Kelly & Seth’s Sous L’Elephant Rose movie theater wedding

The offbeat bride: Kelly, Biologist

Her offbeat partner: Seth, Audio Video Specialist

Location & date of wedding: Majestic Bay Theater in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, WA — September 13, 2009

What made our wedding offbeat: The wedding was in a movie theater and we showed a short film that was made about us and how we met. We found the filmmakers by posting an ad on craigslist and they turned out to be beyond amazing.

The Majestic Bay Theater stands in Ballard where Seth grew up and saw every Disney film ever made. Since that time, it has been renovated and is just beautiful inside.

The owners of the theater agreed to allow the ceremony if we had it before the first showing of the first movie of the day and asked us to donate the rental fee to the Ballard Food bank — so fabulous.

We decided to have the reception a few doors down at the old Ballard Library and home to Carnagie's restaurant. It was an odd space because there were two rooms for dining. Because we were doing a morning wedding, we opted to not have dancing and a dj, so the natural beauty of the place made it work.

To make up for no dancing on wedding day we had a bachelor/bachelorette PARTY at the Rendezvous Velvet Lounge the Friday before, which made it easy for guests to let their hair down and have a great time.

Our biggest challenge: Money, of course, was a big factor, so we kept the wedding as small as possible and chose to buy from small artists/crafters.

Our friends came out to be extras in the film and the best man created our movie posters, which hung in the theater entrance.

My mom made candies for favors.

My dress and hat/veil were purchased on etsy as were the Best Man and Man of Honor's ties and cuff links.

The photographer allowed me to pay for four hours that I split between the Party and Wedding day, so I could capture the whole weekend.

I suppose the biggest issue was that, when my dress arrived, it was a completely different style than I had expected. It was an A-line skirt rather than a straight skirt and that just didn't work for my body type. The dress maker did a great job, it was just a miscommunication and, since she lives Canada, there was not enough time to have her remake it. I found a local tailor who did an okay job, but if I could do it again, I would have had someone local make the dress.

My favorite moment: Watching that curtain rise and seeing the film on a large screen was overwhelming!!

Having all my favorite people around me that day. Money kept the wedding very first layer, so it was intimate. Everyone at the wedding had in some way helped shaped who we were as people and as a couple. The amount of love and joy at the event was palpable.

Of course, I will always remember putting the rings on the wrong fingers, the giggling during the ceremony and taking the time to sign our marriage license as part of the ceremony. The latter was a means of subtly hinting that this was a legal commitment not a religious one and should be available to any two who wish to marry.

My advice for offbeat brides: My advice is to indulge your fantasy in some form or another and make your day memorable. I didn't grow up dreaming about my wedding. So when it was time to plan, it took time and lots of brainstorming to find what theme would speak to us both.

All that time up front was worth it. It felt authentic and that made the day fun and ripe with anticipation, especially premiering our movie and committing to a lifetime. Seth is the kind of guy who goes to movies to see the trailers and I am a closet actress, so making the movie was one of the best experiences of our lives.

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?

• The filmmakers: Arcade Films
• Photography: Chalk Ballerina Photography
• Cake: Chocolaz

Enough talk — show me the wedding inspo!

About the Author: Offbeat Weditors

@offbeatbride @offbeatwed

Working tirelessly to bring you stimulating content day after day, the Offbeat Wed editors will not sleep until you've gotten your offbeat fix.