I asked Ariel Meadow Stallings of Offbeat Bride to be one of our first vendor profiles. Offbeat Bride has long been a source of online wedding and union insight for both opposite- and same-sex couples, and we wanted to dig deeper into what’s behind this indispensable resource!
What’s the main goal of Offbeat Bride?
Most of my content aims to be easy to digest and empowering. I feature a lot of photos of offbeat weddings running the gamut from hip but won’t scare grandma all the way to Star Wars theme weddings. I profile at least three offbeat weddings every week, and provide a potpourri of advice, opinion, interviews, features, and perspectives written for people planning offbeat weddings. I’m not especially focused on vendors, and you won’t see many high budget weddings on the site. I strive for diversity and (as the product of two gay families) love featuring offbeat lesbian weddings. The blog is mostly focused on North American weddings (the vast majority of my readers are from the US), although I’ve also featured weddings from Europe, Africa, and Australia/New Zealand.
What do you love about what you do?
I love learning about subcultures. Psychobilly? Goth Country? Falconry at weddings? I’m obsessed with the cultures and lifestyles of people just outside the mainstream, and Offbeat Bride has been a wonderful way of doing that.
What do you wear when you’re doing what you do?
Usually lululemon yoga pants and a hooded sweatshirt. High glamour!
You’ve inspired so many brides and grooms with the content of both the book and the website. Anything new in the Offbeat Bride world that we’ll benefit from?
I’m super excited about my Nearlyweds partnership: http://offbeatbride.nearlyweds.com. The wedsite templates are exclusive Offbeat Bride designs, recognizing that not everyone wants froofy ribbons and roses. We also make of avoiding forcing couples into traditional wedding titles and gender roles — there are no checkboxes for who’s “Bride” and “Groom” — rather, each half of a couple creates their own title, whether it’s Supreme Being of Chickness or Our Lady Of The Red Dress.
What’s one assumption you’ve had about gay weddings that’s changed based on the weddings you’ve read/written about or attended?
The biggest thing for me has been understanding that in some cases, gay couples opt toward more traditional weddings, as a way of seeking validity for an event that their family member may not see as “real.” I think that for many straight offbeat brides, being non-traditional is a cultural luxury … a luxury that many gay couples may not feel they have. This was a big “aha” moment for me.
RAVE TIME
“My partner Georgia and I are far from traditional – we’re gay, which is probably the biggest (and most exciting) challenge in planning a wedding (yes, a real wedding – thank you Canada!!!)… Your book (so far!) and blog have been so inspirational in feeling secure about our choices, and your advice applies to everything” – Floyd
“Thanks for the site — it really helps me keep perspective sometimes and be true to who we are and what we want.” – Les
“Between the nagging questions from family…”why not a church?” “why two years?” “what do you mean you’re not wearing white?!?” to everyone and their mother (literally) giving me unwanted advice. We still don’t have any details about our nuptials but I finally feel like I wont have a meltdown while we plan the wedding we want.” - Beth (& Ace)