Maria & Daniel’s snowed-in gothic burlesque wedding

With the holidays upon us, we are focusing on the snowiest and most cheerful parties of the season. Cuddle up with some cocoa and enjoy these winter-themed weddings.

The Offbeat Bride: Maria, transport operator

Her offbeat partner: Daniel, enterprise architect

Our offbeat wedding at a glance: Manchester Christmas Markets and reception at Stockport Masonic Guild Hall — December 18, 2010

What made our wedding offbeat: From the outset, our wedding was never going to be traditional as we aren’t a particularly traditional couple. We like metal music, gaming (especially Black Ops), and having an alternative lifestyle. This was reflected very much in a lot of choices for the day.

 
 
Examples of this would be:

• No dress code for guests or wedding party
• A black gothic wedding dress, a rabbit skull fascinator, Doc Marten boots, and a bouquet of silk red and black PVC roses within black feathers
• A semi 1920s ringmaster-style suit for the groom (with snake-headed cane)
• The Tim Burton-themed cake
• Daniel’s band making a tremendous racket at the reception

Our friends who perform burlesque provided their entertainment, including glass walking. We ended the night with drunken karaoke, which finished off the entertainment for better or for worse, depending on your ears. Our friend Mark made beautiful invites which parodied us as sugar skull characters.

Tell us about the ceremony: We wanted the ceremony to be personal to us and not just the standard vows that are required by law. We included Call of Duty, sharing the PS3 controller, warming the house before I come home, and feeding the groom (who can’t cook!). There was a lot of laughter.

I walked down the aisle to Machine Head and we walked back up the aisle to the Batman Returns finale.

The ceremony was broadcasted online (via ustream) from a laptop. Over 45 guests were able to watch the ceremony (and hear it!) including my mother, who was too unwell to attend in person.

Our biggest challenge: We lost two out of three bridesmaids 24 hours before the wedding due to personal issues. We asked some good friends to step in and they did an amazing job.

Our next biggest challenge was heavy snow, which kept over 60% of our guests away as they were snowed into their homes! Our wedding was besieged with several metres two days prior. We moved the reception to the smaller of two rooms on the day, and this meant the guests who could make it had a more intimate experience. The rest were able to watch via the live stream.

My funniest moment: Walking down the aisle to our song: “Imperium” by Machine Head. It started very quietly and our unprepared guests were not expecting huge, distorted guitars to kick in as the bride was halfway down the aisle.

Also, during our vows, we pulled out iPhones (mine was in my cleavage!) to read our personal vows.

My advice for Offbeat Brides: Don’t worry near the day about the little things. They are the little things and only you will actually notice them. Don’t let that cloud your mind and make you forget the reason for the day itself.

Make sure your third-party vendors have written down what their service is and what they are providing. Our limo company changed our arrangements on the day which caused major problems after the ceremony.

Whatever your budget is, add 10%!

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?

• Cake: The Icing on the Cake
• Fascinator: Amore Demori
• Dress: Gothic Wedding Dresses
• Chocolate fountain: Chocolate Fountain Manchester
• Hair and makeup: Nylaam Breen
• Bouquet: Gothic Wedding Flowers
• Photographer: Ezee Wedding Photos

Enough talk — show me the wedding inspo!