Category Archive

Real Offbeat Weddings

We love featuring a truly diverse range of real weddings, from highly stylized theme weddings to elopements to simple and small weddings. Submit your wedding for consideration via offbeatwed.net/submissions.

A Midsummer night's dream meets Alice in Wonderland fantasy wedding

A Midsummer night’s dream meets Alice in Wonderland fantasy wedding

I decided early on I wanted to be a mystical fairy goddess for the wedding. We are both nerds, so there were many "easter eggs" hidden in parts of our wedding for people to find, from "game over" music at the end of the night to messages hidden in binary code on our save-the-dates. We are both feminists, so it was also very important to leave behind the more traditional, patriarchal, gender-specific parts of American weddings. Don’t miss the flower crowns on BOTH of them!

This ultra fun bowling alley wedding took place right on the lanes

This ultra fun bowling alley wedding took place right on the lanes

Parkville Lanes was the retro-inspired venue for this bowling alley wedding in Maryland. Amanda and Steve gathered their loved ones for a day of marriage, bowling, tears, laughs, pops of red and black, and a feast of Southern-inspired food.

Grab a cupcake and start scrolling to see some real love take shape in the form of that classic recreational pastime…

This Irish theatre wedding was Art Deco meets '80s dance party meets musical theater

This Irish theatre wedding was Art Deco meets ’80s dance party meets musical theater

Laura and Eavan wanted a movie and musical-themed wedding so it made perfect sense to choose a newly renovated theatre as their venue. They had matching shoes and wooden rings made with quotes from Lord of the Rings inscribed. There’s also a nod to the film Labyrinth in the crystal ball photos. Don’t miss the Art Deco cake with cement icing, illustrated movie-themed table names, and the ’80s-inspired dance party that followed all of the fun…

A backyard wedding with dinosaurs, DIY, & a gorgeous gown made by the bride

A tea party wedding with dinosaurs, DIY, & a gorgeous gown handmade by the bride

We knew we wanted things to be really classy and elegant, but we had a small budget. Since we couldn’t afford a lot of flowers, we bought a ton of Christmas lights on sale the year before and just went nuts with white twinkle lights and it worked out beautifully. Chris loves dinosaurs, so I snuck them in everywhere without telling him: large ones held our table numbers and small ones were just hidden in strange places, all painted gold. The biggest highlight is that I made my own gown!