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Lady Zombie is an executive recruiter by day and subculture performance artist by night, and her Brooklyn wedding was full of gorgeous purple details. We'll let her tell you the story…
“I have a pretty wild and eccentric life, with an unabashedly fun and eclectic group of people close to us. We wanted a wedding that expressed not only love, but our true, subculture lifestyle, and was also an incredible party that inspired people to be themselves. Our themes were a gothic fusion of royal purple and black, leather, fur, fangs, and bones. Our wedding party nailed it, of course, and it was incredible to see all of our guests, even our older relatives, really have fun with it, embracing our theme with zest!”
We selected reBar in Brooklyn as our venue. The package they offered included everything from our DJ, to floral arrangements, to the buffet and open bar. Their staff was incredible, too. They are a pretty offbeat establishment, so with didn't have to worry about seating charts or anything like that. We tried to embrace simplicity where possible, while still showcasing special details.
We wrote our own vows to each other which included words like fire, blood, brimstone, beast, predators, passion, and wasteland. Our maid of honor read a short poem from Daphne Rose Kingma:
For it is in loving, as well as in being loved, that we become most truly ourselves. No matter what we do, say, accomplish, or become, it is our capacity to love that ultimately defines us. In the end, nothing we do or say in this lifetime will matter as much as the way we have loved one another.
When our officiant Mado passed us our rings, he read the following:
These rings are a symbol of the unbroken, ever-expanding circle of love. Love freely given, has no beginning and no end, no giver and no receiver, for each is the giver, and each is the receiver. May these rings always remind you of the vows you have taken.
Before our pronouncement, Ina read “Entering the Vow” by Maureen Tolman Flannery: “What is a vow, but an intention spoken out before the world, so that the world in hearing might take part in aspirations of the willing heart. In our coming here today to join and bless the joy of your becoming wed. May we enter in the truth of the words you've said.” And Mado responded with, “Out of chaos, let us pledge our unity, never losing sight of the individuality that has spawned and enriched this love.”
Also, I will never forget all the effort our friends put into everything. My hair and crown/circlet was handmade by Mistress Sasha, one of my bridesmaids. Mistress LaMorta, our maid of honor, gifted us with the gorgeous “Love As Thou Will” shot glasses we used for favors. Venus and Scarlett, our flower girls, handmade the baskets with black PVC and glitter. There were so many little details that we could not have done on our own.
My funniest moment: I danced with my mother to Bon Jovi's “Thank You for Loving Me” because I knew it would make her cry. But I also wanted to make her laugh, so the song transitioned into “I Got It From My Mama” by Will.I.Am., and we tore up the dance floor!
What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding? Disappointments happen. We were pretty lucky that things went as smoothly as they did, and part of that is because of who we chose to stand with us on that day. Our close knit group of friends and family really banded together to make everything go off without hiccups. We also selected our vendors carefully, read reviews, and reached out to people for personal feedback.
Your wedding should be something that makes the two of you happy. We celebrate our love all the time, so we just had to extend that to include our other loved ones in our wonderfully weird kind of way.
Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?
- Ceremony and reception photography: Milestone Images
- Vow scrolls: Artful Beginnings
- Bride's dress: Calla Corsets
- Officiants: Curiel Ceremonies
- Wedding boots: Harley-Davidson
- Card box: I Have Been Framed
- Bride's chainmail earrings: Inksplot Studios
- Bride's bone and amethyst necklace: Joanne Bedard
- Floral arrangements, catering, venue: reBar
- Cake topper: Sable Arts
- Cake: SlaytaniCakes
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