Offbeat Jewish Wedding at Calamigos Ranch in Malibu, Ca | Jennifer Lourie

This amazing wedding was featured on Offbeat Bride! There is nothing more special than some light up shoes and a sparkly dress!

Adina and Sean had an incredibly mismatched offbeat wedding at The Pavilion at North Point at Calamigos Ranch in Malibu, Ca. Based around their mutual love of music, and being the center of attention, they combined all of their favorite things and their experience with other weddings to create a wedding day that they would actually want to attend. Paired with the whimsical but yet elegant backdrop of Southern California’s picturesque Calamigos Ranch, complete with a working ferris wheel, this was truly a night to remember.

Adina knew that she “wanted a dress that she could potentially wear again, and didn’t care if it was white. I wanted to look less like a virginal queen and more like a rockstar.” Which pretty much set the tone for the incredible rest of the day. Which started off with a first look involving their important family members combo-ed with the signing of their hand-made Ketubah. This carried us into their ceremony, which they knew needed to be filled with music, and elements them represent their relationship.

Adina is Jewish and Sean is Unitarian, so for the ceremony, we mixed and matched some wedding elements of each tradition, plus added some readings from other religions that we liked. It was important to us that we recite our own vows, get blessed by our friends and family, and that everyone could understand what was going on. The wedding program explained what we were doing and why-- a lot of time and energy went into writing it. The ceremony was really special because we wrote it just for us.. We met in choir, so having our musical friends and family sing for/with us was a given. Our guests sang the wedding party down the aisle, with choir members providing harmony.

After attending countless weddings where favors and flowers were thrown in the trash, “It was also really important that we did not produce a lot of trash or have left over junk from the decor. Adina is obsessed with succulents, so we used those for seat assignments and centerpieces, which guests could take home at the end of the night. Our local friends were more than happy to adopt any remaining plants. The centerpieces and name tags were all DIY. They took hours to assemble and numerous shopping trips to Michael's, IKEA, H&M, Home Goods, etc, but they were really fun to make.”

The wedding reception is always one of my favorite parts of the wedding day, but it really gets to be extra special when the Groom rolls in to the room to Jock Jams, adorned in light up accessories. “We wanted to look like we were having a good time, too, and that is where the light up shoes and tie and sequins came in. Who doesn’t like light up things?”

When all was said and done, Adina and Sean represent everything I try and encourage my couples to embrace for their wedding day. They created an event that represented everything they loved, and also didn’t do a damn thing that they didn’t! From nixing the garter and bouquet toss, adhering to their own personal style decisions, and even deciding to get 7 cakes instead of just 1, because they didn’t want to have to choose a flavor.

Don't feel pressured to do any parts of the wedding just because other people do them. You don't need fancy centerpieces or bridesmaids or a bouquet toss to have a great time.