Steampunk is gaining in popularity as a wedding theme.
Today I got to chat with Australian couple, Melissa & David Norton who created what must be one of the most well thought out and fun steampunk weddings ever!
I had some burning questions but I'm going to let the images tell most of the story, they are stunning.
Within the article you'll find direct links to all the suppliers Melissa & David mention -the stunning clothing, accessories and everything they sourced to make their most spectacular day.
Let's start with the motivation for choosing steampunk as the theme.
What made you and David want to create a steampunk wedding?
David: I have been into steampunk for most of my life but because of bullying I was afraid to embrace the culture.
After meeting Mel I let her know I was into steampunk and what it was and she encouraged me to embrace the culture and wished to explore it with me.
Her interest developed quite rapidly so after I proposed I asked her what she thought of the idea of a steampunk wedding. After a bit of study she was all for it and embraced the culture herself.
What is it about steampunk that you enjoy the most?
David: The friendliness of everyone that shares your passion and the ingenuity of the design showing what is now modern technology using the resources available from the 19th century.
What was the most fun part of the planning of it? David: Delving deep into the steampunk subculture and exploring.
What was the most stressful?
Melissa: Sourcing everything, as nothing related to our theme was local for us.
What was it like organising such a themed event being based on the Central Coast?
Melissa: Exciting but stressful. There was a lot of travel to source things. We also had to source things from overseas as the Central Coast doesn't have anything available in terms of steampunk.
Did you look at other wedding venues before choosing the one you went with?
Melissa: Yes, these three were also on our list.
The wedding venue you chose fitted your theme so perfectly, what is it called and where is it?
Melissa: It's the historic Walka Waterworks, just outside of Maitland.
Melissa, I was interested to see that you chose ivory for your wedding gown, can you tell me what inspired you and how you felt wearing a tight lacing corset and victorian style gown.
Melissa: My bridal ensemble was wonderful! I still wanted some traditional bridal touches in my gown so I had a consult with Steph at Gallery Serpentine & chose a soft ivory because it works so well with all the copper and bronze steampunk colours but I still looked & felt like 'the bride'!
Because it was custom made for me I felt so comfortable in the corset and I felt beautiful AND I could still get up on the horse!
How about you David, how did you feel in your groom's outfit and where did you find it?
David: I'm being serious when I say that the most comfortable I have ever been is in the clothes I wore to marry the love of my life! All the clothing pieces that went into my ensemble were from Gallery Serpentine in Sydney, I really like how you can find steampunk and victorian clothing for guys there, not just for women.
I wear every piece of my groom's outfit quite regularly so it was a great investment.
Where’d you find the cute dress for your little daughter, Isabel?
Melissa: Strange as it may seem finding an outfit for Isabel proved the most difficult. She was only 2 when we started planning our wedding so we needed to allow some growing room. We ended up finding Isabel’s outfit on an Etsy store: Heavenly Things For You
Your bridal party certainly got into the spirit of steampunk and created some strong character looks, it is like looking at stills from a cool, steampunk movie!
David: Yes, I loved the story and characters we all created. Just about everything you see our bridal party wearing we found at Gallery Serpentine in Sydney. We booked a bridal party outfitting night and it was a blast! Steph was great, totally into the theatre of it and got our theme! so our bridal party felt comfortable and had massive amounts of fun creating their looks.
Have you had any feedback from your bridal party after the wedding about how they found the theme?
David: The groomsmen showed such interest that two of them have kept their outfits and have been bitten by the brass bug called steampunk!
As a note for any future grooms out there..what I really liked about my wedding is that the guys were super involved, often at weddings I see it being mainly about the bride but with a steampunk wedding the guys can get to play with steampunk gadgets, it makes it so much more fun!
What special roles did your family play in the wedding?
Melissa: Well the celebrant was my uncle, Pastor David Freeman
and David's gorgeous mum, Robyn made our very fun, steampunk cake.
How involved did your guests get with the theme?
David: Our guests all came dressed for the theme and we have been told what a great day/night everyone had.
The beautiful Clydesdale horse and carriage you had at your wedding really added something to the day, what was the name of the horse company?
David: Cullen's Clydesdale Services. Many thanks to Gary Cullen.
The Walka Waterworks required an external caterer, who did you use?
David: Coast to Coast The Golden Roast Newcastle. Many thanks to Mark and the team.
You had some very cool video clips playing at your reception and the music was totally on point for your theme and the venue. How did you manage that?
David: We couldn't have done it without JC Entertainment, we knew what we wanted but it was challenging to explain the concept to people but the JC Entertainment guys just got it & went above & beyond.
Melissa, you had a really unique bouquet & so did the bridesmaids, where’d you come up with the amazing idea for this and where did you find the maker?
Melissa: I wanted the flowers to be Steampunk, so I started looking online and finally found a wonderful lady, Janice, who has a shop on Etsy called Modern Wedding Trends. She loves Steampunk and was very helpful and had some great ideas. She has done a wonderful job. Thanks Janice.
Your photography is incredible, I couldn't stop looking at the images! Where are your photographers from?
Melissa: Etienne Reynaud was our wonderful photographer. He had the help of a second photographer Jack Steele. Etienne has done an absolutely amazing job for us. He is Sydney based and was recommended to me by a friend of my brother.
I understand you had a lot of custom steampunk accessories & jewellery made for the wedding, where are they from, they look amazing!
David: Yes, we were fortunate enough to meet Lachlan McPherson 'Skav' from Skav's Steampunk Workshop
He made us so many cool pieces including all the steampunk guns you see in the images, we just had so much fun and now have these pieces at home to play with!
Apart from Skav were there other jewellers or makers involved?
Melissa: Apart from Skav & Mod Cons at Westfield, Tuggerah we sourced eveything from overseas using Etsy.
Melissa's wedding ring came from Steam Smith Works and David's wedding ring came from Swank Metalsmithing
Moonhoar was where we found the epic steampunk gloves.
Melissa's fun steampunk garter came from Liver and Monk
The cake topper came from Builders Studio
The bridesmaid fascinators came from Love Joy Adornments
Our Wedding Knife Set came from Ineses Wedding Gallery
Throwing Knife Bracers for the bridesmaids came from Owl Vs Octopus
Place cards with antique keys attached we found at The Journeys End
Our wedding invitations were from He Saw Sparks
The above Etsy shops were a dream to work with and really helped us with our big day.
Thank you Melissa & David for sharing your brilliant steampunk wedding with us! You made it a day that was a fun rather than stressful experience for your bridal party and guests and it really shows through in the photos.
Let's hope that your story inspires other couples around steampunk as a wedding theme. I'll be sharing a part 2 soon which will be extra sensational photos from Melissa & David's wedding with a few tips and tricks from them for other couples planning their dream steampunk wedding. Stay tuned.
~Melissa and David Norton were married in 2016 and with their little daughter Isabel attend as many steampunk events as they possibly can~