The Offbeat Bride: Alison, Web Developer

Her offbeat partner: Daniel, Mental Health Professional

Date and location of wedding: Dickens Opera House, Longmont, CO - October 12, 2014

Our offbeat wedding at a glance:

We chose to forgo a DJ (bought and iPad and hooked up to the venue's sound system) in order to save money for a good photographer. Dan really wanted a good meal, so we had the venue cater a fajita bar. We also decided to save money by having paper flowers instead of real flowers which was a fraction of the cost.

Our book centerpieces were all books we already owned, and we just tied a ribbon around them. We bought cheap books at a used bookstore and ripped out the pages for the head table and cake table's runner. We attached them to contact paper then used a glue stick to stick down some edges.

We kept our guest list low on purpose because we both really wanted our closest friends and family there and wanted the intimacy that comes when you are surrounded by people who know you well and love you anyway. I designed the wedding invitations and bulletins myself and had them printed.

Tell us about the ceremony:

The processional song was "Gonna Love You" by Band of Horses, and I walked down to "My Girl."

My uncle was the pastor who performed the ceremony. We decided to have a unity cross instead of a unity candle or sand. We had a member of the wedding party read the poem "How Do I Love Thee" by Elizabeth Barret Browning instead of having a soloist.

Our biggest challenge:

Our biggest challenge was feeling guilty. I say this because a lot of our guests are from out-of-town, so we both felt like we should spend a lot of time with each guest who had traveled so far to be with us for the day. We both realized that wedding guests know that the bride and groom will be lucky if they get a couple minutes to say hello. We both still wish there were more hours in the day to be able to visit with each and every person there, but we are so thankful that everyone could make it and we made sure to usher all out so we could at least greet each guest.

My favorite moment:

We served communion at our wedding, and we brought the communion to our parents. We loved having an opportunity to share this expression of our faith with those close to us.

The heartfelt speeches given by both fathers, Dan's older brother, and my older sister were beautiful and made us cry.

What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding?

We learned that the advice I was given before we were even engaged was really helpful. They said to fight for one or two things that you really want, and just let the rest go, or you'll be so stressed out that your day will not be any fun.

Also, having a wedding coordinator for the day is so worth it if you can afford it. Between her and the photographer, we didn't have to really think about any logistics and could just enjoy the day.

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