The Offbeat Bride: Hanna
Her offbeat partner: Mitch
Date and location of wedding: Mt. Hood Organic Farms, Mt. Hood, OR — July 16, 2016
Our offbeat wedding at a glance:
The easiest decision in the wedding planning process was the theme. Though we both love and connect over film, writing and literature was what first brought us together. We wanted to incorporate literature into everything we could.
My bad-ass maid of honor gave us a book sculpture as an engagement present that she MADE that had our initials folded into it. She then offered to make the bouquets for the wedding, which was incredible (we only used previously damaged books!). My amazingly supportive mom and her friends helped me put together all of the centerpieces. My sloppy arts and crafts abilities from elementary school have not improved much, so their help was the only reason it worked out.
My mom also surprised us with a book-theme cake that we saw for the first time at the reception. A local designer brought my red dress dreams to life and worked within my budget.
TELL US ABOUT THE CEREMONY:
My mom, who was an incredible single mom (shout out to all the amazing single parents), walked me down the aisle, which after a long battle with breast cancer, truly meant the world to me. I met my husband at the altar, and our officiant, a close lifelong family friend, began her role reciting the "Mawwiage" speech from The Princess Bride, quoted Shakespeare, and discussed the various ways my husband and my stories had interconnected. Apparently, we both had discussed our first date (at the Rocky Horror Picture Show) and our falling in love over John Hughes movies — to which she had assumed I had related to Molly Ringwald’s character and my husband to Emilio Estevez. We had both informed her, unknowingly, that I was the rebel and my husband, the basket case.
My stepmother (have I mentioned the amazing women in my life?) did a Margaret Atwood reading and my hilarious and charismatic father-in-law did a reading from one of our favorite Tom Robbins passages. We also wrote our own vows, which were littered with Star Trek, Star Wars, and Winnie the Pooh references. I recently lost my uncle to cancer, and so on both sides of the altar were basketballs to honor his favorite passion. It was important to us to honor his memory in a playful and fun way, which is what he would have wanted. My grandfather was from Syria and owned a rug store in Boston, so we stood on one to honor his memory, also.
TELL US ABOUT THE RECEPTION:
We entered the reception after everyone was seated to the Star Wars theme. My mom, my sister-in-law, my maid of honor, and my 13-year-old brother (my husband's best man) gave toasts after dinner
We cut the cake, and also had ice cream (which was the dessert we planned, my mom surprised us with the cake!), did our first dance to Buddy Holly's "Dearest."
After a parent dance to "House at Pooh Corner," we had a blast at the photo booth. I was dismayed to see all the ice cream was gone before I got to taste any after that! I ran up to discover the Amazing people at Salt & Straw saved me a scoop of ice cream on a block of dry ice. The day moved so fast, and so much was happening, I am grateful people were thinking for me at times.
Two more surprises from my mom: one of her best friends (who I have known for as long as I can remember) sang John Legend’s "All of Me," and one of her friends, who I met for the first time at the wedding, sang a song she used to sing to me as a child called "1 Meatball." The music was my husband’s area of expertise and the mix of Ella Fitzgerald, The Ramones, and The Beatles was a blast.
Vendors
- Hair and Makeup: Coreene Collins
- Dress: Terri Spaeth-Merrick, Embellished Design
- Venue: Mt. Hood Organic Farms
- Photographers: Blaine + Bethany Photography
- Cake: His Bakery
- Ice Cream: Salt and Straw
- Catering: Ginger Power
- DJ: Josh Spacek, Vintage Vinyl Events
- Acoustic Duo for Ceremony/Cocktail Hour: Wendy Goodwin