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The Offbeat Bride: Victoria
Her offbeat partner: Giampaul
Date and location of wedding: Hoosier Grove, Streamwood, IL — November 27, 2015
Our offbeat wedding at a glance:
We had a dark fantasy/goth wedding with black and blue as the theme colors. The bridesmaids wore purple and black. I made my appearance during an epic song by Dargaard. We had a short ceremony where we exchanged our vows then we held our reception. Our guests were asked to wear goth, steampunk, Victorian, or fantasy-inspired outfits and everyone put a lot of thought and effort in their outfit.
Tell us about the ceremony:
Metal music was played throughout the wedding. We made a playlist featuring our favorite songs by bands such as Insomnium, Draconian, Saturnus, Katatonia, Omnium Gatherum, and many others.
After the cocktail hour, our bridesmaids and groomsmen held their speeches, shared memories of us, and read poems. These included “She Walks in Beauty” by Lord Byron and “The MoonPath” by Archibald Lampman.
Tell us about your reception:
A brief description of the decor: we had black linens, royal blue sashes on chairs, black roses for the centerpieces, and a small silver Victorian frame at each table with the table number. We had a small candelabra at the head table. I made decorated glasses for each guest with black rose petals and glitter and they were a part of the wedding favors, along with a small box with Victorian prints containing dark chocolate truffles. The whole room was lit up by blue Christmas lights.
We had a black wedding cake with a dragon and a faery topper. The song “Black Dragon” by Dissection was played when we cut the cake.
What was your most important lesson learned?
We wanted a wedding unlike any that we've ever been to and a wedding that represents 100% our values, interests, and preferences. We worked hard for a few months organizing, planning, and crafting everything ourselves and everything turned out even better than we expected. My advice to all future couples would be to do everything possible to make your wedding the wedding of your dreams and to not be afraid of being “weird” or “unusual” or “nontraditional.” It's your wedding and you should make it represent who you are.
Vendors
- Venue: Hoosier Grove
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Beautiful. Love the Black/Blue colours, the outfits and the cake. Nice Dragon topper!
Thank you!
Super duper cute!!
Congrats!!
Cutest cake topper EVER!
Thank you! We both thought it was perfect for us!
Love it! I’ve been looking for a dress a lot like yours. Where did you get it/order it from?
Thank you! The outfit is actually a skirt and a corset. I got the skirt custom made by an etsy seller and I bought the corset online!
https://www.etsy.com/listing/20874532/all-black-cyber-gothic-formal-wedding?ref=shop_home_active_15
Beautiful wedding! The colours are perfect and the details are really lovely. But of course, it is the music that is the most awesome. It makes me happy to see metal at weddings! 🙂
Thank you!
@ Ginger- I’m not the poster, but I’m getting a similar dress made. It looks like the corset and skirt are separate pieces, and the skirt looks relatively simple- many colored tulle layers. I personally am splurging on a custom-made corset, but there are many good places to buy a corset on its own or to your measurements for less than custom costs. So my advice would be to find your corset first, then make or buy the skirt separate to wear under it. There’s also Starkers corsetry which does corset-dresses linked from OBB.
Excellent suggestions – thank you 🙂