How "offbeat" are you?

[WebLady]

Did you or are you planning any out of the ordinary elements in your wedding? Do share!

Me; well, we got married in our living room. I wore a linen sun dress type thing and DH wore jeans. We didn't have a formal/traditional reception; instead we rented out a local night club/bar and had a party to celebrate with our friends :frogg:

[acidcookie]

I'm probably not SO offbeat. Most of my wedding details are up in the air. But first off, the red dress of course. I told him he could wear what he wants, would actually prefer him to not wear a suit, but maybe just a vest, or I dunno...

We're not having any attendants. We're not doing most of the standard traditions, but mostly we envision the format and feel of our wedding to be different. Our idea is that guests will arrive and hang out, already getting snacks or drinks like they're at the reception. Then we'll basically interrupt the reception and sort of get married on the spot, in the middle of everyone. Then they can toast us with drinks! I want the ceremony itself to involve the guests as well rather than just parading in front of them.

Then again we're also thinking of this enchanted forest sort of theme where we'd build a whole story around the wedding. The guests would watch the beginning of a fairytale, maybe a cartoon we'd make, about two people meeting in the enchanted forest, very much in the style of old fairytales. Then the story would go into "and then came their wedding day" and basically the guests are now IN this enchanted forest, in the story, and witnessing our wedding.

We have nothing set in stone. But neither of us actually likes weddings very much so at first we were really cranky about "having to do" one. But by really creating our own style it's been more fun.

I can't even begin to think of things like decorations and invitations because those details somehow don't make it into my vision of how the wedding is going to feel.

[snowflakebride]

The only thing I can think of right now is our plan for the bouquet toss.
*any potential guests around? (looks left, looks right) Ok*

We're going to call all the single people up at once. Then I'm going to hand the bouquet to FH, who will send all the single girls away and throw the bouquet to the guys.

I'm debating whether or not to have the garter toss to the girls, but that's up in the air.

[saltyveruca]

I tried to get married in a treehouse...it didn't work out at the last minute because of rain. We ended up getting married on a nice tree-lined road instead.

Our reception was at a working brewery warehouse. So we had a beer and bbq reception. We did a little bit of karaoke.

We officially got married the day before in a civil ceremony so that my uncle could marry us on our "real" wedding day without having to jump through paperwork hoops. I wrote the entire ceremony, including our vows.

When I threw my bouquet, I secretly took it all apart so that when I threw it, the flowers went EVERYWHERE. Heh heh. But then it turned out to be sweet because everyone who wanted a piece got one.

[saltyveruca]

Oh, and I forgot. Because of the way the road was set up, I didn't walk down an aisle. I actually walked up to the road, so all of the guests were already facing me to watch me walk in. That was totally unplanned but everyone said they thought it was cool. :grinhappy:

[acidcookie]

Oh, and I forgot. Because of the way the road was set up, I didn't walk down an aisle. I actually walked up to the road, so all of the guests were already facing me to watch me walk in. That was totally unplanned but everyone said they thought it was cool. :grinhappy:

Cool! I was thinking of this too! That we would walk up in everyone's view. Makes more sense to me anyway than sneaking up behind ;)

[TangoWedding]

We were semi-offbeat, I guess. We certainly weren't traditional.

I didn't wear a poofy dress (though it was off white) or a veil. We didn't have a bridal party. We read a poem to each other during the ceremony and wrote our own vows. We walked down the aisle together. We model-walked out of the ceremony together to "Sexyback". We didn't throw any flowers or garters (I didn't wear a garter, for that matter). Our first dance was an east coast swing (we met in a dance class, so had to add that in there). We didn't do any toasts. We told people they weren't allowed to wear ties or panty hose. :bblol: We didn't do a grand exit...in fact, we were the last ones to leave. We had a photo booth.

Errr...what else? :worm:

[Nekochanpurr]

The only thing i can think of... We are getting $1 scratch off tickets for favors.. And we are going to make people scratch them at the reception to see if they won.. XD

[neebelung]

Hmmmm... we're doing a couple slightly out of the norm things, but I don't know how 'offbeat' it is.....

...He has an engagement ring (and he'll also have a wedding band)

...I didn't go with a diamond center stone, but with a sapphire instead (it's his birthstone)

...I'm wearing red shoes with my wedding gown

...We're marrying in Vegas (but I'm still wearing a semi-catherdral length gown)

..."Our song" is "I love this bar" by Toby Keith (and I'm not even a country music fan)

...we're not having a traditional reception, but rather we're having an "after party" a month or so after the wedding (complete with kegs and a DJ)

[RosieAngel]

We have a few non-traditional elements as well...

My dress has colored detailing on it (silver and pink flowers!) and I'm wearing silver shoes with my dress. I'm also considering forgoing the veil, as I'm getting more and more disenchanted with the tradition.

I decided to have my best man's sister play the ceremony music on her guitar, and the best man's dad walk in front of us with his yarmulke on, playing "Here Comes the Bride" on his harmonica. My Grandpa, who died when I was 15, used to play me songs on the harmonica, so it seemed like a cool idea.

We are having, as part of our ceremony, "Gratitude Gifts" for the parents of our spouse. It's our way of acknowledging that they raised our loved one to be the sort of person we'd love.

Our ceremony is 100% nonreligious. It's about love and joy and gratitude and generosity. Love and peace, baby! :grinhappy:

Our bridal party is uneven, since I have three best friends and Kane only has two. My bridesmaids are wearing black, because they already have black dresses and I don't want them spending a fortune on dresses they will only wear once.

My flowerbrats are both 11-year-olds, one of whom is taller than I am. I'm sticking them in fluffy pink princess dresses, because that's what they said they want. And I'm all about making my princesses happy! So what if they're not little girls?

The Best Man's family makes up 90% of the wedding party. On the other hand, we have no family members in the wedding party. In fact, we have hardly any family showing up at all! Most of the guests are friends, since they're the family we chose, and, unlike our extended biological families, they have always been there for us. :heart:

We're having a destination wedding to try and keep the guest list down. It's been working a little too well, but it's better to have 28 guests than hundreds of people I hardly know gawking at me as I walk down the aisle and declare my undying love to Kane. :buck:

[uptowngirl]

We've got some off-beat elements - let's see how many I can remember...

We are going as green as possible - using recycled paper for the invites/programs, etc. All the food for both the Welcome BBQ on Friday night and the reception on Saturday is local and/or organic. Our place cards are packets of wildflower seeds, and our favors are bars of natural homemade soap that my FMIL made for us. Even our cupcakes are organic! :bun:

My mom and I made my dress - total cost was under $100, and my sash and shoes are dyed with coffee.

My dad is our officiant and the wedding ceremony will be in my parent's backyard.

We aren't having a bridal party - just two "witnesses" who will sign the license for us.

Patrick and I will be getting ready together and walking down the aisle together. (And spending the night before the wedding together too!)

Our reception is at a glass blowing/pottery studio.

No veil, garter, or bouquet tossing. No formal dancing either. Our band will be playing danceable music, but we don't have a specific first dance scheduled.


Hmmmm, I am sure there is more but that is all I can remember.

[ME&HIM]

Ok our wedding

im wearing a formal dress (not a wedding gown)
He is wearing a black suit black shirt red tie
BM: black dresses what ever they like
GM: black shirt black suit red tie
FG: a flowergirl dress she wore to her dads wedding
PB: black shirt and suit with either red or green tie

No idea where it will be
no idea about the reception
waliking down the isle to Under the rose by HIM
First dance song: Right here in mY arms BY HIM
having a candle ceremony
so yeah not so traditional

[neebelung]

No... garter, or bouquet tossing. No formal dancing either.

Had we done a 'regular' reception, those were things we were skipping as well. :)

[Ninedays9]

From what we've decided so far, we're going to be pretty traditional. Where I wouldn't mind skipping tradition is with the flower girl/ring bearer and the dance with the wedding party. I wasn't a big fan of the wedding party dance when I was in a wedding.

[sweetvenus]

We're not having nearly as many 'offbeat' elements as I would have liked because the one thing I've found out through planning this thing is FH is super traditional (despite his goals of having a mohawk and tons of tattoos and piercings). I originally wanted to elope and he would have none of it, lol.

Some stuff that we are doing:
- my red shoes
- walking down the aisle to video game music (played by violin and harp)
- our Mii cake topper
- online RSVPs

I guess that's about it really.

[mitch]

Red Wedding Dress.
Red HIGH Heels. Four Inches and i'm always in flats.
No BM's but FH's Youngest Daughter is now going to help hand out Buttonhole Flowers to the Guests as they arrive.
No Bridal party but Two Witnesses to sign the Register.
No Hymns, readings, sand ceremony or candles.
Registry Office Wedding where no religion or mention of God is allowed.
Staying with FH the night before the Wedding. But i am kicking him out before i actually put my Dress on. Even though he has seen it on the Tailors Dummy.
No Photographer. With everyone having Camera-Phones or Digi-Cams they can snap away if they want to.
No sit down meal. Just a running buffet and plenty of drink.
No DJ. Just the PC playing anything within the 70,000+ songs FH has on there.
One of our Witnesses is in a Tribute Band and the entire Band is coming. So no doubt a Jamming Session will take place. I've already warned the Neighbours about Marshall Amps in the Garden. :bbeek:

100% response of Guests saying they are coming. And the entire Wedding is approx $1,000 so that's wacky in itself LOL.

[Whitewater]

YEA Mitch is back :) Just had to say that :)

Well . . . . I would consider that I definitely have some off-beat stuff going on, but it's funny because my wedding as a whole is kind of schizophrenic. The ceremony is going to be very formal, with groomsmen in tuxes (I showed Fiance a whole bunch of tuxes in a catalog and said 'mark the ones you like' -- and the ONLY one that he likes is a formal one with tails!!!) and bridesmaids in a nice dress . . . .there's going to be live music and flowers and our men guests will wear ties and jackets while our women guests will wear dresses and hats . . . .BUT

BUT -- our minister is a Pagan! My dress is a replica Edwardian Royal wedding gown, and it's going to be gold silk, mostly, with a cream silk underskirt. I'm going to help our seamstress make it myself! My 'bridesmaids' are actually my Maid of Honor and my Deputy Maid of Honor. My live music will be written specifically for me by my MoH and a dear friend of ours, and then they'll be performing it as I walk down the aisle -- alone. I won't be wearing a veil at all, just a gold silk top hat with cream silk ribbons.

So yeah, it might look like a traditional semi-formal garden wedding ceremony on the surface, but if you look closer, it isn't really traditional at all!

But the reception won't be traditional in any way, shape or form. The only seats I'm reserving are for the head table and my immediate family, otherwise I'll just have table #'s but people can seat themselves. Wedding favors will be artistically spread out on the dining tables, not at each place. We're having a potluck buffet -- and there's going to only be one 'official' time to eat, though the food will be out all night and people will be able to come and go as they please.

Oh, and did I mention the Morris dancers, the belly dancers, and the costume party? We're asking our guests to come in costume and for entertainment, I know some dancer troupes that will come and dance if we feed them :) I was planning on having them dance while the 'formal' First Call For Food happens and everybody is eating.

One more thing -- we're not having a DJ, nor even a formal wooden dance floor (we can't afford it!). We're using the ol' Ipod and speakers routine, and using the lovely smooth grassy lawn of the city park for dancing. It's not a garden, just a lawn, and the city doesn't care one way or another. Both dancing troupes are used to dancing in grass, so that's not an issue.

Oh yah, and we're not having a garter toss at all, both Fiance and myself think it's really embrassing and not appropriate at all to the feel of our day (we're getting married on Midsummers and there's a very spiritual component to our wedding), so we got rid of it! And we're still trying to figure out whether or not we want to have the traditional opening dances (parents, etc) because this is a second marriage for both of us and frankly, we're a little old to be dancing those dances -- and we've already done it. I'm hoping that perhaps we can do a set dance (Fiance both do scottish country dancing) that we can create and have the entire wedding party do it to open up the reception, then, we won't have to dance again unless we want to!

And speaking of folk music . . . . there's going to be a LOT of it in the music rotation. Steeleye Span, Flogging Molly, The Dregs, The Chieftans, Tanglefoot, just to name a few :) Additionally we'll have lots of Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Elvis, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Natalie Cole, Beach Boys, Harry Connic Jr, and a lot of 50's-style love songs (girl groups, teenyboppers, etc). We will NOT have modern 'dance' music or rap, since Fiance and I both hate that kind of music! Oh, and we'll probably have some Wierd AL Yankovic in there just because Fiance and a few of our friends enjoy him.

So yeah, I guess you could call our wedding off-beat. I don't know of anybody else who has Morris dancers as their dinner entertainment!


Whitewater

[Aleta]

Not wearing white or puffy gown. It's actually a bridesmaid or evening gown - royal blue (and I mean that bright royal color) with a small sliver of white in the middle front (that's all that is white).

Ceremony and Reception is at our home. Nothing fancy. I just couldn't stomach the idea of paying 10k for a 3 hour reception! I couldn't justify the cost, when we can have everything at our home. Buffet style, with family and friends helping with the all New Orleans themed food items.

Not having a large wedding party, just a Best Man and Matron of Honor.

[uptowngirl]

Oh, and did I mention the Morris dancers, the belly dancers, and the costume party? We're asking our guests to come in costume and for entertainment, I know some dancer troupes that will come and dance if we feed them :) I was planning on having them dance while the 'formal' First Call For Food happens and everybody is eating.



Sounds like fun!! I photographed a wedding a couple of years ago where the bride was from Morocco and the groom was from Mexico - they had belly dancers and a mariachi band! Now that was a party! :holiday:

[gwenshack]

I wish I could get away with more offbeat stuff. All day long I've been wishing that we just eloped instead of the planning. Too much pressure from everyone.

Vegas seemed offbeat enough to imply to FMIL that our wedding wasn't going to play by the rules. Seems that's not the case. It's going to be a struggle and a pain in the a$$.

I'm sorry - I'm so negative today! :)

[scarymary48]

We're doing things a little differently I guess. Our ceremony is in an art gallery, at the time of our ceremony they'll be showing contempory photography. That fits awesomely with Scott's love of photography, so that worked out well, but I'm still secretly disappointed that we wont be saying 'I do' amongst some crazy beautiful sculptures.
I'm writing the ceremony and my vows, and Scott has enlisted the help of the officiant to write his. We will be serving drinks at the ceremony, because Scott thinks that if the guests are half-rolling, they wont remember if he makes an idiot of himself saying his vows :bbrolleyes: .
My shoes are awesome, and also blue and sparkly. I'll not be wearing a veil, but instead a feathery facinator. I'll be walking up the aisle to a Metallica song, played by a string quartet, and not one of my bridesmaids match in either colour or style.
I haven't even started thinking about the reception yet, but I know for sure that my garter is staying firmly on my thigh. I was going to skip the bouquet toss too, but one of my BMs is the last single girl in our group, and threatened to take me out if I didn't toss it to her, so that's what I'm going to do :D.

[MrsDM]

Nothing too off beat here. Not sure if we are going to do the boquet toss, garter toss and definately no mother/son dance. FH doesn't want a best man speech..:snide:

I guess we just are breaking some traditions.

[smiller]

Wow I thought that our was going to be non-traditional but reading all the other posts I see that I am wrong.

We wanted to elope but compromised on having close family and firends. The ceremony will be on my parents' yacht. No walking down the isle or having any flower girls, bridesmaids etc. Of course no religious stuff in the wedding. Not sure if I will throw my bouquet (maybe I will throw it o the men since they may the only single people at my wedding or the huny's nieces). Want an artistic photographer so we do not end up with a bunch of fake smiles in a row. Hate tuxes so planning on the huny wearing a linen suit. Still haven't decided on the dress. Inviting only close people so invitations are just a formality.

At the reception at a local restaurant, no wedding cake for us. Can't stand the taste.

Other than that I guess that everything else is pretty traditional.

[FFC]

Well, we had our fg/rb's drive power wheels down the aisle :happy:

We had miniature scale's of our own 4x4's for our cake toppers

Instead of feeding each other the cake, we smashed it into our MOH and BM's faces :rofl:

We gave miniature tools for our favors

Our 'get away' vehicle was a 2002 f-350 super duty (my dream truck)

Had our reception in a barn

We exchanged truck keys in our ceremony :happy:

My garter had miniature engine parts all over it

I'm sure there's more.. but that's it for now!

[StarCoveter]

DH and I walked in together.
We wrote our own script and did alternating line vows (not too untraditional, but not the typical "I do" - "I do").
I did not carry a bouquet, so no bouquet toss.
I did not wear a garter, no garter toss.
No significant dances, other than the first bride/groom dance.
No seeing off of us, as we stayed in the place we got married in :)

I started off really untraditional, but as the wedding got closer and closer, I fell mushy to the whole thing :grinhappy:

[candars]

We didn't exactly plan to be "offbeat", if this is even considered "offbeat", but we didn't have a first dance, actually, no one ended up dancing! I think everybody was so :drunk: they probably wouldn't have danced very good anyways! lol

Danny's (my hubby) dad died and his step-mom brought a little urn on a necklace with his ashes in it. We set that up on the memorial table. I think that's pretty "offbeat"! What do all of you think?

[rainbowtreat]

We had heart shaped cupcakes instead of the traditional cake.

I wore white go-go boots ( my favorite thing of them all ).

I walked into my uncle playing the bag pipes.

My son and daughter were Jr. bride and groom ( I wanted something more special then flower girl and ring bearer )

We didn't have the dance where the whole bridal party danced, the brides maids with the groomsmen, instead we had a dance with my kids.

We included my kids in the sand ceremony that was done towards the beginning of the ceremony.

Mu husband and son both wore cowboy boots.

My mom gave me away and I dance with my mom instead of a father/daughter dance.

I dedicated a song to my DH which we danced to right after our first dance.

I dedicated a song to my mom which my sister and I danced with her to. It was a fast song.

I think that is it for us.

[Thalia_themuse]

Hmm, no one seems to have bridesmen or groomsladies..? We're planning on one of each! There will be 3 BM's and a bridesman, 3 groomsmen and one groomslady. Not sure how 'offbeat' this is, but the groomslady is actually my FH's ex... that's probably just odd.

I'm not wearing white at all, hopefully deep dark purple (http://kimsweddingwork.googlepages.com/purplemorphdresscopy.jpg)!! I am thinking of having my BM's in half white though. No veil for me either - I have a purple fascinator that I may wear, but undecided at this stage.

We aren't having any religious aspects at all, and will prob do the whole thing in our backyard. Otherwise by the lake near our home. It will only be a very small wedding either way. I wanted to do the catering myself but FH isn't keen.

At this stage I don't even know if we will have dancing as FH hates it. We will possibly have no speeches for the same reason :snide: No one is giving me away; I would consider 'abducting' FH from his parents, but that's as close as I'll go :winktongue: If anyone walks out with me it will be my older brother or my MoH.

I'm hoping to make the first line of the ceremony (spoken by the officiant) an acknowledgement of the Indigenous people of the area as the traditional custodians of the site. Then we'll welcome people after that. We're also writing our own vows.

I'm thinking of using this (http://teasonline.com.au/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=1146?osCsid=7a54cd925f140aec31568a086d ee3229) awesome tea in my centrepieces (I love tea and they are pretty). My brother also offered to make us a giant cake for the wedding - shaped like a futuristic space battle between various species. Hard to describe if you don't know Warhammer 40k, but basically a very dark future with eldar(elvish)/humans/aliens/orcs fighting for domination of the universe. Would be a very intricate cake, but also very gorey I am guessing.

That's all I can think of atm. It's all a bit more odd than offbeat, but we are very odd people :D

[amisteratwisterandme]

We will be doing some very "traditional" elements in a not so traditional type of way.

STD will be a recreation of the famous sailors kiss (WWII)
We will walk down the aisle together
May be getting married in an airplane hanger
He will be wearing my grandfather's WWII uniform
My mom and I will make my dress
My attendants will choose their own outfits, balck or sage green
We will be using my grandma's wedding rings (not changing the settings)
My bouquet will be made out of enough flowers to set on the empty chairs of people who are no longer with us, OR we will give them to the familie. His mom and dad are both deceased so we will either have the empty chairs, or give a flower a piece to his two sisters, and one for my brother that would go to my mom and one for my grandma that would go to my uncle. That way I don't have to worry about flowers again.
Program will be made to look like a replica newspaper from WWII (thanks to serendipity who told me I could purchase newsprint) Headline will read, JAN AND RICKY SURRENDER
No bride/groom dance. Instead, our family members will do a swing dance
No bouquet toss or garter toss. (I hated being single at wedidngs!)
No formal cake cutting, may just do cupcakes so we don't have to worry about it, but my sister will be making whatever we have
No gift registry
Photographer is one of my best friends
tables will have old balck and white photos with family wither in military uniform or old wedding photos
play area for kids with toys and games from the 1940's
Candy bar with candies from the 40's
maybe dog tags for table setting cards
each table with have a different aspect of where are families were during WWII. EX: one grandpa was in Italy, another was in Africa so we will somehow incorporate maps of those places
will have a comic photo area set up. Cut out of soldier and 1940's gal where people stand behind them with just their faces showing
will do pinup pics for grooms gift
groomsmen gift will be a flask
bridesmaids will be the old style perfume bottles
we will somehow incorporate ration stamps, not sure how yet.
May do a pasta bar/buffet for food, nothing to formal
And we may be leaving the reception in a B-25 bomber if FH has his way

That's alot of planning done without even having a date yet! I love being a head of the game.

[kgvettegirl]

We had talked about driving to Vegas in the Vette pulling up to the Drive thru and getting married by Elvis.

Went to Vegas
Wore a Blue Dress
No Elvis
Spent the Reception at the Buffett at the Sahara All you can eat LOL
I wanted to go back to the Hotel instead we walked all over Vegas with my new MIL and SIL with out jackets or good shoes to walk in. Freezing to death and my feet about to fall off. LOL 2:00am we finally got back to the hotel.

[Scrwballsgrl]

ours isn't all that offbeat the only things that really come to mind are


We are doing BBQ for the reception complete with "heavy sides" potatoe salad, baked beans, sweet tea & some type of bread.
We are going with a unique cake topper...haven't picked it out yet but already know we don't want just the bride and groom standing there.
we are having two flower girls and no ringbearersI guess thats really it....okay so not offbeat at all :bbredface:

[rainbowtreat]

I had my mom give me away and I danced with her to a special song.

[BarceloMayaPalaceBride]

We'll be barefoot on the beach saying our "I-do's" We are having a sand ceremony, and are having a "rock-toss" at the end. (All the guests take a rock/shell and make a wish and throw them in the ocean) MY FAVORITE thing, is that I get to TRASH MY DRESS!!!! We hired the photographer to come out the morning after the wedding to do the shoot! :D

[Nekochanpurr]

We will be doing some very "traditional" elements in a not so traditional type of way.

STD will be a recreation of the famous sailors kiss (WWII)
We will walk down the aisle together
May be getting married in an airplane hanger
He will be wearing my grandfather's WWII uniform
My mom and I will make my dress
My attendants will choose their own outfits, balck or sage green
We will be using my grandma's wedding rings (not changing the settings)
My bouquet will be made out of enough flowers to set on the empty chairs of people who are no longer with us, OR we will give them to the familie. His mom and dad are both deceased so we will either have the empty chairs, or give a flower a piece to his two sisters, and one for my brother that would go to my mom and one for my grandma that would go to my uncle. That way I don't have to worry about flowers again.
Program will be made to look like a replica newspaper from WWII (thanks to serendipity who told me I could purchase newsprint) Headline will read, JAN AND RICKY SURRENDER
No bride/groom dance. Instead, our family members will do a swing dance
No bouquet toss or garter toss. (I hated being single at wedidngs!)
No formal cake cutting, may just do cupcakes so we don't have to worry about it, but my sister will be making whatever we have
No gift registry
Photographer is one of my best friends
tables will have old balck and white photos with family wither in military uniform or old wedding photos
play area for kids with toys and games from the 1940's
Candy bar with candies from the 40's
maybe dog tags for table setting cards
each table with have a different aspect of where are families were during WWII. EX: one grandpa was in Italy, another was in Africa so we will somehow incorporate maps of those places
will have a comic photo area set up. Cut out of soldier and 1940's gal where people stand behind them with just their faces showing
will do pinup pics for grooms gift
groomsmen gift will be a flask
bridesmaids will be the old style perfume bottles
we will somehow incorporate ration stamps, not sure how yet.
May do a pasta bar/buffet for food, nothing to formal
And we may be leaving the reception in a B-25 bomber if FH has his way

That's alot of planning done without even having a date yet! I love being a head of the game.

I have to say.. Your wedding sounds AWESOME!!! :D If i were a guest, i'd be super excited about going!!!

[liljjess]

my grandmother passed away 3 years ago, and she always said to have dessert first. So at our reception after we walk in we are walking straight to the cake table which will actually be set up on the dance floor in front of our head table and cutting the cake. then serving it.. getting drinks then dinner. thought it would be a nice way for her to be a part of the celebration!!

[TwoPeasinAPod]

I'm glad that I'm not the only one planning to do something non-traditional!

Here's my list:
1. No wedding party
2. No favors
3. No traditional wedding cake. We we have a dessert table
4. No dancing
5. No DJ or Band (just an I-Pod)
6. Outdoor wedding and reception
7. Entertainment will be games: board games, football, soccer, etc
8. Dress for guests will be business casual
9. Food will be buffet style (catered and really good)
10. No garter tossing, etc.
11. Reception will be in the afternoon so no hard liquor

However, I will wear a while puffy dress and he will wear a suit.

[ChristineLS]

...I didn't go with a diamond center stone, but with a sapphire instead (it's his birthstone)


I have an emerald stone - also his birthstone :)

[coltsfan1]

ok I think I win this one. We are getting married this saturday and we are having a football wedding. ok where to start off beat things

I am wearing a personalized Colts Jersey and the Groom is wearing a Cowboys Jersey

We are getting married in a friends backyard under a goalpost with a scoreboard in the background complete with the grass caulked off like a field

My flower girl is going to throw little yellow penalty flags instead of flowers

My guest book is two signature footballs and our wedding favors are mini footballs with our names and the date printed on them

The JP is performing the ceramony in a black and white ref. shirt

[Trillian]

I'm wearing a white dress, but I bought it at a fetish boutique. We're talking SERIOUS corset here. We're not getting legally married, just sharing vows and celebrating our union. 99.99% of the wedding is DIY. My son, who will be seven by then, is walking me down the aisle. I'm having a single-tier replica of the cake from The Corpse Bride, as well as Corpse Bride figures as our topper, the rest of the cake will be cupcakes. There will be two poker tables set up at the reception (one free, one cash game). We're buying each other's wedding bands separately, as a surprise to each other.

[Thalia_themuse]

I'm wearing a white dress, but I bought it at a fetish boutique. We're talking SERIOUS corset here. We're not getting legally married, just sharing vows and celebrating our union. 99.99% of the wedding is DIY. My son, who will be seven by then, is walking me down the aisle. I'm having a single-tier replica of the cake from The Corpse Bride, as well as Corpse Bride figures as our topper, the rest of the cake will be cupcakes. There will be two poker tables set up at the reception (one free, one cash game). We're buying each other's wedding bands separately, as a surprise to each other.

Ooh do you have pics of your dress?? I wanna see your corset!!! :grinhappy:

[Trillian]

Ooh do you have pics of your dress?? I wanna see your corset!!! :grinhappy:

It's actually on layaway right now so I don't have any pictures of me in it or anything, but here's the one from the website:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v88/attachmentfeminist/corsetwedding.jpg

[ally20o7]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v88/attachmentfeminist/corsetwedding.jpg

That is beautiful

[Thalia_themuse]

It's actually on layaway right now so I don't have any pictures of me in it or anything, but here's the one from the website:



Nice!!! Should look very hawt :grinhappy:

[hoot]

What I love is that brides are feeling more comfortable making their weddings feel right rather than making sure it matches our mother's wedding photos. Our key words in planning our day are personal and precious. :)

We aren't having attendants but are having a wedding by committee that are referred to as the Bride's Guys and the Groom's Girls. The girls who are helping are going to wear red--I don't care if it's a cocktail dress or a spiderman costume I just want them all in red. The guys will be in khaki's and some shirt I'll probably pick up for them at somewhere affordable.

My FH proposed to me with my wedding band and I'll get the bigger rock on my wedding day. (We hit a cash crunch so that solution made sense to us.)

We're having a cookout (bbq) for our reception dinner although I did draw the line at serving ribs because I can just see us slathered in sauce ten minutes into dinner. LOL!

I am in recovery so rather than serving alcohol, we'll be serving red bull (and lots of it) at the dance.

Our wedding day will be in three parts: the ceremony, the reception, and the dance. Close friends will be invited to the cermony and dinner but fliers will be passed out to invite aquaintences to "celebrate our marriage" at the dance. This allows us to include everyone in our circle of friends without having to worry about blowing the budget.

Thus far it's looking like pies and cobbler will be served in lieu of wedding cake. So I'll probably be feeding him coconut cream! YUM!

Kids are not only invited but included and there will be games and prizes for them.

We're only having a professional photographer shoot the ceremony and a few group shots. I'm having friends bring their cameras and we've got a photo scavenger hunt planned with a prize for the person who gets all the pictures on the list.

I will be taking some of the decorations I'm making for the wedding and altering them after our wedding day to give as thank you gifts for our helpers.

I love reading your ideas and borrowing the ones that will work for us!

[Jacklynn]

Kids are not only invited but included and there will be games and prizes for them.


How fun!! :)

[Micah's bride]

If it was up to me, our wedding would be very unconventional. But FH is a very traditional guy. He has given me some room to put in my hippie ideas though. I am having a Man of Honor, we are going to have a skeleton cake topper, and our reception will end early for an afterparty at our favorite local hangout, which is owned by a friend of ours. We are going to have tons of live music because so many of our friends are in bands, including FH. But on his end, we're getting married in the Country Club (so not me), I'm wearing a HUGE dress.

[RosieAngel]

What I love is that brides are feeling more comfortable making their weddings feel right rather than making sure it matches our mother's wedding photos. Our key words in planning our day are personal and precious. :)

We aren't having attendants but are having a wedding by committee that are referred to as the Bride's Guys and the Groom's Girls. The girls who are helping are going to wear red--I don't care if it's a cocktail dress or a spiderman costume I just want them all in red. The guys will be in khaki's and some shirt I'll probably pick up for them at somewhere affordable.

My FH proposed to me with my wedding band and I'll get the bigger rock on my wedding day. (We hit a cash crunch so that solution made sense to us.)

We're having a cookout (bbq) for our reception dinner although I did draw the line at serving ribs because I can just see us slathered in sauce ten minutes into dinner. LOL!

I am in recovery so rather than serving alcohol, we'll be serving red bull (and lots of it) at the dance.

Our wedding day will be in three parts: the ceremony, the reception, and the dance. Close friends will be invited to the cermony and dinner but fliers will be passed out to invite aquaintences to "celebrate our marriage" at the dance. This allows us to include everyone in our circle of friends without having to worry about blowing the budget.

Thus far it's looking like pies and cobbler will be served in lieu of wedding cake. So I'll probably be feeding him coconut cream! YUM!

Kids are not only invited but included and there will be games and prizes for them.

We're only having a professional photographer shoot the ceremony and a few group shots. I'm having friends bring their cameras and we've got a photo scavenger hunt planned with a prize for the person who gets all the pictures on the list.

I will be taking some of the decorations I'm making for the wedding and altering them after our wedding day to give as thank you gifts for our helpers.

I love reading your ideas and borrowing the ones that will work for us!

This sounds like such a fun wedding! Wish I could be there! :grinhappy:

[wannabeNurse2]

I'm doing a lot of things that aren't known of in our circle. I am so sick of going to the traditional run of the mill wedding. Since we are wedding number 3 in a list of 4 weddings I wanted to be dramatically different. We are having a tiny display cake, we aren't doing a bouquet toss, we aren't doing a garter toss, I'm not doing a toast, and I'm not dancing with my father. My parents aren't even going to be at the wedding. (looong story) My brother is going to walk me down the aisle. We are not having our ceremony in a church. The bridesmaid and the MOH are wearing different dresses. The ushers aren't required to wear a tux along with the other groomsmen. I'll be buying the ushers matching ties though. We aren't having any readers or singers. I'm not having a flower girl or a ring bearer. I'm doing specific favors for the kids. I'm having a sweetheart table. I'm DIYing all of the paper goods so they will be unique. We aren't having a guest book. We aren't doing a unity candle. My best friend is performing the ceremony. He just got ordained online. We aren't doing the dollar dance.

I'm not exactly sure if my wedding is considered off beat per say, but it is definitely different than what the family is used to.

[acidcookie]

Here's some more offbeat for ya, in addition to the red dress and lack of bridal attendants:

I'm not getting a wedding ring (my e-ring is already so blingy), so in the ceremony I will only be giving him his ring. We're not even going to do the exchange with my current ring (awkward, IMO).

We're not walking down an aisle, we're making a grand entrance to everyone already having drinks. We'll be walking up to them and they'll stand while we do our vows.

I'm doing my own hair, my own makeup, I'm probably going to wear a fascinator, and I'm wearing Steve Madden heels I already have.

We're considering baking our own cake.

No DJ, just a laptop or an iPod.

[adias.angel]

Would probably be easier for me to list the things that are traditional. ;)

1.) Mayan ceremony instead of Christian
2,) Destination wedding in the Riviera Maya
3.) All our guests are asked to wear white/neutral colors. Then the only colors we will have will be orange on my dress, bouquet, FI tie and monogram on my parasol
4.) No bouquet toss, reception or dancing
5.) Trash the dress photo shoot in cenote
6.) Sand ceremony instead of unity candle

I know there is probably more but I think those are probably the ones that stand out. Carla :)

[JJsWifey08]

Im having my wedding in the JOP's house and then having Applebees afterwards for drinks and such

[Nekochanpurr]

Im having my wedding in the JOP's house and then having Applebees afterwards for drinks and such

MMm.. Applebee's. Good choice!

[Karissa&Bryan]

This is not a first marriage for either of us so it is alrady "offbeat" in that aspect, but I am having my 14 year old daughter walk me down the aisle. The 3 other daughters we had before we met are going to be are going down first, but I am not sure that they are going to be "flowergirls." I am not having a MOH unless you count my children and we are debating on a bbq for our reception. I am not really set on anything and that is scary becasue I am getting married in June 2009

[Jessichan]

Although we're doing traditional things, a lot of the things we're doing are quite offbeat:

-Anime/video game table numbers of our favorite series/games with description of the series/game
-Video game console cake (its been done, but now with the current generation of consoles!) and the other cake has anime character (Mokona) on top.
-all music at ceremony is from video games
-no garter toss
-no toasts
-i'm DIYing all paper goods
-programs will have lots of artwork by various artists in the anime style including chibis of me and my fiance...might also do a mini comic inside
-none of that hair trial, makeup trial. i trust my hairstylist enough (ive been going to her since middle school!) and i just think its a waste of time

we're incorporating so much that pulling it together cohesively will be a challenge worthy of being "offbeat" haha. christmas, military, african american, and nerdy stuff all rolled into one.

[Kari&Jeremy]

While mine is fairly traditional, I've thrown in quite a bit of things that tend to startle people. I like to break wedding rules. ;)

--My mom is walking me down the aisle.
--NO garter toss. I wanted to skip the bouquet toss, but I was vetoed. So we're tossing a boutenniere and a bouquet.
--No dancing.
--No alcohol.
--No rings (we have a Bible bearer instead of a ring bearer.)
--No bridal party table; our party will be free to sit with whomever and enjoy themselves as they wish. ;)
--I'm changing into flipflops for the reception.
--My veil is trimmed in Victorian lilac!

[Nekochanpurr]

Although we're doing traditional things, a lot of the things we're doing are quite offbeat:

-Anime/video game table numbers of our favorite series/games with description of the series/game
-Video game console cake (its been done, but now with the current generation of consoles!) and the other cake has anime character (Mokona) on top.
-all music at ceremony is from video games
-no garter toss
-no toasts
-i'm DIYing all paper goods
-programs will have lots of artwork by various artists in the anime style including chibis of me and my fiance...might also do a mini comic inside
-none of that hair trial, makeup trial. i trust my hairstylist enough (ive been going to her since middle school!) and i just think its a waste of time

we're incorporating so much that pulling it together cohesively will be a challenge worthy of being "offbeat" haha. christmas, military, african american, and nerdy stuff all rolled into one.

Oh squee!! I'd love to see that cake topper! :bbeek:

[Docsgirl]

Uhhh....this list might get extensive....

1) I'm wearing a bridesmaid dress as my wedding dress. It's going to be white and black.

2) I'm wearing bright red low-top converses as my shoes. Sooo much more comfy than heels and I won't have to worry about tripping all over myself.

3) Although not planned, I gravitated towards the vintage pin-up style complete with a flower and birdcage veil, while DH is going to be in his sailor dress blues. And he pointed out that pin-up girls and sailors pretty much go hand in hand. So we have an old school military theme thing for our outfits that just happened, wasn't planned. :)

4) Oh. I should probably mention that we're already legally married from a JOP service in July. And that we were only engaged for 3 days. Our wedding will be a day after our 10 month marriage anniversary.

5) DH proposed with no ring. He then surprised me the day after christmas by reproposing with a 2.6 total carat weight black(my favorite color) diamond ring after we were already married. My wedding band is going to be a thin band of black diamonds as well.

6) My mom is making our 3 layer cake. She has some amazing skills. :D

7) We've decided that since we've already had our first kiss as man and wife, we're going to do the famous sailor's kiss as our kiss at our wedding. (DH's idea....he's even made me practice! Haha)

8) Our wedding music is not traditional in anyway. Our first dance song is actually one of our favorite songs that is about a girl breaking a guy's heart instead of a love song. But it says "It's only you, beautiful, or I don't want anyone...if I can choose, it's only you". It's a beautiful song and people will probably just assume it's a love song....which it is in sorts. DH says I was the first girl to break his heart (8th grade) so that it fits even better. Apparently I was the one to fix his heart as well. :wub:

9) Both my older brother and younger brother will be escorting me down the aisle. I was going to escort myself, but they wanted to be in the wedding and they have been the two men who have always been in my life. And they both took on the role as protector when my dad passed away.

10) Since my brothers are both escorting me and I don't want flowers in my face, my mom is going to hold my bouquet for me. It is going to have a picture of my late dad in a charm on it and when I get to the end of the aisle, she's going to hand it off to me and give me a kiss and hug. Awwwww.

11) My favorite on the list so far......even though we're getting married in a garden and there are sure to be a few pictures there, we're getting most of our wedding pictures, including bridal party, taken in an alley. :)

I'm sure there are more....but this is all I'm thinking of for now.

[2dBride]

Well, if you start out with two brides, it's not possible to be totally traditional! But here are some of our offbeat touches:
We wrote our ceremony ourselves. It is based on the traditional Jewish ceremony. However, all mention of God is omitted in the English version, in favor of interpretations of the significance of the Hebrew blessings to us. And the vows are taken directly from the Church of England ceremony.
We don't have engagement rings.
My FI designed our invitations and programs based on the artwork of our ketubah (Jewish wedding contract).
I designed and made our chuppah (Jewish wedding canopy), which is built on the frame of a portable popup gazebo.
We are walking down the aisle together.
My ex-husband will be attending.
We have a maid of honor and a "dude of honor."
Our reception is in a club that is a converted warehouse, rather than a traditional reception venue. We are decorating it, bringing in food and beverages, doing our own lighting, etc.
In lieu of chair covers, we are decorating the chairs with ivory pillowcases and gold sashes, and covering the couches with ivory tablecloths.
We are having a DIY "photobooth," with various props. These include cartoon speech and thought bubbles made by my FI that guests can write on, with a dry erase surface that can be wiped off between guests.
Our first dance will be a swing dance. However, the song we will be dancing to will be Leonard Cohen's "Dance Me to the End of Love (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_PIadFsvDk)," instead of a traditional swing dance song.
Our cake topper is a traditional Welsh love spoon. It will actually go on the lowest level of a cascading wedding cake that my FI is making.

[Bunnyfeet]

I am having a Bunny - Themed wedding... (big surprise given the user-name, right? lol) Best part? FH is the most in favor of said-bunny theme.

We are putting a couple Hagen-Renaker bunnies on the top of a cupcake

I am making a couple yarn-bunnies and dressing themas bride and groom (aka Marine in dress blues) and putting that next to the guestbook

I am using rabbit sillhouttes on the favors and invitations

On the "girl's night out" the night before the wedding I am buying bunny ears/tails and getting a few cute shots with my friends dressed as "bunnies"

I am making the napkins/silverware look like carrots for the kids

I am making bunny-themed coloring books for the kids

I am going to leave bunny-ears and things like fairy-wings/wands/bubbles for the kids to take (there are lots of tiny kids in my family)

Aside from the bunny things:

We are going to do the traditional cutting of the cake with FH's sword (he is in the Marines)... but we are using cupcakes. So we will be cutting a cupcake. Presumably in half.:bblol:

[suzy doo-mee]

Well, we are both over 50 and this my 3rd and his 4th marriage (hey, keep doin it til ya get it right, I say!). We are having two weddings...one in October with friends and another next January with our families (legal issues).

October is a halloween party/wedding. I will be wearing a red bustier and black leggings with a black crinoline over them. A spider hat. I have a HUGE red necklace he bought for me in London just for the day and a big red crystal spider bangle bracelet. My flowers will be dark red silk ranunculus with pearls...Halloween ribbon around the stems with a big spider pinned to the ribbon. He will be wearing a black morning coat and red sparkly vest. The cake will be black with glittery spider webs and skulls on it..Corpse Bride topper.

Will take place in a friend's back yard at dusk by fire light. I'm not sure what song will place as I walk down the stairs to him but our first dance will be 'The Masochism Tango'. Favors are Corpse Bride personalized Hershey bars and Corpse Bride shot glasses with candy in them. Dancing and Halloween music after the cake cutting. I've already told him if he thinks about smashing cake in my face....DON'T.

[suzy doo-mee]

oh, and we're using bands from the Corpse Bride ($6.95 on ebay)....and reciting the vows from Corpse Bride. I'm NOT that huge a Corpse Bride fan but it just seems right. :)

[DereksLove]

Did you or are you planning any out of the ordinary elements in your wedding? Do share!

Me; well, we got married in our living room. I wore a linen sun dress type thing and DH wore jeans. We didn't have a formal/traditional reception; instead we rented out a local night club/bar and had a party to celebrate with our friends :frogg:


That's a GREAT idea! All I want is a dance party type thing for my reception. How fun! ^_^ No worries, I won't steal your thunder. I just think it sounds fun. ^_~

[2dBride]

Weblady, we're also renting out a club for our wedding reception. It is presenting some decorating challenges. (Black walls don't exactly say "wedding" to us.) However, it has a kitchen, a sound system, a stage, lots of seating and tables, a dance floor, and stage lighting. The owner is letting us have a key so we can get in a couple of days in advance to decorate. And we've saved scads of money by being able to bring in our own food, linens, uplighting, paper lanterns, etc.

[WebLady]

That's a GREAT idea! All I want is a dance party type thing for my reception. How fun! ^_^ No worries, I won't steal your thunder. I just think it sounds fun. ^_~
No thunder here; my wedding was 4+ yrs ago ;)

Weblady, we're also renting out a club for our wedding reception. It is presenting some decorating challenges. (Black walls don't exactly say "wedding" to us.) However, it has a kitchen, a sound system, a stage, lots of seating and tables, a dance floor, and stage lighting. The owner is letting us have a key so we can get in a couple of days in advance to decorate. And we've saved scads of money by being able to bring in our own food, linens, uplighting, paper lanterns, etc.
I think you can spruce it up with some lighter color decor :) I am sure you are saving money this way too.

[2dBride]

I think you can spruce it up with some lighter color decor :)

Yes, we're using ivory linens and ceiling swags, and plates that are ivory with a gold band. We'll have centerpieces that are gold pedestal votive holders with acrylic diamonds and floating candles in them. And we're also using pink uplighting on the walls, and amber, pink, and "natural" paper lanterns hanging above the tables. With all that, I doubt many people will even pay attention to the color of the walls. And even if they did, these people are our friends, and will be happy to celebrate with us rather than working on criticising the decor.

[WebLady]

Yes, we're using ivory linens and ceiling swags, and plates that are ivory with a gold band. We'll have centerpieces that are gold pedestal votive holders with acrylic diamonds and floating candles in them. And we're also using pink uplighting on the walls, and amber, pink, and "natural" paper lanterns hanging above the tables. With all that, I doubt many people will even pay attention to the color of the walls. And even if they did, these people are our friends, and will be happy to celebrate with us rather than working on criticising the decor.
Sounds great; can't wait to see the pics ... I think the black walls will make your decor stand out better :)

[suzy doo-mee]

oh, and we're providing everyone with wax fangs to wear at the end of the ceremony. :D I wanna have the fun, hokey Halloween...we're doing serious next winter. :P

[tiger_fan3034]

Well hello again, i'm pretty new, but though i would share some of my ideas. Our Classic Rock n' Roll themed wrdding probably isn't too out of the ordinary but we are having some pretty unnique touches

1. not too unique but fits well...my black and snow white dress, very plain, not beads, just simple

2. I'm hoping my fiance will go for my idea of using classical covers of classic rock songs at the ceremony...I found an awesome cover of AC/DC's Shook Me All Night Long done by a sting quartet and orchastra :cool:

3. Our reception will begin at 4, dinner at 6...BUT we will serve H2O, alcoholic and non-alcoholic punch from 4 until dinner and keep the bar closed until the food comes (not too odd, but a little different)

4. one word...CUPCAKES...that's right folks, black and purple cupcakes instead of cake

5. The mejority of the music we play will be calssic rock ie) Bon Jovi, Metallica, AC/DC etc...the unique part is the country music that will be included as a nod too my country roots.

So far it's no TOO out of the ordinary, just a little untraditional

[BlondeBride]

The only thing i can think of... We are getting $1 scratch off tickets for favors.. And we are going to make people scratch them at the reception to see if they won.. XD

One of my girlfriends did that at her wedding. She had a big one, 200-300 people! My fiance' won a free ticket! What a hoot! :bbmrgreen:

[Nekochanpurr]

One of my girlfriends did that at her wedding. She had a big one, 200-300 people! My fiance' won a free ticket! What a hoot! :bbmrgreen:

It was fun!! Sadly, no one even won that i know of!! LOL

[bright_eyes]

for us - we are not having MOH/Best Man just the groomsmen and bridesmaids. everything else will be pretty traditional I think.

[FutureMrsGunderson]

We are using H.I.M. songs in our ceremony and reception, too! Love to see we aren't the only ones. My fiance played Right Here In My Arms for me one day, years ago, and said "this is for you".

[Haylie]

We're hardly offbeat, but we do have some slightly non-traditional stuff...

- We have a groomswoman - and like a previous poster, she's actually my FH's ex!
- There won't be any live flowers at all; the roses in the bouquets are made of coffee filters!
- We're definitely seeing each other before the ceremony.
- We'll probably do a sweetheart table rather than a head table.
- I have two maids of honor. (My Co-MOHs!)
- There won't be a bridal party dance, since my side of the bridal party is ages 13-19, while his side is ages 20-late 40s... so it'd just be silly. Plus it's uneven sides, and there's the matter of the groomsmaid.
- The Best Man is my FH's father (I hear that's actually traditional in some places? It's pretty unusual here)

.... that's all I can think of right now!

[FutureMrsGunderson]

We're hardly offbeat, but we do have some slightly non-traditional stuff...

- We have a groomswoman - and like a previous poster, she's actually my FH's ex!
- There won't be any live flowers at all; the roses in the bouquets are made of coffee filters!
- We're definitely seeing each other before the ceremony.
- We'll probably do a sweetheart table rather than a head table.
- I have two maids of honor. (My Co-MOHs!)
- There won't be a bridal party dance, since my side of the bridal party is ages 13-19, while his side is ages 20-late 40s... so it'd just be silly. Plus it's uneven sides, and there's the matter of the groomsmaid.
- The Best Man is my FH's father (I hear that's actually traditional in some places? It's pretty unusual here)

.... that's all I can think of right now!


We're seeing each other before the ceremony, too. My FH and I are so close that we want to see each other. When he sees me in my dress for the first time, it's going to be just me and him, no one else. I just LOVE your idea about coffee filter roses!

[2dBride]

We ended up with a whipped cream fight between my sister and my son at the luncheon after the ceremony. I'm pretty sure that's not traditional! My son is now engaged, and apparently told my sister there is a new etiquette rule--no whipped cream fights until the last half hour of the reception. :laugh2: