Planning our Playa (Re)Wedding

Countdown to Burning Man: 23 days

If you're familiar with my and Mike's story, then you know Burning Man holds a special place in our hearts. Because we're returning this year and bringing our kids with us, and because this year we will celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary, we've decided to renew our marriage vows on the Playa.

At this point in my married journey, I am of the belief that all couples should renew their vows every couple of years. And by "renew" I mean "re-write according to the current situation." I can't remember what vows we said when we married originally, but our life is different now. It's five years and two kids later different. Enough said. For our (re)commitment ceremony, we're going to write our own vows (another item on the his-n-her to do lists), and I can't speak for Mike, but mine are going to be very specific. I want to honor the man I am married to as well as our union and the children we've brought into this world together.

I also want to wear a funky wedding dress.

My quest to find a used wedding dress was brought to a screeching halt when I realized the cost would still be in the hundreds of dollars. And I love the ebay ads that advise the dress was "only worn for a couple of hours." Ha! At that point I took to perusing the Internet for inspiration. I checked out Offbeat Bride and searched on Flickr for wedding burning man tags.

After digging through my existing Burning Man costume box and buying a few extras online, I think I've come up with my outfit. I don't want to give it away but I will say that it involves fur, a halter top, a tiara, and a veil. A veil! I didn't have a veil the first time around and I was very excited to learn about tiers (I decided on one) and length and all of that fun stuff. Woo hoo, I'm a bride! I put together outfits for Mike and the kids, too.

The rest of the wedding planning is easy since we already are married and don't need to mess around with paperwork. If you're thinking about getting married on the Playa for reals, the Burning Man website has everything you need to know about getting married at Burning Man. We're hoping our friend Holly, who officiated at our first wedding, is going to Burning Man this year and will be able to officiate again. If not, I'll ask on our KidsVille email list for help.

I'm so excited! And for your viewing pleasure, I found this great video on YouTube of a bride dancing at last year's Burning Man:



Hey, that just might be me this year! Except I think she's on stilts and I won't be. Heh.