Emily Ransom loves offbeatbride.com

By Venus Zine Staff
Published: March 10th, 2009 | 12:00am

My life as a single woman will be over this summer, and as I prepare to walk down the proverbial aisle I am faced with the task of trying to avoid sickeningly saccharin rituals by which so many brides abide.

Fortunately for chicks like me, there is offbeatbride.com, a forum for tattooed, dreadlocked and altogether artsy dames who choose to make their weddings a reflection of their unique personalities.

Derived from her book Offbeat Bride: Taffeta-Free Alternatives for Independent Brides, Seattle-based author Ariel Meadow Stallings set up the website/blog as an "ongoing celebration of couples who dare to walk off the beaten aisle."

Aside from advice forums and down-to-earth vendors, offbeatbride.com has a juicy section called "wedding porn" where readers post pictures and share stories of their nutty nuptials. Even if you aren't planning a wedding, it is a highly entertaining arena for alternative lifestyles and free-spirited self-expression. My personal favorite: the Hello-Kitty wedding at Puroland in Tokyo. Talk about love and devotion.

Emily Ransom is a Venus Zine contributing writer.