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The Offbeat Bride: Angela, Bartender
Her offbeat partner: Ty, Chef
Date and location of wedding: Kit's Point Beach, Vancouver, British Columbia — February 27, 2014
Our offbeat wedding at a glance: I grabbed my dress from ModCloth for about $100, and we bought Ty's outfit the day before the wedding. We spent under $500, and everything was DIY — I even sewed my sash the night before by hand. Canada's system is different from the American one, but our amazing marriage commissioner was kind enough to wed us in her beautiful home on Kit's Point Beach. She had married thousands of couples in the exact same spot! It was a very intimate, emotional ceremony with our witness and our photographer. We walked to the beach afterwards, and then went to Granville Island for drinks and general shenanigans with family and friends.
I would say very little about our wedding was traditional. Even our relationship is quite strange to the average person, considering we live in different countries and met on World of Warcraft! But that doesn't matter to us — we just want to be happy and to be together.
The logistics of a cross-international relationship made even the thought of planning a wedding too much to bear. We wanted our day to simply be joyous, carefree, and full of light and happiness. We wanted it to be just to the two of us and to enjoy our very limited time together. The less we spent on our elopement/wedding meant the more days we could afford to take off work to travel internationally and enjoy the presence of one another.
Tell us about the ceremony:
Our ceremony was very straightforward, yet emotional and blissful. Our marriage commissioner read beautiful vows that we repeated while holding each other's hands, and we tied mint ribbon on our fingers in lieu of wedding rings (we are getting tattoos).
Our biggest challenge:
Our biggest challenge was overcoming the fear that family and friends would be offended they weren't invited and that we didn't have a big traditional wedding with drinks, food, and a reception. Much to my relief, all of our family and friends were not only understanding, but extremely supportive. They were so happy for us, and excited for our future together. I'm grateful I got over the fear of disappointing everyone else, and had the wedding we had in mind.
I still wanted to get family together, so I'm having a reception later this Summer. I mailed out marriage announcements, and everyone was happy with that. I was prepared for an army of angry grandmothers, but thankfully, that was not the case.
My favorite moment:
I live in Southern Oregon, and Ty lives in Vancouver, BC. Unfortunately, this means due to cost of travel and taking time off of work, we only get to see each other for two weeks at a time, about every six months. So our wedding was truly meaningful for us because, not only we were able to be enjoy being together for a few weeks, but it was the beginning of us being able to live in the same country as one another and begin the lengthy, bureaucratic process of immigration.
My funniest moment:
It was the afternoon of the wedding, and I was getting myself ready, curling my hair and taking my time applying my makeup. Ty disappeared with the photographer to go grab coffee, donuts, and pizza. It took them about two hours, and if I wasn't so busy being emotional about the fact that I was getting married, I may have noticed. They then returned with 30 minutes to spare, carrying a shoe box. Apparently, we had forgotten to buy him dress shoes for the wedding! He was quick-witted enough not to say anything and take care of it before I noticed, so that I wouldn't freak the hell out.
What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding?
The most important thing we learned from our wedding was that it was okay to do it our way. If you can, try not to sacrifice too much to follow traditions or appease extended family. My wedding was completely stress-free and I'm so grateful for that.
Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?
- Photography: Matt Klassen
- Dress: ModCloth
- Lace boots: Make Me Chic
Enough talk — show me the wedding inspo!
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This is beautiful! The small intimate moments are so special and I love how happy you both look!
Congratulations!!!!!
Aside: My hubs and I did the same thing (only backwards – even met in similar circumstances) and here we are 2 years later and finally getting ready for the reception part of it.
Also, very best wishes with the immigration stuff. It’s not easy but it’s worth every dollar, and longing night, spent.
i LOVE kits beach! and man the mint/teal details in this wedding are SOOOO beautiful!
Your wedding pictures are just… perfect. Seriously. I look at wedding photos all the time, but these just made me friggin’ HAPPY. Heart-fluttering happy. Probably because you two look so stoked to be there.
And you guys reminded me that I miss Vancouver so much I can’t stand it. Might be time to take the fiance for a visit to my favorite city in the world.
Awwwe, thank you so much! I was so relieved that they turned out alright:)) And yes, we were definitely stoked to be there – so blissful! <3
Hehe, you must come visit Van, it's so beautiful in the Fall. Such an incredible city!
Is that a Great Pyrenees I spot? I wish my Pyr was well behaved enough that I trusted her at my wedding!
It was a sweet Samoyed we ran into at the park named Lucy. She was so gentle!!
I love dogs and but I left my White German Shepard/Husky Mix at home in the United States for this trip and the wedding 🙂
Love everything about this (especially that your family was so understanding and accepting)! Kudos to you both for deciding what worked best for you and sticking to it. The results are stunning! Congratulations!
My husband and I did pretty much the exact same thing almost 2 years ago and can’t recommend it enough. (http://offbeatwed.com/2013/06/hawaii-elopement)
When Angela says just how stress free the process was, she’s 150% spot-on.
Also, extra awesome bonus points for your fluffy puppy! Great Pyrenees rock!
Hi There,
I am the Father of the Groom, I just want say how proud I am of both Tyler & Angela, and I look forward to the day when they will be together in a more traditional way if you will. I should also mention, it was stress free for Mother & I, we just went with the flow. For those thinking about getting married, remember, it’s your wedding, so stay true to your heart. Many Blessings on you Tyler & Angela, know your are loved and prayed for.
Your Father & Father-In-Law : )
Best wishes to you in your new life together!!!
When you find your soul mate love and life find a way.
So are you moving immigrating to Canada or is your husband immigrating to the U.s.??
I am curious and happy for you !! Debbie
Thank you SO much! ^_^
I am currently applying for PR in Canada, but if it gets denied, then Ty will move down to the States:)
As a Canadian currently engaged to an American, do you mind me asking what your current living situation is now that you’re married? Did you head back to the US and apply from there? I’m still trying to figure out all the ins and outs of the paperwork!
Yes! And it’s much, much faster that way 🙂
I don’t want to post essays about Canadian Spousal Sponsorship here, but if you shoot me an e-mail at [email protected] I’d be more than happy to walk you through it, explain what the process entails and give you some resources that will help you out along the way.
Hope to hear from you soon, Jessica! <3
Congrats! What an awesome wedding in an awesome city! I think I also just ordered that same dress from ModCloth ;).
Where is that umbrella from? Is it waterproof?
I’m also from Vancouver, planning a wedding in November 2015…a fancy bridal umbrella will be necessary to keep off the rain.
Hi there!
It was actually something we grabbed at Forever 21. We were walking through a mall the day before and happened to spot it! It was maybe $10:) Not the highest quality, but it works! They had tons of mint stuff in stock Spring 2014.
Wish I could be of more assistance! Best of luck finding a nice bridal umbrella, and congratulations! xoxo