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The Offbeat Bride: Jenny, Massage Therapist/Small Business Owner
Her Offbeat Partner: Qwenton, House Painter/Small Business Owner
Location & date of wedding: Last Meander Ranch (husband's parent's backyard) Lander, WY — 7/19/09
What made our wedding offbeat: We did everything our own way, had a TON of help from all our friends, and had the best party of our lives! We even had yard games (corn hole and monkey nuts) and a bounce house. It was a great excuse to get all of our friends and family together for a celebration.
We didn't have a Maid of Honor or a Best Man, just a huge and equal wedding party. The guys wore non-matching zoot suits, and the gals got non-matching handmade sun dresses. The girls carried fans instead of bouquets, and we put girls and guys on both sides, as they are all OUR friends. My older brother was our ring bearer. My dad played me up the aisle on his trumpet, and when I realized I was too nervous to walk by myself I recruited two very close friends to escort me.
We wrote our own ceremony and included lots of corny quotes from tv shows and movies that we love — “May your love grow faster than a speeding bullet and be more powerful than a locomotive, and by the power invested in me and by the power of greyskull, I pronounce you husband and wife.” I threw a bouquet that I made with origami flower dollar bills, so people would actually want to catch it. We had 5 different flavors of cake and Superman and Lois Lane cake toppers. What a great excuse to throw our best party ever!
Our biggest challenge: Being the procrastinators that we are, our biggest challenge was pulling it all together without leaving out anything vital, or any of the elements that were really important like writing our own ceremony (which we finished the day of) and renting a bounce house.
My favorite moment: The dip and kiss was very surprising and fun. And our first walk together as a married couple was a great way to get away for a moment to collect our thoughts and enjoy each other's company away from all the chaos. Also dancing to our friend's bluesy country rock band, the Patti Fiasco, was awesome!
My advice for other offbeat brides: Don't be afraid to ask for help, and let other people take control. Drink lots of water and breathe, a good b vitamin stress supplement doesn't hurt either. Let yourself cry. Get a massage. Keep it simple and don't sweat the small stuff, chances are you are the only one who will notice if something is missing. Be true to yourself, and let your fiance help with all of the decisions. It is all over with so quickly so slow down look around you and enjoy all your hard work.
Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?:
- dress: Jessica McClintock
- suits: Italsuit
Enough talk — show me the wedding inspo!:
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oooo love the dress!!!
It was on sale, only $107! Jessica McClintock is the same designer that made my mom's awesome bohemian wedding dress too! Good thing it was cheap since it got orange frosting on it 🙂
Do you have any pictures of the Bohemian Dress. I've been looking for somthing along that line and I need ideas.
ok..coolest wedding ever!
yaay, so cool to see a bounce house at a wedding, I've been thinking about renting one for ours. You guys look so happy! I love your dress and the bridesmaid's fans are a great idea! I also love the idea of having the wedding party on both sides of you regardless of gender, instead of split up the traditional way. Congratulations to you both, on a happy new marriage and on throwing one awesome looking party!
Get a bounce house, it is THE best way to ease nerves! Just don't forget to get a picture of yourself bouncing in it… Somehow I missed out.
WOW! did you bungy jump after the reception? What was the helmut for?
Looks like a ton of fun!
for our Honeymoon we climbed the Grand Teton, a huge mountain (2nd highest in WY) which requires technical gear, protection and helmets. I hauled my dress to the top (as well as a bottle of champagne) for a photo op.. Yeah I'm a bit looney 🙂
hahaha….she said corn hole and monkey nuts….lovely wedding!!!
This is my FAVORITE wedding of all time! 🙂 Beautiful dress, great suits/sun dresses, and the amazing MOON BOUNCE! I think I'm in love with y'all.
<3
urge to steal grooms' jacket……RIIISING!!!! I love your dress! One sec monochrome, then BAM! Hits me with the colours down the bottom, very beautiful
I love your wedding and was curious about the tents. Are those a rentable thing? We're having an outside wedding where people can camp out and I think something like that would be cool. And Congratulations!!
HA! I was looking up "barns near Lander, WY" on an image search and I found you and Qwenton's picture! Great post on this site! Danielle and I are planning our wedding right now as a matter of fact. In case you haven't heard yet, we are engaged! Hopefully I will get a hold of you on the phone to tell you before you read this comment. Anyways, great to see you on the web! Love you guys!!! -Jonas
this was the most fun awesome wedding EVER! Only problem… this website describes it as “Midwest US”. Pshhh. Wyoming is not the midwest.
I think I remember a machete being used to cut the cake and some other shenanigans which preceded the actual slicing – but then again the beverages may have influenced my memory.