The Offbeat Bride: Brittany, Musician/Nanny (and Offbeat Bride member)

Her offbeat partner: Tyler, Full time engineering student

Date and location of wedding: The Genoa Town Park and Genoa Town Hall, Nevada's Oldest Settlement - July 5, 2014

Our offbeat wedding at a glance: I like to refer to our wedding as "modified traditional." We had six groomsmen, four bridesmaids, two ring bearers, and I had two wonderful men walk me down the aisle. It was non-denominational, we wrote our own vows, and we completely forgot to do the sand ceremony that we had planned. For the table numbers, we used vinyl records and printed labels on them, each with a song from a different Disney movie. When that song on the record at your table was played, that table got up to get their food. I used rosemary and daisies for all of the bouquets, boutonnieres, and centerpieces. I LOVE the smell of rosemary and wanted to think of my wedding every time I smelled it afterwards.

Tell us about the ceremony:
We used "To Love is Not to Possess" by James Kavanaugh as one of our readings:

To love is not to possess,
To own or imprison,
Nor to lose one's self in another.
Love is to join and separate,
To walk alone and together,
To find a laughing freedom
That lonely isolation does not permit.
It is finally to be able
To be who we really are
No longer clinging in childish dependency
Nor docilely living separate lives in silence,
It is to be perfectly one's self
And perfectly joined in permanent commitment
To another-and to one's inner self.
Love only endures when it moves like waves,
Receding and returning gently or passionately,
Or moving lovingly like the tide
In the moon's own predictable harmony,
Because finally, despite a child's scars
Or an adult's deepest wounds,
They are openly free to be
Who they really are-and always secretly were,
In the very core of their being
Where true and lasting love can alone abide.

We also used "A Lovely Love Story" by Edward Monkton. I found BOTH of these readings via Offbeat Bride!

Our biggest challenge:
There were definitely a few challenges throughout the process, which I'm sure every couple faces. But for me, the biggest challenge was getting my heart set on certain things. It took me a while, but I had to realize that some things I wanted, we're just NOT going to happen... and that's okay. I learned how to find the next best option and be happy about it.

My favorite moment:
Reading our personal vows to each other in front of our friends and family was the best moment of my entire life. We laughed, we cried, we swooned. It was completely beautiful.

Another favorite moment was my mother/daughter dance. We started dancing to "A Song For Mama" by Boyz II Men. We both started bawling and it got very emotional. I didn't mention to my mom that in the middle of the song, I had it switched to Steppenwolf's "Magic Carpet Ride" (my mom's favorite song!). When the music switched, my mom wasn't sure how to react, but then got COMPLETELY into it.

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?

Enough talk - show me the wedding porn!