Category Archive

traditions

Folks having offbeat weddings often wrestle with questions like, do I have to include wedding traditions? What if I don’t want my dad to walk me down the aisle? What if I don’t like the garter toss? What if I don’t want to do a cake cutting (or even have cake!?). This archive is our collection of posts about how to choose which wedding traditions to include, and which to skip.

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Stop the violence against glassware: 6 glass-clinking alternatives

Are you like me — a person who HATES the glass-clinking tradition? If you aren’t comfortable kissing on command, or bringing out the bitch face, here are some useful glass clinking alternatives from Offbeat Bride readers…

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Kathleen & Lucky’s traditional 1950s wedding

This pair is a self-described June and Ward Cleaver queer couple, which is just rad. The wedding itself mirrored this with its 1950s-style traditional vows and style. They also found time to sneak off during the reception for a little alone time, which was not missed by the hooting and hollering crowd.

alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Indian culture meets American tradition in these two ceremonies

Two heritages, two weddings, two times the swanky wedding! Lauren and Ben chose to host the ceremonies over two days to honor the families involved. They decided to use the color red to add some cohesion to the ceremonies and into the reception. All of the events were held at a vinyard in Braselton, Georgia called Chateau Elan, which looks gorgeously swanky.

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What makes a wedding “real”: Why our gay wedding will be traditional

Same-sex weddings are still new enough that a lot of people wonder how different they will be compared to a straight wedding. I suspect that some straight people automatically think that all queers are alternative, counter-culture types and in their minds gay wedding = rainbow musical theatre circus. But here’s why our gay wedding will be relatively traditional…

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Lenna & Matt’s big fat traditional Armenian and Japanese wedding

The bride comes from a traditional Armenian background, so her offbeat spirit had a ton to contend with. But somehow these two managed to infuse their concert-going, comics-loving, board game-playing selves into a traditional Armenian Orthodox celebration. Add in the Japanese influences and you’ve got some multicultural mash-ups to rival all others.

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Am I still offbeat if I love white chair covers? (Hint: YES.)

Not long after I joined the Offbeat Bride Tribe, another member posted her feelings about the more traditional elements of her wedding. Ariel posted a reply stating that this issue comes up every year or so and she finds it’s best to let Tribe members figure it out for themselves.

Wise words, Ariel. I didn’t get it at the time, but the last six months have been a journey for me, a journey of discovery about myself, about my future husband and about the US we have created. If I could sum it up in one line, it would be:

I LIKE WHITE CHAIR COVERS AND I CANNOT LIE.