Today’s Blogger {Unveiled} is none other than Ariel of Offbeat Bride - per your request, Ariel is here to tell you all about her blog, how she got started, and give us a bit more insight in to the awesome lady behind the amazing blog. Thanks for joining us today, Ariel!

Blogger {Unveiled}:

How did you get started in the wedding world?
After my wedding in 2004, I wrote a book sharing both my experience as a nontraditional bride as well as the wedding planning experiences of 50 or so other nontraditional couples. Offbeat Bride: Creative Alternatives for Independent Brides first published in January of 2007, and I initially launched offbeatbride.com as a way to promote the book. Based on the surprising and almost immediate popularity of the website and the dismal turn-out at my booktour events, it quickly became clear to me that no one cared about my stupid book — but people loved the website.

In the almost-five years since, the site has just continued to grow… spurring a network of related sites (Offbeat Home and Offbeat Mama, collectively known as the Offbeat Empire), and employing a staff of a half dozen editors and developers. A second edition of my book was released last year, but at this point my focus is pretty much exclusively on web publishing. Yay for the internets!

What is your makeup staple?
Blush. Living in Seattle, pasty skin is a way of life, and without a little blush, I can look a bit corpse-like.

What’s one thing that others don’t know about you?
In addition to working on the Offbeat Empire, I also produce a bimonthly comedy reading series called the Salon of Shame. It’s all about people standing up and reading their most embarrassing, terribly angsty teenage writing. Some friends and I have been doing the show since 2005, and it’s got quite a cult following.

What’s one piece of advice you would give to others trying to get started with their own business?
Have a genuine passion for your work. I’ve been a web nerd since my first online date in 1992, and dorking out on analytics and web stats and content management systems and plugins and PHP hacks is honestly, genuinely my idea of a good time. Yes, the Offbeat Empire is very much a business — but web publishing is also just my favorite thing to do. I feel like people have a genuine love for their work radiate that enjoyment to their potential clients. It’s contagious!

What is your favorite part about weddings?
Seeing the ways that couples reflect their interests and cultures in their celebrations. I’ve long said that I don’t reeeeally care about weddings — what I really care about are the weird wonderful people who get married. I love subcultures, and publishing a website about nontraditional weddings is a great way to be constantly learning about new pockets of culture through the people we feature on the site. Anarchists, belly dancers, computer nerds, derby girls, DnD geeks, feminists, Pagans, pin-up girls, urban homesteaders, vegans — I love them all!

What is your hobby outside of blogging {is there life outside blogging} :)?
Although my raving days are long over, I’m still a huge fan of dance and make it a priority to get to a dance class every week, and get out to shake my aging ass dancing at a club every couple months. My husband and son and I also do a lot of camping during the fleeting Pacific Northwest summers.

Happy Friday everyone!
~jacin