The Steampunk theme has, over time, become a style force in its own right. With its splendidly bonkers mix of Victoriana, coupled with an over the top love for Dr Who style mechanics, it is something that, for a wedding theme, is strangely eye catching. Ideas have come thick and fast in recent years, with young couples conjuring up fantastical mixes of unique decor and fashion to create a wedding that really is unlike anything else out there.
If you’re thinking of having your very own Steampunk wedding, then Gloucestershire’s romantic gothic gem Clearwell Castle is the finest venue to play host. Winner of the British Wedding Awards ‘Best Wedding Venue’ in 2016, this Victorian mansion has all the right qualities for a Steampunk extravaganza, with a fairytale ballroom and 15 bedrooms, as well as an array of elegant reception rooms.
First off, let’s focus on the fashion, think of Dickensian circuses and H. G Wells novels and you will get the picture. The signature style of Steampunk is an exaggeration of Victorian era costumes, with elements of the macabre and a heap of theatricality. In Offbeat Bride, Catherine Clark has sourced a bevy of inspirational Steampunk designs to get you thinking about what to wear. The evocative Victoriana come circus performer look is complete only with a pair of distinguished pointed-toe boots, these can be something small and dainty to something completely outlandish and camp. Ariel Meadow Sterling has compiled a list of some of the most breathtaking styles out there.
Fantasy come to life
For the decor, some bold contrasting colour schemes will give your Steampunk wedding a bit more Gothic overtones. With the fixtures of Steampunk being goggles, wheels, gears and top hats, a little creative flare can be put into action, by incorporating these into your wedding table decorations. Deer Pearl Flowers have put together some ideas for Steampunk decor, including giant clock skeletons on the walls, potion bottles on the tables and a table runner made of pages from antique books. Also giving some interesting other additions to the theme, taking elements of some rustic and woodland styles, including a moss table runner and burlap placemats.
Keeping eclecticism and whimsy at its heart, your Steampunk wedding is about eccentricity in its most fabulous form. As Erica writing in Inked Weddings puts it, “there is something intriguing and charming about because it evokes the people, manners, and building materials of the Victorian era combined with industrial finishes and a bit of sci-fi. It reminds me of the Old West, mixed with Jack the Ripper England combined with fictitious places, time and spaces. It goes beyond the cliche of corsets, goggles and top hats and can include anything relating to glass eyes, Victorian travelogues, Alice in Wonderland imagery, antique stereoviews of seances, examples of 19th century quackery, gears, crows, Poe, Shelley, science imagery and retro technology.”
Indeed, a Steampunk wedding means many things to many people, it is one of the few wedding themes that encompases so much, and has hidden depths just waiting to be tapped into by an artistically minded bride and groom.
