The Offbeat Bride: Cassandra, Employment Counselor

Her offbeat partner: Dylan, Self-Employed Landscaper

Date and location of wedding: Canada - August 17, 2013

Our offbeat wedding at a glance: Saying that we cut corners was the understatement of the century. Dylan and I strongly believe that the billion dollar wedding industry can be out of control, especially because weddings are a beautiful thing at their source. Our wedding was a simple backyard wedding, full of flowers, bright colours, and great big smiles. We are fortunate enough to have parents that live in the country and have very green thumbs.

We had a very strict $10,000 wedding budget. Everything we could do on our own, we did! This forced us to get creative, and the wedding party helped out tremendously by shopping at craft stores, sharing ideas, and making things from scratch. The wedding arbor was created by a friend who has a small carpentry business.

Tell us about the ceremony:
My father wasn't in my life growing up, so I had my favorite uncle walk me down the aisle, and that was a very emotional moment for me. He's always kind of acted like a father in my life; however, my brothers and I never had the nerve to EVER call him "dad." When I asked him if he would walk me down the aisle, he told me "Of course, you're my daughter and I would be honored." Even typing that just now gave me goosebumps.

But on the lighter, less sappy side of things: the ceremony included tons of tall jokes. We are both tall of stature - I am 6'3" and my husband is 6'6". Both of our families, through very different looking, all have something in common, and that's our sense of humor. It was nice to see everyone laughing unanimously at the same thing.

Our biggest challenge:
Our biggest challenge was my chaotic-outspoken-unorthodox family. We both have huge families, and that made having a small wedding very challenging. Both our parents have over eight siblings, and those siblings all have four or five children, and some of those children have children... so you do the math.

There was tons of pressure from both of our families reminding us "What about this person? Or THAT person? Oh you MUST invite so and so..." In a perfect world, we would have invited everyone, and their best friends.

We overcame this issue by sticking to our guns. It wasn't easy, but it was necessary. We did our best to include as many people as possible by inviting more to join us for the dance party that was happening after the food was served.

My funniest moment:
My brother was the MC and he blew me away with his charm throughout the ceremony. He is ruthless as well. For example, when a certain someone was very obviously intoxicated and starting to speak in circles with the mic, he smoothly grabbed the mic from him and told everyone, "Catch up with this guy! He obviously knows how to party."

My favorite moment:
The most meaningful moment was the ceremony. The reverend took the time to get to know us and he nailed it. It was tasteful, short and sweet, with lots of laughter throughout. We also wrote our own vows, and there's nothing more nerve-wrackingly beautiful than sharing something so personal and sweet in front of your family and friends.

Another meaningful moment was the open mic portion. I was especially surprised when my grandmother got up and sang so confidently, powerfully, and beautifully in front of everyone. She made up a song for us on the spot, and had everyone clapping along. A good friend of ours also performed a lovely spoken word piece that made me cry. We allowed those that were bold enough to take the mic at any time, and were blown away by the results .

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?

• Photography: Anne Warwick
• Bride's dress: Wai-Ching. Chrissy, the designer, makes all of the dresses herself, and is an amazing person. I was too tall for most dresses that I've tried at other shops, so it was nice to get one custom-made for my height.
• Arbor: Jake Jonston
• Gardens: Dylan Muileboom, the groom and owner of Hummingbird Landscapes

Enough talk - show more more wedding porn!

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