The Offbeat Bride: Erin, Speech Therapist

Her offbeat partner: Samantha, US Army and volunteer Firefighter

Date and location of wedding: Windsor, Ontario, Canada and Whispering Lakes Resort in our hometown of Tipton, Michigan - August 9, 2014

Our offbeat wedding at a glance: We chose to have a DIY wedding. It wasn't necessarily any less expensive, but we could create our own vision. Samantha is a rustic, woodsy, outdoorsy kind of girl and I love anything that sparkles. You're not going to find a traditional wedding that will fit us both. One of our favorite parts was the way our bridal party looked. We wanted the girls to choose their own dress that represented my sparkle side and made them feel beautiful at the same time. They all ended up choosing an amazing dress and accessories and it all fit together so beautifully. For the bridesmen, we wanted them to be relaxed and comfortable. Samantha took over menswear and complimented the women perfectly with their more rustic approach. My dress was a collaboration between myself and the designer, Meghann Zeko, to create a classic lace dress and Sammy chose a feminine, yet simplistic strapless dress by Vera Wang. Even our dog, Olly, walked down the aisle in an adorable burlap and pearl dress.

In our ceremony, everything from the trellis to the hand-cut logs and custom benches were designed by us and our families. Our reception was no different and included an outdoor dance floor and light canopy made by Samantha's parents, bonfire, lawn games, popcorn bar, s'mores bar, and the most amazing cupcake stand made by my aunt and uncle, all in Samantha's woodsy lake setting in her hometown in Michigan. My mom even made custom bags for each cabin filled with maps, information, and products that are made in Michigan.

We were also lucky enough to have Samantha's very talented cousin and his girlfriend perform for us. Both of our parents were celebrating wedding anniversaries so we were able to incorporate an anniversary dance and cake for them as well.

We were so lucky to have all of our friends and family help us decorate, set up, and bring their own creativity and personal twist to our day. We were also so very fortunate to find the best photographer and videographer out there who took time to get to know us and our story to give an accurate representation of us as a couple. Our photographer even used a Jeep in our first look because that was a constant love of ours during our six-year relationship!

Tell us about the ceremony:
Our ceremony was held in an amphitheater in the woods of Michigan. We chose to include two sets of vows, traditional and personal. We wrote very personal promises to each other that we shared in front of our family and friends and then also recited the tradition "'til death do up part" vows. Between our two weddings, we said three different sets of vows so we are set for life!

We also chose to tie a knot to physically represent our union. We found a great reading online about the "true lover's knot" that will not come untied and will only tighten under pressure.

It was also important to me to have a section where he reminded us to really live in the moment and remember how happy we are. As a type A personality who is constantly worrying or thinking about something else, it was a moment I truly cherished:

Before I pronounce you married, I have just one more thing I want you to do. Your wedding day is one that seems to fly. It is a day filled with emotion, friends, rings, and dances. Many people remember how fleeting their own wedding day was so I want you to take a few seconds to look into each other's eyes. Think about the happiness that you're feeling in this place and in this moment. Really let that feeling register in your heart and your mind. Now, I want you to think about your life together in 20 years, Where are you? What are you doing? We all know that your visions of the future are not identical, but always complimentary.

Our biggest challenge:
We had two major challenges. One being how far we lived from home/wedding location and two being the issue of the legality of same-sex marriage. We're both from Michigan but have been living in Texas for the last four years. Currently neither of those states have legalized same-sex marriage so we had to find another place to seal the deal. We eventually decided to marry in Canada which is where Erin's family lives. It ended up being one of our favorite parts of getting married because we were able to have two completely different weddings.

Our first legal wedding was the day before in the courthouse where Samantha was able to wear her US Army dress uniform and I was able to wear the vintage dress of my dreams. This wedding included 20-30 of our closest friends and family. This gave us enough time to come home and prepare for wedding number two the next day where we were both able to wear dresses in a romantic wooded ceremony with 250 other guests from all over the US and Canada.

The challenge of planning a wedding from 1,500 miles away proved to be a little more difficult. We relied heavily on our bridal party to help with measurements and pictures. We collected lots of wedding decor here and spent every Sunday doing DIY activities and asked each bridesmaid and mom to help with some projects as well. Since Samantha is in the Army, she had friends all over the map and we had our own friend base in Texas as well. We were able to find the perfect resort with 12 cabins in the woods to accommodate all of our out-of-town guests. In the end, with the generous help of our families and friends who came in early, we made it happen.

My favorite moment:
One of the most meaningful parts to us was being walked down the aisle by our dads and looking out to see all the love and support from our moms, grandparents, siblings, and all of our other family members. It was almost everyone's first same-sex wedding and we were so thankful for all the support we received on our wedding day.

Erin: A specific meaningful moment for me was walking down the aisle in the dress my Maid of Honor created for me. I felt so honored to wear this beautiful lace dress that she spent countless hours making. My bouquet was also very special to me. It was created out of the letters that Samantha wrote me while she was in basic training.

In the physical gifts that we got for each other, We were surprised to see how much we were on the same page! Samantha got me a gold necklace with the date in roman numerals on the front and "always you" on the back, and I got Samantha a gold roman numeral watch with "it was always you" and the date on the back. Just one last warm fuzzy feeling before we tied the knot.

Samantha: A truly wonderful moment about this entire day was when I was accompanied by my mother and father and received Erin's wedding gift to me. The photographer brought a CD player over to where I was sitting and began playing a song that Erin had personally recorded for me. She also sang a version of this song when she proposed to me 10 months earlier but she changed the lyrics to fit our wedding day. It was so beautiful and brought tears of joy to the entire room.

My funniest moment:
Our ceremony was the most beautiful mess. We walked down the aisle to a string duo and it all seemed to good to be true. It was. Between Sammy almost knocking over part of our DIY trellis, and the rings getting stuck in my Maid of Honor's bouquet, we were off to a rough start. It didn't matter to us really because we were just so happy to be there. When we finally got to the vows, our officiant asked Samantha to repeat after him. That's when I really got anxious so I started to say her vows for her. I'm such a nervous laugher, so we all could not stop laughing, our officiant included! He said that it was a first for him. We were finally able to get through the rest of the ceremony problem free.

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Enough talk - show me the wedding porn!