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The Offbeat Bride: Liz, Dog Business Owner & Artist (and Tribesmaid)
Her offbeat partner: Marc, Emergency Room Nurse
Date and location of wedding: South Lake Union Park, Seattle, WA — October 19, 2013
Our offbeat wedding at a glance: Our goal wasn't to have a wedding with a good party; we wanted an awesome party where we happened to get married. We focused 90% of our energy and budget towards the reception, Halloween-themed after-party (with ball pit!), and footie pajama football brunch the next day.
We bucked stuff like feeding each other cake and a garter toss. The boys all had medals with a picture of a boot going into an ear (get it: “boot-in-ears?”), the girls had pumpkins stuffed with flowers, and my bouquet was a suitcase.
Marc's best man was the bearded lady, my maids of honor were my three closest male friends, and our guestbook was a carousal horse I made. We had a circus duo perform during cocktail hour, a midway full of games, and a popcorn bar with several different seasonings.
We were able to save a whoooooole lot of money by making almost everything and utilizing the amazing communities we have around us. Our caterer was one of my old bosses and a good friend, our photographer was one of Marc's old friends, our hair was done by our neighbor, my makeup by Marc's girlfriend, and our day-of coordinator came from our polyamorous community.
Our wedding parties helped a TON too, from etching all the mason jars (which were also our favors) to painting all the circus signs, to my bridesmaids making over 600 feet of bunting. We baked ALL of the pies and cupcakes ourselves the night before.
Tell us about the ceremony:
We had a flash mob ceremony at a park on the lake near our house. We had someone go down with these HUGE balloons to show our guests where to gather.
30 geek movie love quotes
Slogging through traditional love quotes can be taxing, especially when you just want something that tingles that geek-loving robot heart of yours. We root for... Read more
Marc wrote the whole thing with some help from Offbeat Bride and a whoooole lot of Doctor Who quotes.
The good things don't always soften the bad, but vice-versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things and make them unimportant.
There's a lot of things you need to get across this universe. Warp drive… wormhole refractors. You know the thing you need most of all? You need a hand to hold.
We had originally planned to do a fishermen's knot as well, but in the chaos forgot to get rope… and to learn how to tie the knot.
Our biggest challenge:
There was some stress about the fact that Marc and I are polyamorous. We had a small handful of people either speak negatively behind our back, or straight up question why we were getting married if we were going to date/fall in love with others. We understood a lot of this came from people who don't understand polyamory and/or were just worried about how it could affect us, but sometimes it just wore on us to repeatedly defend our life choices (ones we made separately far before we ever even met!). For the most part, though, our family and friends are very supportive of it.
My favorite moment:
Liz: I really appreciated being able to walk in with my dad. He has always meant so much to me, and getting to drive to the site together and snap a quick picture with my phone while we chatted is something I will always cherish. Our dance together was a song from a movie (The Five Pennies) that he used to play for me growing up. We sang along to the entire thing.
I also loved when my three “Dudes of Honor” stood up to make their toasts. We are a really tight knit family who have known each other for a decade, and every single one of them finished their toast by welcoming Marc to the family.
Marc: When we were at the venue, Liz and I started getting texts from guests who were gathering at the ceremony site. I rushed over, and I remember just seeing the mass of them there, laughing, smiling… from so many different parts of our lives. That definitely has to be one of the most meaningful moments.
Then during the ceremony itself, listening to Fitz talk, looking at Liz, and seeing her choke up during her vows was pretty awesome too.
My funniest moment:
Liz: Seeing the various reactions from everyone to our first dance. We picked an old Fred Astaire song that, while I love it, didn't quite fit. But at 60 seconds in, the large roll-up door flung open and a full marching band Rickrolled us mid-song! We of course knew about it, but everyone instantly came alive. The band actually played for longer than they were contracted and stuck around to ate cake with us. Some even followed to the after-party at our house!
Marc: The funniest moments were with my groomsman Frank's rambling, drunken toast that everyone tried to end multiple times early. Also watching one of the Dudes of Honor go from excited and cheering when the first kiss started to an expression of “… they are STILL kissing?” well before we were done.
What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding?
Liz: I should have delegated more tasks earlier. I was so used to running things that I didn't realize how little was feasible for me to run. Also, don't kill yourself on crafting. I do it for a living and the amount we did was hard enough for me. I feel that having things to DO with your guests is the most important part. The marching band, circus performers, games, and of course eating were my favorite parts.
Marc: Don't have the groom do all the running the morning of the wedding! Oh, and there can always be more salmon burgers. Always.
Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?
- Photos: Athena Whetmen (friend of the groom)
- Bride's dress and groom's jacket: KMK Designs
- Groom's and groomsmen's clothing: Gentlemen's Emporium
- Brides fascinator and bouquet: Made by the Bride
- Bride's necklace: Meghan Hakes
- Bride's ring: EraGem
- Groom's ring: Spexton
- Bridesmaids' dresses: ModCloth
- Hair (bride, groom, bridesmaids): Jodi at Modify Salon
Enough talk — show me the wedding inspo!
dresses: KMK Designs
jewelry: EraGem
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What an amazing idea. Looked like they had a great day 🙂
We also have a video, which our guests filmed on two go pro cameras and we spliced together.
It looks like you had a blast! I love the idea of the band rolling in during the first dance. 🙂
Outstanding. Simply outstanding.
So. Much. Fun.
Congratulations!
This all looks so freaking fun and joyous! And I lurrrve the penny-farthing fabric of the girls’ dresses. So cute.
That sounds amazing!!! I keep saying that anyone who gets bored at our wedding has a diagnosable problem, but yours looks like there’s even more! Hats off to you for creating all of that! Seriously no idea how you managed it!
All of this looks so fun, but what really pulled me in was DAT DRESS. Then I saw it was made by KMKD, which is one of my favorite shops anywhere. You look amazing and it looks like such a unique, wonderful day!