Gothic Wedding Inspiration - 8 Compelling Variations for your Big Day!
Sally Masson Photography
So you want to plan an alternative wedding and have a penchant for the dark side. While this immediately suggests a gothic wedding theme, you would prefer to avoid any cliched stereotypes, which might result in an expensive costume party.
So how do you add subtle style nuances for maximum dark sophistication? Which subcategories reside under the umbrella term “gothic”? I’m here to give you some pointers and convince you that you deserve a broad spectrum of options.
After-all, we see many variations of the traditional wedding; Boho/festival/religious/ bohemian/vintage/beach, which all essentially follow the same wedding formula. But what choices are available for a gothic wedding?
Aren't all Gothic Weddings the Same?
Although goths share a common love of wearing black, they are by no means all the same. They are fiercely keen on expressing their unique points of view through their own individual style. A Google search will show a plethora of subgroups that will each have a different aesthetic.
So when someone says they want a gothic-styled wedding, I would respond…but what kind of gothic? Each gothic couple is unique and would surely appreciate some exciting options for their wedding day!
After-all, we see many style choices for traditional weddings; Boho/festival/religious/ bohemian/vintage/beach, which all essentially follow the same traditional white-wedding formula. But what variations are there on the gothic wedding theme?
Here, I’ve rounded up a few compelling ideas, for your inspiration:
Gothic Wedding - Modern Vampire Chic
Go subtle but strong with this – piercing, rather than sledgehammer. I visualise a very edgy, short, modern wedding dress, with a bouquet of unruly dark red blooms. The styling resides in the details and a dramatic colour scheme. For example in the blood-red ink on the hand calligraphed stationery.
Opt for a sultry eye and lip make-up and a loose, unstructured statement hair style. Sharp modern suit for the groom, with dark coloured open-neck shirt and no tie. This would work perfectly for elopements and industrial styled venues.
Photo by Alexandre Boucey
Opulent Gothic Aristocracy
This is currently my favourite one, which I showcased in my “Dark Wedding Inspiration” Styled shoot. Straying from pure black, I poured the gothic drama into regal jewel tones. Furthermore, the lustre of the silks and the gleaming metals in the arrangement sharply contrasted the rough woodland setting.
All of this conjured up the narrative of exiled gothic aristocrats uniting in the Blair Witch woods. You can make up your own story, which your guests will absolutely love and you will never forget.
Contact me to create this look for your alternative gothic wedding!
Celestial-Gothic Wedding
This is popular right now amongst alternative couples and I love that the wedding industry is ready for it! I see many celestially-embellished bridal fabrics, that are patiently waiting to be witch-crafted into wedding gowns of epic significance.
This needn’t be a sombre look, instead it could celebrate the constellations. I’m thinking more of an ethereal Lord of the Rings-elven vibe, rather than the occult.
Photos by Pilkington Photography
Victorian Gothic Wedding
This movement expressed itself via the arts and danced with themes such as the supernatural, death and violence, in direct opposition of the repressive straight-laced mainstream of Victorian Britain.
Bridal looks can start with the corseted ballgown silhouette that typified the era in fashion, or delve deliciously into Steampunk, with it’s eerie fascination with early science fiction.
Image by Tim Hill
Cinema-inspired Gothic wedding
Director Tim Burton provides a coffin-load of quirky wedding inspiration with films like Edward Scissorhands and Nightmare before Christmas, while Coppola’s Dracula spawns an entire look, which is wholly centred on the theme of love. The ambience created in these films can be captured in your venue styling details and in your wedding photos – just let your photographer know well in advance! Your wedding planner will certainly know how to pull this off with class.
Dark, but not quite Gothic Wedding?
Other considerations for your dark wedding styling could be:
A Viking theme wedding would suit an outdoor, barn or ruin setting. Style it with rough, woody and shaggy textures and hay bales, decorated with loose, unruly wild flower arrangements. Safety-assured flame torches would light the way to a copious hog roast feast. I would style the bride with a wild floral crown and an unstructured, flowing wedding dress in earthy tones, with a statement hip belt. I like the idea of a ritualistic-warrior feel to the eye make-up to complete this look.
Game of Thrones style wedding – This mingles the sombre medieval style with royalty. A high ceilinged barn like….. would suit this very well. Lush, boldly coloured brocade waistcoats for the groom and groomsmen and how about a jewelled celtic-style crown for the bride?
Hallowe’en themed wedding– Unless you’re going for humour or zany quirkiness, I would avoid any obvious Hallowe’en motifs such as Jack o Lanterns and an over abundance of a Black and orange colour scheme! Halloween can absolutely be luxe if you use orange sparingly, amongst clashing tones of burgundy and red. My Hallowe’en bride Christina did just this and ramped up the sophistication even more by choosing a midnight blue silk taffeta ballgown style wedding dress, overlaid with fine black tulle.
Sally Masson Photography
Essentially, it’s about adopting the dominant subtleties of each theme, rather than a literal translation. You want to create a vibrant and unique look, without it ressembling a fancy-dress party!
The Star of the Gothic Wedding
Arguably, the wedding dress will be the main focus of the day, drawing all eyes to the high-priestess within.
It sets the tone, brings the drama and lives on in the photos forever. Everything else is chosen to compliment and reflect the dress.
If you need any help with putting together your sophisticated gothic bridal look, get in touch. I’ll create for you something… extraordinary.
Sally Masson Photography
Christina and Martin’s Wedding
Photographer:
www.sallymassonphotography.com
Venue: South Farm
Florals: Maples Flowers
White Rose: Alexandre Boucey
Victorian Gothic: Tim Hill
Dark Wedding Inspirational Shoot
Photographer: Pilkington Photography
Gothic couture wedding dress: Caroline Versallion
Florals: Bits and Buds
Accessories: The Lucky Sixpence
Styling and Prop hire: Acorn & Oak and Be My Guest
Stationery: The Copper Ink Pot
Hair: Big Energy Hair
Make-Up – Kiran Rival
Gothic Wedding Inspiration -8 Compelling Variations for your Big Day!
Sally Masson Photography
So you want to plan an alternative wedding and have a penchant for the dark side. While this immediately suggests a gothic wedding theme, you would prefer to avoid any cliched stereotypes, which might result in an expensive costume party.
So how do you add subtle style nuances for maximum dark sophistication? Which subcategories reside under the umbrella term “gothic”? I’m here to give you some pointers and convince you that you deserve a broad spectrum of options.
After-all, we see many variations of the traditional wedding; Boho/festival/religious/ bohemian/vintage/beach, which all essentially follow the same wedding formula. But what choices are available for a gothic wedding?
Aren't all Gothic Weddings the Same?
Although goths share a common love of wearing black, they are by no means all the same. They are fiercely keen on expressing their unique points of view through their own individual style. A Google search will show a plethora of subgroups that will each have a different aesthetic.
So when someone says they want a gothic-styled wedding, I would respond…but what kind of gothic? Each gothic couple is unique and would surely appreciate some exciting options for their wedding day!
After-all, we see many style choices for traditional weddings; Boho/festival/religious/ bohemian/vintage/beach, which all essentially follow the same traditional white-wedding formula. But what variations are there on the gothic wedding theme?
Here, I’ve rounded up a few compelling ideas, for your inspiration:
Gothic Wedding - Modern Vampire Chic
Go subtle but strong with this – piercing, rather than sledgehammer. I visualise a very edgy, short, modern wedding dress, with a bouquet of unruly dark red blooms. The styling resides in the details and a dramatic colour scheme. For example in the blood-red ink on the hand calligraphed stationery.
Opt for a sultry eye and lip make-up and a loose, unstructured statement hair style. Sharp modern suit for the groom, with dark coloured open-neck shirt and no tie. This would work perfectly for elopements and industrial styled venues.
Photo by Alexandre Boucey
Opulent Gothic Aristocracy
This is currently my favourite one, which I showcased in my “Dark Wedding Inspiration” Styled shoot. Straying from pure black, I poured the gothic drama into regal jewel tones. Furthermore, the lustre of the silks and the gleaming metals in the arrangement sharply contrasted the rough woodland setting.
All of this conjured up the narrative of exiled gothic aristocrats uniting in the Blair Witch woods. You can make up your own story, which your guests will absolutely love and you will never forget.
Contact me to create this look for your alternative gothic wedding!
Celestial-Gothic Wedding
This is popular right now amongst alternative couples and I love that the wedding industry is ready for it! I see many celestially-embellished bridal fabrics, that are patiently waiting to be witch-crafted into wedding gowns of epic significance.
This needn’t be a sombre look, instead it could celebrate the constellations. I’m thinking more of an ethereal Lord of the Rings-elven vibe, rather than the occult.
Photos by Pilkington Photography
Victorian Gothic Wedding
This movement expressed itself via the arts and danced with themes such as the supernatural, death and violence, in direct opposition of the repressive straight-laced mainstream of Victorian Britain.
Bridal looks can start with the corseted ballgown silhouette that typified the era in fashion, or delve deliciously into Steampunk, with it’s eerie fascination with early science fiction.
Image by Tim Hill
Cinema-inspired Gothic wedding
Director Tim Burton provides a coffin-load of quirky wedding inspiration with films like Edward Scissorhands and Nightmare before Christmas, while Coppola’s Dracula spawns an entire look, which is wholly centred on the theme of love. The ambience created in these films can be captured in your venue styling details and in your wedding photos – just let your photographer know well in advance! Your wedding planner will certainly know how to pull this off with class.
Dark, but not quite Gothic Wedding?
Other considerations for your dark wedding styling could be:
A Viking theme wedding would suit an outdoor, barn or ruin setting. Style it with rough, woody and shaggy textures and hay bales, decorated with loose, unruly wild flower arrangements. Safety-assured flame torches would light the way to a copious hog roast feast. I would style the bride with a wild floral crown and an unstructured, flowing wedding dress in earthy tones, with a statement hip belt. I like the idea of a ritualistic-warrior feel to the eye make-up to complete this look.
Game of Thrones style wedding – This mingles the sombre medieval style with royalty. A high ceilinged barn like….. would suit this very well. Lush, boldly coloured brocade waistcoats for the groom and groomsmen and how about a jewelled celtic-style crown for the bride?
Hallowe’en themed wedding– Unless you’re going for humour or zany quirkiness, I would avoid any obvious Hallowe’en motifs such as Jack o Lanterns and an over abundance of a Black and orange colour scheme! Halloween can absolutely be luxe if you use orange sparingly, amongst clashing tones of burgundy and red. My Hallowe’en bride Christina did just this and ramped up the sophistication even more by choosing a midnight blue silk taffeta ballgown style wedding dress, overlaid with fine black tulle.
Sally Masson Photography
Essentially, it’s about adopting the dominant subtleties of each theme, rather than a literal translation. You want to create a vibrant and unique look, without it ressembling a fancy-dress party!
The Star of the Gothic Wedding
Arguably, the wedding dress will be the main focus of the day, drawing all eyes to the high-priestess within.
It sets the tone, brings the drama and lives on in the photos forever. Everything else is chosen to compliment and reflect the dress.
If you need any help with putting together your sophisticated gothic bridal look, get in touch. I’ll create for you something… extraordinary.
Sally Masson Photography
Christina and Martin’s Wedding
Photographer: www.sallymassonphotography.com
Venue: South Farm
Florals: Maples Flowers
White Rose: Alexandre Boucey
Victorian Gothic: Tim Hill
Dark Wedding Inspirational Shoot
Photographer: Pilkington Photography
Gothic couture wedding dress: Caroline Versallion
Florals: Bits and Buds
Accessories: The Lucky Sixpence
Styling and Prop hire: Acorn & Oak and Be My Guest
Stationery: The Copper Ink Pot
Hair: Big Energy Hair
Make-Up – Kiran Rival