5 gothic wedding ideas for dark eternal joy

4 Sep, 2014

Fantastic gothic wedding ideas… blood devotions and pagan handfastings, anyone?

Goths are usually very romantic at heart, so it’s certainly not unheard of for goths to get married. In spite of occasional discrimination from vicars confusing gothic lifestyle with satanism, handfastings and blood devotion vows are now common enough that there’s nothing to stop a gothic bride and groom adding official weight to their love in a way that holds some meaning for them.

Unfortunately, discrimination can occur if a gothic couple are opting for a traditional church wedding. Often, vicars have been known to refuse to perform the ceremony if they feel the couple is ‘un-Christian’. Local newspapers may well refuse to print pictures of goth couples in their wedding galleries. Unfair discrimination – as usual.

Pagan handfastings

As many goths have pagan aspects, they often choose to have pagan handfastings instead of a traditional wedding. Handfasting is a pagan ritual which symbolises a bond between lovers, but unlike a marriage ceremony is not legally recognised. Handfasting can be performed at any age.

Church weddings with gothic extras

Rather than face discrimination, family puzzlement or red tape, goths may choose to have ‘normal’ church weddings with gothic extras to ensure they and their partner have as happy a time as the regular folk invited.

A goth might well go through with a church or registry office wedding, and either precede the wedding or follow it up with a handfasting or blood vow (see below).

Gothic blood devotion weddings

Blood devotion vows are popular because of the links to handfasting (a number of goths are pagan or Wiccan) and vampirism – many vampire lifestylers, whether goth or not, have been known to take the blood vows.

In one sense, a blood devotion vow is the ‘traditional’ gothic wedding – traditional in the sense that it’s far more likely to be performed than a full-on Victorian bash or an ooky-spooky Las Vegas do. It’s the ‘white dress big church’ of the goth world as compared to ‘red dress, bride arrived on Harley’. The ‘serious’ wedding, instead of the ‘fun’ variety.

Many Gothic wedding ceremonies are simple and short, with traditional Gothic wedding vows spoken. The bride and groom, as well as the wedding party and guests are clothed in regular Goth attire, usually all black – but they can choose any color they like. The bride and groom may be more ‘dressed up’ than the others at the ceremony, but traditionally they will still be wearing black. The ceremony is presided over by a ‘celebrant’. If it will simply be a commitment ceremony then the celebrant does not need to be legally authorized to perform wedding ceremonies, but if this will be a legal wedding, than he or she will need to be authorized.

The celebrant introduces the wedding couple to the guests, and certain Gothic vows are recited, the couple’s left wrists are bound together with red cloth, and the bride and groom both drink out of a wedding goblet filled with red wine. The wine symbolises the couple’s ‘blood devotion’ to each other. The very last drop of wine is poured upon the wedding altar. In order for it to be a legal marriage, the couple must be declared ‘husband and wife’ at some point. A Gothic celebration follows. This ceremony is similar to handfasting due to the binding of the wrists.

Victorian Gothic wedding

A Victoriandustrial or Victorian Gothic wedding is exactly how it sounds – it emulates weddings from the Victorian era. Steampunk weddings aren’t unheard-of, either! Victorian gothic wedding dress ideas include a full long gown made of velvet or satin, with a bustle underneath, and a fitted corset either underneath or over the waist of the dress. A Victorian gothic bridal hairstyle might consist of long ringlets or flowers woven into the hair. A groom might wear a long black coat and top hat. A Victorian style Gothic wedding may have a dark theme, such as a ‘Transylvania’ type theme, but it doesn’t necessarily have to.

Las Vegas themed Gothic wedding

Staying with its tradition of catering to all types of couples who want all types of different weddings, Las Vegas has many Gothic wedding packages to choose from. In one of the most popular Las Vegas Gothic wedding ceremonies, the wedding chapel is made up to look like a cemetery, with headstones set all around, and even fog rolling over the ‘ground’. The authorized person performing the Gothic wedding ceremony can be dressed to look like a vampire, the Grim Reaper, or any other dark figure.

These weddings tend to be a little on the showy side, and are not as traditionally Gothic as they are more ‘fun Gothic’. Many who are very serious about their Gothic lifestyles shun this type of wedding, but for some couples who are less intense about the lifestyle but would enjoy a ‘dark’ theme, this kind of wedding can be just right.

Today’s wedding businesses have opened their eyes to the huge choice that brides- and grooms-to-be want and it is now possible to have everything you want, whether it’s a dress of black, white or baby pink to cakes of red, black or white, or from a horse drawn carriage to 6 black plumed horses pulling a coffin.

goth and gothic wedding