Raina & Michelle’s elegant Disney + Star Wars wedding

We teased this Disney-meets-Star Wars wedding last week and you guys demanded to see MOAR! We've got yer full story right here…

The Offbeat Bride: Raina, photography student (and Tribesmaid)

Her offbeat partner: Michelle, Instructional Assistant and Jack of all trades

Date and location of wedding: Temple B'nai Torah and Embassy Suites, Bellevue, WA — July 13, 2013

Our offbeat wedding at a glance: We wanted our wedding to be true to who we are as a couple: Star Wars and Disney-loving big kids at heart, while still respecting Michelle's family's wishes. We had colored glitter Mickey heads as part of our centerpieces, and we handmade Mickey buttons to attach to the Mickey place cards as the favor. We also had a beautiful Disney-inspired cake made by our amazing friend, with pink and teal Mickey heads cascading down.

We included Star Wars elements by having Disney/Star Wars mash-ups on all our signs, Star Wars photo props, and had guests post them to our wedding party app. I hand-painted a full size R2-D2 for our card box, and it was by far one of my favorite things I made for the wedding.

We provided Disney and Star Wars coloring pages and crayons and many people spent the cocktail hour coloring us pictures and leaving us notes. It turned into a perfect guestbook addition unintentionally. My favorite detail that we DIYed was the flowers I made for all our bouquets and boutonnieres and for our ceremony decor.

Tell us about the ceremony:
Before the ceremony, we had our ketubah (Jewish marriage contract) signing with our parents and siblings and our witnesses. It was our favorite part of the day. It was so nice to have a quiet moment with the people most important to us before we walked down the aisle.

My sister was our matron of honor and Michelle's brother was our best man. My niece was our “bubble girl” with some help from my little cousins, and Michelle's cousin was our ring bearer and held our ring book (Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince hollowed out to “The Unbreakable Vow”) on her lap, and she was wheeled down the aisle by my cousin. We were both walked down the aisle by both of our parents (a Jewish tradition).

Music was very important to me so we both picked songs very close to our heart to walk down to. Michelle walked down to an acoustic version of “Everlong” by Foo Fighters. I walked down the aisle to “Luna” by the Smashing Pumpkins.

Here were our vows:

Today I love you completely, as I did yesterday and as I will tomorrow. I will be there for you when you need me most. I will hold you in my heart just as I hold you in my arms. I will share in your dreams, delight in your joys, and comfort you in your sorrows. When you are not within my sight, you will be within my thoughts. May we establish a home open to all of life's potential; a home based on love, understanding, and the traditions of our heritage. May the laughter of children grace the halls of our home. May we see our children's children. May we be poor in misfortune and rich in blessings. May the joy of living for one another bring smiles to our faces. May we do everything within our power to permit each other to become the people we are yet to be. May we live each day as the first, the last, and the only day we will have with each other. May we know nothing but happiness from this day forward. Our commitment to each other seals this document.

We exchanged our rings and said this vow to each other: “Ani l'dodi v'dodi li,” which means “I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine.” Our siblings signed our legal documents, which was probably a little more emotional than it normally would be since, in the state of Washington, it is finally legal for us to be married.

It was very important to us to include our family members who had passed away. I included picture charms on my bouquet of my grandmother and my stepmother to keep them close to me all day. Michelle made special tallit clips with pictures of her two grandfathers. We also took a moment towards the end of the ceremony to let up four balloons to honor their presence. After we let them up, they got caught in a tree and one of the blue ones popped! We joked it was Michelle's grandpa Ike. It was one of the most special parts of our day. Having our whole family present for our semi-traditional Jewish LGBT wedding made our day one of the most meaningful days of our relationship.

Our biggest challenge:
Doing everything on a small budget was our challenge. We got a lot of help from Michelle's family, but making decisions together could be challenging at times. We also had some amazing friends who gave us some great deals on their talents. Since I was out of work for most of our planning process, I did a lot of our DIY projects, which made things a lot less stressful. Plus, having things to focus on made our other challenges a little easier.

My stepmother passed away suddenly in April, which made planning in the home stretch even harder because it reminded me that she would be missing from our day. The support of an amazing partner and family, and reminding myself that she would have loved our wedding, kept me moving forward.

My favorite moment:
Having peaceful moments with my mom, sister, and niece before the wedding were some of the best times we have ever spent together. Having special time before the ceremony for just us (and our photographer) was a special gift. We walked into our reception to “Same Love” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, which we knew we wanted to include in our wedding.

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?

• Rings: J.Lewis Jewelry
• Photography: Crimson and Clover Photography
• Cake: Devin Flowers
• Photo props: Star Wars Website
• Seattle socks: Zumiez

Enough talk — show me the wedding inspo!

About the Author: Offbeat Weditors

@offbeatbride @offbeatwed

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