The Offbeat Bride: Mitzie, Nuclear Medicine Technologist

Her offbeat partner: Jack, Water Quality Monitor

Date and location of wedding: Historic 5th Street School in Las Vegas, NV - October 8, 2016

Our offbeat wedding at a glance:

I proposed to my boyfriend Jack in front of a Tropical Smoothie Cafe. We are both feminists and never cared much about proposals, but we cared about picking the right rings. We found Whaley Studios in San Diego, where we were able to forge the rings ourselves. I was given diamonds from my mother and Jack's 93-year-old grandma.

We had the ceremony and reception of our Ojai boho wedding at The Historic 5th Street School, the school that my husband's grandpa attended during The Great Depression.

Our main backdrop was a wooden silhouette of Red Rock created from our good friends/owners of a furniture business called Onefortythree. Our first kiss was at their wedding years ago and it only felt right that their art piece was the centerpiece.

Our friend, Eric, gave us a personalized guestbook/poster fashioned after a concert poster (we love shows!) for people to autograph. I drew the main logo for our wedding and used it in our invitations/stationery and for the giveaways, which were enamel pins! I also painted the table numbers, signs, and made a Snapchat filter.

Jack's sister sculpted the cake toppers to look like the both of us but designed based off of an anime called My Love Story. My maid of honor made a memorial for our grandmas and the boutonnieres.

Tell us about the ceremony:

I am Filipino-American and my husband comes from an Irish family. As a result, our ceremony was a mash-up of different traditions.

Our pianist friend, Michelle Lee, beautifully played throughout the ceremony. My grandmother, a strong matriarchal figure in my side of the family, was also a piano teacher. Michelle played my lola's favorites: Chopin and Traditional Filipino love songs () as the guests seated themselves.

We also are big fans of Nobuo Uematsu, so she was able to play pieces from Final Fantasy 7 and 8 as well. During the procession, she played "Myth" by Beach House. For the bridal procession, she played "On Melancholy Hill" by Gorillaz.

Our officiant was a family friend, Judge Mark Denton. We had Primary Sponsors who, in Filipino tradition, are figures who would watch over us as a married couple and guide us throughout our lives. I had nine bridesmaids, two of whom were the maids of honor. Jack had a best man, four additional groomsman, and one groomswoman. We had traditional Filipino Secondary Sponsors, who handled the cord ceremony, veil, and candle ceremony. We also had a President and VP Flower girl (titles chosen by my niece), a coin bearer, and a ring bearer.

Tell us about your reception:

Our first dance was to "Spoon" by Inside Out and had our parent dances to The Beatles' "In My Life."

The menu was customized by our caterers and served family-style. We had a dessert table and a small one-tier cake. After the dance floor was opened for a while, it finally became dark enough for my brother-in-law to display a slideshow he and my sister created for us on a projector. We ended the night with LCD Soundsystem's "All My Friends" and Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together." We had an after party at Atomic Liquor, our favorite bar in town.

What was your most important lesson learned?

I remember two distinct moments where I just stopped and took a breath in: walking down the aisle seeing everyone looking my way and seeing everyone seated at their tables. It's wonderful seeing your closest friends and family all in one room who took the time and effort to celebrate you and your partner. Take mental pictures - it's nice to look back on those for the future.

Plan ahead to make your future self COMFORTABLE. Plan to buy stockings and comfortable insoles for your shoes. Plan to carry around a handkerchief just in case you sweat a lot. Plan emergency packs like deodorant and stain removers just in case.

Vendors

Gallery

This slideshow requires JavaScript.