Shanah & Jerry’s Gothabilly Wedding!

You may remember when we featured Kerosene Deluxe's amazing gothabilly hair a few months back — now here's the full story!

The offbeat bride: Shanah (aka Miss Kerosene Deluxe), Plus-sized pin up model/Makeup artist/Part-time beauty shop manager

Her offbeat partner: Jerry, Chef

Location & date of wedding: The Courthouse/Beni Hana restaurant and Thomson House, Montreal, Quebec – August 9th, 2008

What made our wedding offbeat: Jerry and I are an offbeat couple, so it was no surprise to those who know us that our wedding would be an “unusual affair.” We just took everything we love and mixed it all together.

Pretty much every part of the wedding was a DIY affair. I made my own bouquet, the centerpiece (silk red roses, black feathers and bones, the wedding favors, Jerry's and the bridesmaids' boutonnières/corsages and most of the decorations). All the decisions about the wedding were made as a couple. A few days before the wedding we baked all 200-something tombstone-shaped cookies together and hand painted each guests name on it with food coloring as wedding favors.

Our wedding colors and dress code was black and red, which was encouraged but not enforced on our guests. We love how individual our friends are and would never ‘tell them what to wear'. I wore a black lace “Vampira” style dress and dyed my hair a bright red with black streaks for the wedding.

I did my makeup myself and my retro updo was done by myself (the front) and my friend Maely (the back), and finished off with a black birdcage veil (which I got for 15 bucks.. I love Ebay!) and black roses. Jerry wore a bright red retro ‘zoot' style suit with a black shirt with skull buttons. The finishing touch was the black rose and bone boutonnière I made for him.

Our ceremony was at the Courthouse in the old port (no church as we are not religious). It was short and sweet and lasted about 15 minutes and was shared with close friends only. I walked into the room with my granny and dad (who both flew over from Amsterdam for the wedding) to “Would You Lay With Me” by Johnny Cash.

We didn't write any vows because we tell each other how much we love and appreciate each other on a daily base. Titanium rings were exchanged, papers were signed and that was it! The ceremony ended with some pictures, including the infamous ‘flipping of the finger' picture of my granny and myself (which got a big applause from the wedding party and officiant guy).

Our biggest challenge: Well I am from Amsterdam, Holland and moved to Montreal to be with Jerry (who is Canadian), so being able to be ‘together' and making it work was a challenge to start with. But we did it and I'm currently applying to become a Canadian resident. (Wish me luck!)

That aside, our biggest challenge wedding-wise was definitely money and trying to keep things within budget. We paid for everything ourselves and our budget was not very big due to my immigration expenses, so we cut back on a few things and focused on the things that were the most important to us, being married and sharing the day with people we love.

We also saved money by DIY-ing pretty much everything apart from the cake and our attire, having the party at Jerry's work, having a cash bar, having guests pay for their own meals at the restaurant, asking a photographer friend to capture the day, not having a band/dj, having a courthouse ceremony and doing my own makeup and hair (the hair with help from a friend).

The total cost of our wedding came to less then $1500 everything included.

I don't come from a very big family, pretty much just my Dad and Granny, who are pretty offbeat themselves and super open-minded, so there was no family/wedding drama at all.

My favorite moment: Being declared ‘husband and wife' was an amazing feeling and the fact that my Dad and Granny flew over from Amsterdam to share the day with us meant a lot to us both. My dad and I were never really close growing up and I was raised by my granny. In the week they were here I feel like I really got to know my dad a lot better which feels like the best gift of all. This was the first time Jerry met them and it was magical to see how well they got along and loved each other..

My offbeat advice: Don't treat your wedding like a competition, focus on the things that mean the most to you and your husband/wife to be, not what others are doing. Follow your instinct and heart and don't give in to things just because you are ‘supposed to' do/have this and that…

Don't treat your wedding like a competition, focus on the things that mean the most to you and your husband/wife to be, not what others are doing.

Don't feel pressured to lose a lot of weight and go on wacky diets just because you are made to feel ‘fat' by silly bridal stores and their way-too-small gowns. I'm pretty sure your partner thinks you are stunning the way you are, after all he/she is marrying you, no?

About the Author: Offbeat Weditors

@offbeatbride @offbeatwed

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