Alanah and Joey’s June wedding (on the groom’s birthday!) had a whopping nine themes in total – Toy Story, WWE, Nightmare Before Christmas, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Marvel, DC and Ghostbusters! A mashup of all the things they loved, it created an eclectic, geeky gothic themed day where the bride wore black and the groom wore white – and it suited them down to a tee!
With a budget of £15,000 the couple undertook vast amounts of DIY to achieve all the little details they wanted. They made the comic book flowers, buttonholes and hair accessories, and superhero lapel pins and gift bags including personalised items such as glasses and hangers for everyone in the wedding party.
Joey’s mum made superhero lego figures for favours and painstakingly wrapped Cadbury Heroes in comic book paper to go on each place setting, too. Alanah’s mum brought loads of themed ribbons which we wrapped around each chair, there was a Vinyl record as part of the table decoration complete with personalised stickers.
Prior to the wedding, Alanah and Joey made each other’s wedding rings in a workshop at Manchester School of Jewellery. “it was a lovely thing to do together before the wedding and makes our rings extra special as we know they were made with love, said Alanah. They even engraved them with their favourite line from Toy Story, ‘To infinity and beyond’.
They continued on the personalised theme with both having bespoke outfits made for them – Alanah’s black wedding dress from The Bee’s Knees Boutique was paired with Toy Story shoes by Irregular Choice. Joey’s suit was bespoke from Scarlet Tayla, paired with Paul Stanley Pumas, with both having matching hand-painted leather jackets by Bespoke Chick.
They arrived to their venue in style in a replica Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters. Both are big fans of rock music, so they made sure to include their favourites wherever possible. Alanah walked down the aisle to Forever by Kiss, they signed the register to Nothing Else Matters by Metallica and exited to I Believe In a Thing Called Love by The Darkness. Their reception was kicked off by a local indie duo, which Alanah and Joey both joined on stage to sing with, and continued well into the night with a homemade playlist of all their favourite rock classics – no cheesy wedding music over here!
Alanah and Joey’s favourite thing about planning their wedding was seeing all their ideas come together and having the freedom to make sure everything was customised to their taste’s perfectly. “I wish I’d known beforehand quite how many little details were involved,” concluded Alanah. “At one point in the planning we were both saying how we wished we done it quickly and cheaply in a register office and now we’ve done it, we would never change it – everything was perfect! The stress was worth it in the end so don’t compromise – go with your heart and have the day that you want!”
