Glamorous Gothic Wedding: Lauren & Justin

Kat

The Markows

February 8, 2013

The New Jersey wedding of Lauren & Justin took place in October and had a vintage gothic theme. Red, black and white were the colours of choice and everything, although mostly handmade by the bride and her mother, had a really elegant twist. "My mother and I planned this entire wedding ourselves" wrote Lauren. "We had help here and there from my father, husband and even my mother in law. I think I should also mention I work six days a week so all planning was crammed into my only day off.. Sundays... and the little bit of time after work if I had energy!"

Snow White and the Huntsman & A Twist on Winter Weddings

Kat

Kait Winston

January 11, 2013

Winter weddings don't have to be all scatter crystals and snow sprinkled twigs. They don't have to have holly or ivy and you don't even need to wear faux fur. Honestly, there are many other options out there, you just need to dream them up! Just like wedding photographer Kait Winston did after one too many trips to the cinema. Inspired by the movie Snow White and the Huntsman, Kait decided that edgier was better and so wanted to showcase a more dramatic twist on the classic winter wedding.

Elegant Tim Burton Inspired Wedding Inspiration

Kat

The Photography Smiths

January 5, 2013

Starting with rich in shades of plum alongside black and gold, The Photography Smiths and stylist Anthomanic, created some regal wedding inspiration with an edge of Tim Burton. The dramatic and quirky set design included odd shaped vintage furniture, lace wedding dresses with dramatic mermaid silhouettes, black & white stripes, mini top hats and milk & cookies as favours.

Gothic Woodland Engagement Shoot: Adriana & Ben

Kat

December 5, 2012

I do love winter wedding inspiration, but more than that, I love winter inspiration that's a little bit more edgy. Gothic even. To me, winter is the perfect opportunity to embrace your dark side. And for their engagement shoot, Adriana & xx wanted to to just that as well. "I wanted to really go all out and embodied the darker side of us for our engagement shoot", Adriana explained. "We really weren't trying to be 'dark', we were just trying to be true to us. My fiancé is a musician and I am a event creative director, so I really wanted our passions to be apparent in this shoot. I wanted to create an enchanting feeling and our own little creative fantasy."

A Fancy Dress Halloween Wedding: Oddd & Elle

Kat

October 2, 2012

So we're in to October already so you know what that means... Halloween! And for Oddd & Elle, despite being married in August, their favourite holiday was the obvious choice of theme for their epic wedding. "Anyone who knows us knew that our wedding was going to be a little different, as we've always done things our own way", began the groom. "After a chance meeting when we were both invited last minute to a day out, we have been inseparable, We got engaged on our first Christmas day in our first home and we set our wedding date for our 9 year anniversary on Friday 17th August 2012."

A Dramatic Red & Black Nashville Wedding: Kat & Doug

Kat

September 26, 2012

Musician Kat married Doug at Mercy Lounge at The Cannery Ballroom in Nashville. Being so heavily influenced by music, the couple didn't want a traditional wedding and so picked a dramatic black & red colour scheme which worked perfectly in the industrial-looking venue. Dripping candles, dramatic candelabras, deep red roses and black table cloths all added to the slightly gothic vibe of the wedding.

A Glamorous Wedding with a Gothic Twist: Shep & Sarah

Kat

September 4, 2012

Shep & Sarah were married at Ettington Park Hotel, an elegant 4-star venue just outside Stratford Upon Avon. With its tranquil location and beautiful architecture it proved to be the perfect place for their glamorous wedding. The exterior of the hotel was actually used as the setting for the 1963 film The Haunting.

A Friday 13th Gothic Wedding: Christina & James

Kat

August 22, 2012

I love a summer wedding but as a wedding blogger who sees a lot of weddings everyday, sometimes I really yearn to see something totally unique. So when I laid eyes on Christina & James' Friday 13th & gothic themed wedding I literally squealed with delight. This is a summer wedding with one hell of a twist!

Clockwork Heart & Eyelash Dream: A Victorian Steampunk Shoot

Kat

June 26, 2012

Time travel. Steampunk. Victoriana. Turn of the century industrialism. If you love any of these things then you're going to die over this shoot, sent over from Ireland by the fabulous Chemistry Photography. "We put together this shoot with an amazing crew of 20 creatives including designer Alice Halliday (she's the glowing goddess who designed Florence Welch's infamous cape), Pearl & Godiva (styling genius and vintage hire guru), and rockstar make-up artist Kathryn O'Neill (she rocks the wedding world and all the Irish mags)", photographer Kait told me.

Gothic Butterfly Inspiration

Kat

June 8, 2012

"Bridal shoots don't have to be boring!" We've heard this all before but it's even better to see shoots illustrating that point don't you think?! "I just loved this shoot", wedding photographer Kathryn Edwards told me of her shoot with Beth. "I wanted to give it a lonely isolated and fragile feel, with a dark edge."

A Dark Circus Inspiration Shoot

Kat

May 31, 2012

How do you feel about a dark circus wedding theme? Spooky but romantic, creepy but intriguing - this shoot is sure to divide opinions which is why I love it! Coordinated by San Francisco based Asiel Design and photographed by the fabulous Caroline of Tinywater, this shoot is an epic collection of talent and engenius ideas. From the dramatic lighting t

A Dramatic Gothic Wedding: Suzy & Dimtry

Kat

May 29, 2012

Suzy & Dimtry gothic wedding was anything from traditional. They wanted their day to reflect them but also to have fun with it. Suzy told me all about it as well as sharing some of her favourite details, "We wanted our wedding to reflect who we are as people. So you can definitely say it was not very traditional. Our cake was inspired by a Charlie the Unicorn episode, and we added their own twist by having our cake bleed as we cut into it. My favorite animal of all time is the pot bellied pig, and I wanted nothing more than to have one bring out our wedding bands. Keeping as far away from tradition, we also hired a beautiful contortionist to entertain down the isle instead of a trail of bridesmaids and groomsmen."

A Mythical Gothic Anniversary Shoot: Emma & Owen

Kat

May 23, 2012

After their wedding Emma & Owen decided they wanted to do a shoot that really showed off their personalities and personal style. They hadn't had any portraits taken at their wedding eight years ago, and so they contacted photographer Jess Petrie to ask if she'd like to shoot them. Owen told us all about their relationship and why they wanted to do this shoot. "I met Emma when I was fifteen and we’ve been together ever since. It really was love at first sight – that’s probably the only way it could have worked as I was too shy to speak to her at the time! As a teenager with a paper round, I had to save up for an engagement ring; I picked a ring at a jewellers and went there every week to add to the down-payment on a tiny gold ring with two small diamonds holding a larger third in the middle. I’d literally go there some weeks with 82 pence in copper coins to add to the pot, but I paid it off eventually and took it home! We went to sixth form and then University together, Emma to study Fine Art Painting and me to study Film & Video Production. Nowadays, Emma is a successful portrait painter and I run a film production company and am about to direct my first feature film."

A Masquerade Wedding: Zoe & Chris

Kat

April 25, 2012

Many couples shy away from heavily themed weddings, but I have to say when they're done well they can be darn right incredible. Zoe & Chris' masquerade wedding is testament to that! The Australian couple met before the ceremony with their closest family to have some quiet time, as well as time for photographs, before the festivities began. "Chris collected me from the hotel and we went to meet our close family at a beautiful inner city garden to crack some champagne and make a toast to the rest of the night," Zoe explained. "This was a beautiful opportunity to spend some time with those closest to us before the party began. We got some beautiful photos in the afternoon light as well."

An Alice vs Evil Queen Bridal Fashion Shoot: Beyond Burlesque

Kat

April 9, 2012

This Alice vs evil queen shoot took place on Hampstead Heath in London. The shoot was set up to promote the new collection of wedding dresses by Beyond Burlesque. The collection has a range of both sweet white and ivory gowns as well as more dramatic dark coloured pieces, hence the Alice vs evil queen/good vs evil theme of the shoot.

A Dramatic Alpine Wedding: Brie & Leonard

Kat

April 5, 2012

With a penchant for the dramatic, is it any wonder that I went a little gaga over Brie & Leonard alpine wedding? The black wedding dress, the intimate ceremony, the epic mountain top photographs...I love it all! The bride even had a rams skull (yes really!) instead of a bouquet. "Basically our story goes like this," the bride began, "Leonard and I are not really conventional people and despite a few failed ideas to do things more traditionally we quickly discovered that your wedding is not the time to be what you are not. So we followed our hearts to our dream wedding in New Zealand. Leonard proposed to me on the top of a New Zealand mountain in the snow, which was just magical, so we decided that a snowy mountain would make the perfect place for our wedding. We had no guests so we decided to use a helicopter to travel to a completely isolated place with no road access."

A Halloween 80s Carnival Extravaganza: Tressa & John

Kat

March 7, 2012

For Tressa & John, the most important thing for their wedding was that their guests were entertained and had a great time...and their Halloween 80s carnival theme complete with an costume party dress code made sure of that! "John and I knew we didn’t want anything traditional in terms of wedding other than a declaration of love for each other," the bride told me. "We have a fantastic, eclectic, diverse group of friends who have high expectations of us when it comes to throwing a good party so we knew we couldn’t disappoint! We both spent our most formative years in the 80s and wanted to recreate the tubular vibe while also celebrating our most favorite holiday - Halloween!"

Roll Up! Roll Up! For The Alternative Wedding Circus

Kat

March 2, 2012

Mwah haaa haaa....are you ready for The Wedding Circus? A creepy fright-fest where the alternative wedding elite came together to create something truly magical? Well that's exactly what happened on a freezing February morn in a Birmingham Warehouse.

A Relaxed Wedding Under Canvas: Gwen & Ali

Kat

February 2, 2012

Without wanting to start off this blog post by sounding inappropriate...How smokin' hot does Gwen look her her Fairy Goth Mother corset and skirt combo? VERY is the answer to that. Have you seen her teeny tiny little waist!? Anyway, enough perving...let's get along with the formalities shall we? Gwen & Ali wanted a unique and personal wedding, and to achieve this they chose to hire tents from Beautiful World Tents which they erected on the grounds of Knepp Castle in West Grinstead. "After looking online at lots of venues and land hire this place looked perfect," Gwen told me. "This was actually the only venue we went to see and the decision was made! Woodland, a lake, less than an hour from Brighton where we live, full kitchen facilities and more importantly stunning! The other added benefit was free roaming animal, pigs, deer and much more besides. It was incredibly beautiful and also very reasonable on costs. We found the location through the tent company and added bonus this being their headquarters which meant no delivery costs to get the tents to the venue. On the land we had 2 giant hat tents joined together facing down to the lake. You hire the land and facilities for the whole weekend, really handy for set-up and take down."

A Neo-Victorian, Steampunk Wedding: Jasmine & George

Kat

January 24, 2012

"We are both crafty, artistic and creative," the pink haired bride told me. "We wanted a mix of romantic gothic, neo-Victorian, vintage and steampunk for our wedding. We really wanted to make it our own and original with still trying to keep a little tradition for our families. We decided we just wanted hints of each. That's why we decided to DIY as much as we could." After an 11 year relationship, Jasmine & George were married in The Greenhouse at The Foundry, NY by groom's cousin, John Russo. "We got our wedding rings from Gemvara," Jasmine continued. "My ring has black and white diamonds and his had black diamonds added to it. The inscription says 'True Love Waits' after a Radiohead song because we waited 11 years before we got married."