Liz & Rev’s DIY vegan carnival wedding

Remember when we all gawked at Liz & Rev's fabo Seattle wedding? Well we have the full scoop just in time for Vegan Week!

The offbeat bride: Liz – Customer Service at Buttonmakers.net

Her offbeat partner: Rev – Audio Visual Technician / Lead Singer of punk band Success!

Location & date of wedding: Mount Baker Community Club House, Seattle WA: — March 14, 2010

What made our wedding offbeat: We planned so much of our wedding using Offbeatbride.com, this was my main go-to resource for ideas, inspiration and empowerment!

• We served Vegan & Organic Mighty O donuts in lieu of a traditional wedding cake
• It was an all vegan wedding. For the food, we had vegan enchiladas and vegan taco salads.
• I wore a Betsey Johnson Mini Dress that I scored for $80.00 off of eBay.
• My shoes were blue leopard print Iron Fist shoes which I added some extra rhinestones for some extra bling.

• I had a handmade mini top hat, veil and bridesmaid hats. All were made from materials we picked up at Jo Ann's. The bridesmaids and I had a hat night and just drank wine and made hats, it was so much fun!
• We had a mixed-gender bridal party
• High five at the altar
• Alternative Vows: “When you have a long day and just want to unwind with a bottle of wine and some World Of Warcraft, I promise to not get mad.” “I promise to never be bothered when you leave for months at a time on tour, and to always wait for you.”
• It was a non-religious wedding — this was a tough part. Our parents are very religious and were upset that we were not going to include that in the ceremony. I am so happy that we did it our way in the end, even if it caused some grief at the beginning because we stayed true to ourselves.
• LOW budget: We had a grand total of $6,000.00
• carnival-themed wedding invitations
• The groom made the bride's bouquet for her! So sweet!
• We had the ceremony and reception in the same venue with no rearranging.

• The decor was simple. We had balloons scattered around, handmade tissue flowers in popcorn boxes (made by myself, mom, and mom in-law), noisemakers on the tables and a popcorn machine!
• My Engagement ring was a lego ring my husband purchased off of shanalogic.com. Our wedding rings were custom fingerprint rings!
• Instead of gift registry, we asked our guests for money to fund our move to San Diego! Some may have thought that was tacky, but most of our friends and family were right on board with it. We had a little treasure chest set up to drop the envelopes in 🙂

Tell us about the ceremony: It was a very simple and quick ceremony.

Our biggest challenge: Our biggest challenge was the budget. The venue was especially tough to find. We couldn't afford much, and it seemed like everyone we talked to would give us a reasonable price up-front, and then when we got the actual contract on paper it was sooooooo much higher than we expected.

The Mount Baker Community Club was great. There were no extra fees and we could hire our own caterer and even come in the night before to set up. They were amazing and so laid back about everything.

My favorite moment: My most meaningful moment had to be when I first arrived at the venue, and everyone was in a frenzy trying to get everything set up. I had a moment to see my husband before I had to get dressed, and he had the bouquet that he made for me himself. We shared a quick kiss and an intimate moment together, and that meant so much to me to see him before all of the madness began. Everything just slowed down in that moment, and I remembered that it is just about me and him, nothing else mattered.

Our wedding vows brought down the house with a combination of crying and laughing at the same time. They were totally nerdy, and everything we wanted them to be.

After the ceremony we went outside with our photographer Rebecca Bolte and had some private time to take photos together. That was the first time we had actual alone time the entire day, and it was the first time we really got to talk that day. It was so great to have that time away from everything and everyone before we went back in for the reception.

My funniest moment: The funniest moment had to be when the music stopped abruptly during our walks up the aisle! Twice! It happened once when the bridal party was walking up the aisle, and once again when I (the bride) was almost to the end of the aisle. Maybe most people would be embarrassed or upset, but my husband and I just couldn't stop laughing. If anything, it broke the ice and formality of it all and brought everything back down to a real level.

Was there anything you were sure was going to be a total disaster that unexpectedly turned out great? I was really worried about how the transition from wedding into food/reception was going to go. We didn't have table service for the food or beverages, we just had everything buffet style, and no one to really mediate it. I was worried it was going to be chaotic! Luckily my guests all formed neat lines and waited patiently, no one seemed bothered or stressed about it. My friends and family are so great 🙂

My advice for offbeat brides: Don't stress the details! I was making myself and my husband crazy worrying about all of the little things. You will not remember all these minuscule details in the end I promise you. Just do what you can, and remember to enjoy yourself!

Borrow everything you can, and use all of the favors you can. By using favors of friends and family you can save so much money, and they want to help you out!

Everything you can't borrow, handmake! I handmade my centerpieces by making tissue paper flowers, hot gluing them to wooden sticks, and twisting brightly colored pipe cleaners around the sticks. Then we just arranged them in pop corn boxes. I loved the way they came out! Super bright and funky! I enlisted the help of my mom, sister, mother in-law, and sister in-law, and we had a great time doing it. It turned into some quality bonding time for all of us.

Do what you want! You cannot make everyone happy, and it is your wedding day. If you try to please everyone you will drive yourself crazy.

What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding? The most important lesson I learned is that all that really matters is you, your husband, and your love you have for each other. It is so easy to get swept up in the stress, craziness and drama of wedding planning. You have to resist it!

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?

• Dress: Betsey Johnson from eBay
• Shoes: Iron Fist
• Engagement ring: Shana Logic
• Wedding rings: Brent & Jess
• Photographer: Rebecca Bolte
• Catering: Howie at Highline
• Donuts: Mighty O
• Invitations: Savannah Huffington

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.