to do what you're doing. Gratitude will smooth the stress, and before you know it – there you are… married and loving a happily ever after.

Enough talk — show me the wedding porn:

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