The Offbeat Bride: Rebekah, Hair Stylist

Her offbeat partner: Jerry, EMT

Date and location of wedding: Hickory Point Park, Tavares, FL - February 21, 2015

Our offbeat wedding at a glance:

Our wedding was a retro, rockabilly-themed wedding. Everything we did was DIY. Since our venue wasn't a real wedding venue, we had to transform this cabin from the floor up. We had a smaller budget and were able to pull everything off for under $7,000 including outfits/dress and a guest list of 130.

Tell us about the ceremony:

Our ceremony was on the back porch overlooking the lake. We had our guests standing along the rail of the wrap-around porch to witness our ceremony. My brother officiated.

Jerry and I have been together for six years before marrying and in that time we both have lost a parent. It was really special to have my brother there to say a little something about our parents and make the ceremony very personal. A local rockabilly band, Go Get Gone, played our entrance music and I walked out to my favorite tune "SleepWalk." We kept the ceremony short and sweet.

Tell us about your reception:

We had BBQ for dinner and donuts for dessert. Each seat had a glass bottle Coke with a straw and a small vintage Coke ad tied to it for a thank you.

Jerry and I were set up on a blind date when we met and our first date was to an Adam Sandler movie. So for our first dance he surprised me and picked "Grow Old With You," the song from The Wedding Singer. It's definitely a first dance that won't feel dated five years from now.

What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding? Any other advice for Offbeat Bride readers?

Our biggest challenge while wedding planning was that everyone had a different idea of what a wedding should look like. We tried to keep all of our wedding planning top secret between us and my parents. A lot of people had so many suggestions, we had to tell people "we have everything done" (even if we really didn't). It can get really confusing and make you second guess your plan.

Another thing I learned, once you have a clear idea of what kind of wedding you want, BACK AWAY FROM THE PINTEREST. I already had a clear plan but would find myself looking at other styles of weddings that weren't even close to ours. I would start to second guess and procrastinate on getting projects finished.

Your wedding can reflect who you are even if its weird or non-traditional. Remember your guest are your friends and family, they already know who you are. They are there to celebrate with you.

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