Steampunk Wedding: Steampunk Up Your Wedding

Now that the time is drawing nearer to my second feature article in the Unique Bride Magazine I thought it was time to start and wrap up my Steampunk Wedding Month starting today with the actual piece I wrote for the magazine.  For those who have seen it already, I’d love your feedback below. And for all the international readers of the blog who never managed to see it… dah dahh!!!  Here it is.

Please note, this is a close but not an exact replica of the article that was featured in Unique Bride Magazine Issue 1 May/June 2012.

Steampunk Up Your Wedding

Introducing a wedding theme bursting with sex appeal.  From corsets to pocket watches, Steampunk is elegant, imaginative and fantastical.

Brides, hang on to your corsets, the new wedding theme taking the US and Australia by storm has now hit the UK shores and with it comes the latest craze in wedding styling, Steampunk wedding. With it’s eclectic mix of top hats, whimsical accessories and fancy tea parties this wedding theme jumps off the pages of a Jules Verne novel.

Steampunk is the fusion of Victorian art and fashion with science fiction.  Taken from the time when steam-powered machines were in use, it combines airships and steam engines with laser guns and cowboys.  Think Victorian styled corsetry, lace and leather, think Jules Verne and H.G. Wells and of course think Alice In Wonderland!!!  All these images represent a sub-genre that has merged into the fantastical styling that create a Steampunk Wedding.

Steampunk Wedding

According to Google Trends which tracks how popular a search term is, there has been an exponential rise in ‘Steampunk’ since 2010.  There are now magazines dedicated to it, websites dedicated to it and specialist couture companies designing fashion for it and it’s a rising trend in wedding themes.

Steampunk fashion is adorned with sexy corsets, beautiful full bodied skirts, stunning tailoring and accessories that all mirror the Victorian mechanical age.  Accessories include period pieces such as parasols, goggles and top hats and gizmos and gadgets that are loaded with moving gears like pocket watches and compasses.  These are the details that add the Steampunk Wedding flare.

However, it’s the fashion that steals the show for me: it’s elegant, it’s feminine and it’s strong, making the Steampunk Wedding Bride underneath all those clothes the epitome of feminine gorgeousness.  If you think about it, a corset is made from two of the most gorgeous materials in the world: satin and lace, which for me instantly conjures up a sense of romance and what’s more romantic than a wedding?  Although I’m not a dress kind-a-gal (I have far too close a relationship with my jeans) nothing makes me feel more feminine than a corset and for the Steampunk Wedding Bride the wedding dress is all about the sexy corset.

Steampunk Wedding

If you love the idea of a corset styled wedding dress then consider the Steampunk wedding influence.  You could choose a coloured corset and matching skirt or mix and match both utilising the colour palette of your wedding.  If you’re adventurous and fall in love with a particular corset then have fun and design the skirt to match – I’m thinking full length skirt made out of sumptuous satin or maybe a beautifully tiered tulle.

However, if you don’t fancy being quite so bold look for more classic steampunk wedding colours like ivory or cream and choose a stunning full bodied skirt in the same colour to define your silhouette.

And as for the chaps choose exceptional tailoring with a dramatic waistcoat, match the tie with the suit, not the waistcoat, as this makes the waistcoat the centrepiece of the outfit.  Accessorise your handsome groom with a Victorian styled silk top hat, military inspired garments and a pocket watch.

Steampunk Wedding

Styling your wedding in moody colours will enhance the Steampunk Wedding theme so think about metallic and rustic colours and enhance them with feminine touches of ivory, pinks or apricots: colours that look stunning with burnt oranges and burgundy.

But like any wedding it’s the elements you include which capture the look and feel of your theme.  The real Steampunk wedding you see here is stunning because of their clever use of the themes elements and because of their stunning colour choices.  ‘Subtle’ will always give you a better outcome as opposed to O.T.T!  And with a Steampunk Wedding theme there is a great risk of it becoming a pantomime, so be careful!

Create the subtle, elegant feel by choosing those elements of Steampunk you love and include them in the dress and the suit as well as in some of the accessories like the invitations, the cake and colour scheme.  However, if you want to have lots of fun then ‘land an airship’. Seriously! I’m sure you could hire one somewhere!

I for one think the airships will soon be landing on Great British shores as Steampunk works it’s way into weddings all around the country, and I love this theme.

My love with Steampunk began after spotting a stunning corset in a Steampunk Wedding inspired photo shoot made by the unbelievably talented Gallery Serpentine.  (I still have corset-envy!!!) Until then, had you said the word Steampunk to me it probably would have conjured up thoughts of spiky mowhawks and bright blue hair, but after discovering the artistry that is Steampunk, I am most definitely a fan.

So on your big day, whether you exit an airship and then navigate your way down the aisle or not, your Steampunk Wedding could be a whole lot of fun!

Steampunk real wedding photos by Braedon Flynn.  Check out the entire wedding shoot.

Steampunk photo shoot

Photography by Angelica Peady.  Don’t miss the full Steampunk photo shoot!

Steampunk Wedding Corset, gown and accessories by the amazing, the superb Gallery Serpentine

Order your next copy now and read my next article ‘Out is White, In Is Attitude’, where I take a look at the emerging trend that is the Unique Bride.

And finally… the real thing!

Your feedback

So what do you think of Steampunk Wedding?  And what did you think of my first article?  I’d LOVE your feedback because it’s you that makes me better!  Please feel free to comment below and let me know what you’d like to see in future magazines from me too.

Steampunk Wedding: Steampunk Up Your Wedding