Steampunk Haunted Mansion Wedding 2016

[EleishebaNacht]

I've actually been planning this wedding in my head for quite a while. We weren't certain if it would ever be real but events have conspired to make our dream come together. I know we can't be official for another year or so but is it ever too early to start planning?

A little background; DF and I have been together for nearly 8 years, officially engaged for about 5 months. I have a twelve year old daughter from a previous marriage and DF and I have a four year old daughter together. We went to Disney world for the first time in September of 2012 as a joint birthday present for both girls. We are a Halloween loving family, so we had to go for MNSSHP. DF and I fell head-over-heels for WDW and decided if we were really gonna get married that would be the place! We're hoping to secure September 30th of 2016 and the theme will be Steampunk Haunted Mansion. (I'm trusting you guys not to filch this idea) I'm very crafty so I'm hoping that many of the elements can be DIY. Can anyone tell me if Disney will allow this? I already know all food must be provided by Disney, I'm talking table centerpieces, etc. Anyway, I'm super excited and any advice/ideas will be welcome.

 

[EleishebaNacht]

I have to make one more post before I can add pictures in, so here it is! I guess I should say something about the wedding to keep it on topic. We're planning it for the end of September and I have already started a bunch of projects. That's mostly why I want to be able to post pictures This journal is a really good way to keep my thoughts together. I'm really glad someone thought it up!

 

[EleishebaNacht]

Here is the engagement ring!

I'm planning to make the wedding dress myself, inspiration here:



And the groom's outfit here:
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Sorry the pictures are so big. Don't know how to size them down.

 

[EleishebaNacht]

DF surprised me by buying his boots early and it was a good thing, too. We searched for bronze leather boots (hey, it could happen) and came up with this:



Pretty cool and steampunk, huh? (They come in black too. That's the pair on the right). So, when they arrived they didn't look quite like I'd imagined. It looked more like they were the black ones with some yellow spray paint sprayed on in strategic spots. From a few feet away they really did look bronze but up close they were a big old mess. (Full on Monet. Oh, yes, I went there. How often do you get to reference fine art and awesome movies in one fell swoop?) I don't have a good close up pic, though. Anyway, they were cool enough we decided to keep them and "improve" them. (I use scare quotes because appearance is really a matter of opinion. In my opinion it was an improvement.) So we bought sandpaper, textured copper spray paint, bronze spray paint, black liquid shoe polish and acetone and set to work. The first thing to do was to remove the bits of yellow paint and start fresh. The funny thing was when we removed what we expected to be the yellow paint we found this:



Steampunk fireman boots!!! Woohoo! Or not. It was a good thing we'd bought the black shoe polish. But first we had to sand the vegan leather and tape off all the buckles. Fun! Well, the taping really was fun. No pic of the blacked boots. Oh, well. And now it's time to go watch the 4yo at field day! (Yes, I began my sentence with a conjunction. Yes, it will haunt me forever.) The rest is yet to come. Did I succeed? Will the boots be fireman yellow for the rest of eternity? (Well, technically yes) Will I ever stop putting things in parentheses? (Probably not.) Find out in the next installment of Steampunk Haunted Mansion Wedding! (Of doom)

 

[EleishebaNacht]

Ha ha! I found a pic of the boots after they've been blacked and had the textured copper sprayed on. You can really only see the copper on the tape but it was everywhere and it looked awesome.



Then we had to let it dry. Then we had to re-black them. Why? I don't know. My sister, Cat, was in charge. Then we had the 12yo wear them while we spray painted them bronze. Check this out!



Then we hung them up in our tree to dry. Why, yes, the neighbors do love me, why do you ask? Once the (now dry) unsightly things had been removed from our tree we sprayed copper over them again et voila!



Presentable.
Let's see that again, shall we?



Why yes, those are the very spray paints in the background.
How 'bout one more time?



Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Move along, move along, there's nothing to see here...for now!

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

I'm having a steampunk Disney wedding as well! Although we're going for more of a 20,000 leagues under the sea theme. I can't wait to see more from you!

ETA Our wedding is this October.

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

To answer your other questions, you can only bring in your own centerpieces in ballroom reception spaces. Otherwise, they have to be provided by Disney.

 

[EleishebaNacht]

Ooh, do you have a PJ? If you do will you link it? Thanks for the info about the centerpieces. I bet you're super excited with your wedding only five months-ish away!

 

[EleishebaNacht]

Or, Matron of Honor, really, as she's married. Anyway, she is the aforementioned sister, Cat. We're not related by blood but we've been through so much we call each other sisters. She is the best. She's almost more excited about my wedding than I am, but she keeps me from going overboard. She's decided that for her outfit she will be an airship hostess. We're starting from this pattern as a base:



Possibly in this fabric:



But neither she nor I can ever leave anything alone so she wants to make the train detachable and possibly incorporate this:



For accessories she's looking at these:





I'd post a pic of her on here but she'd kill me. Oh, did I mention she's moving to Italy next month? Yeah, she is.

How can I top this?!? Well, I can't, but stay tuned anyway for the next installment of Steampunk Haunted Mansion Wedding (of doom): Bridesmaids from Beyond the Grave, or Whatever!

 

[EleishebaNacht]

My other two bridesmaids are a little more difficult as one lives a couple hours away and has a little one to keep her occupied and the other is getting married this August, so she is naturally more focused on that. Really, most of the time I am too, but sometimes (like now) I'm naughty. Anyway, here's what I've got so far:

Sarah

But in teal and possibly with this in her hair


I've got a couple things that could be incorporated into either outfit



Although most of them I lean more towards robin's outfit on.
Then there's this little beastie!

Someone love him! Oh, someone please love him, I need him to be there somewhere!

Inspiration for Robin's outfit:

And possible patterns to mess about with


(Those boot covers need some work)

I'd love to make the corset myself.
And some good possible accessories



So, until I hear back from my bridesmaids and find out that they hate everything and I have to start from scratch (I've got time) that's what I'm going with. Our next feature will be Steampunk Haunted Mansion (of doom): Nicest Possible Monster of the Bride Ever!

 

[andeesings]

I remember I was in Joann's and found some FANTASTIC Victorian steampunk patterns-- and I'm not sure where in the US you live, but there are vendors are Renaissance Faires that REALLY have great steampunk stuff. There's a vendor at one in PA that really goes all out. For me, in terms of patterns, the bigger the bustle the happier I am!!! I could look through for you if you want and post ones I find....

 

[EleishebaNacht]

Yeah, there've been some great steampunk patterns lately! I'm so pleased! I live in South Carolina close enough to both Atlanta and Charlotte to go to their Ren Faires. I didn't see anything I fell in love with last year but that hasn't discouraged me yet! Feel free to post pics of any steampunky things you want!

 

[Serendipityblah]

What a great idea! I'm a huge Tim Burton fan so this style is something I am absolutely in love with. And to be at the Haunted Mansion? That's so much fun!

I love your pictures so far and can't wait to see more!

 

[EleishebaNacht]

I love that Tim Burton got his start with Disney! Oops, I didn't mean to make it sound like the wedding would be at the Haunted Mansion. That would be super awesome, but I don't even wanna know how expensive. I will be perfectly satisfied with a slightly more humble steampunked haunted mansion theme at a normal reception area.

 

[EleishebaNacht]

And as a sweet treat we'll throw in the cute little flower critter too. My Mom is a pretty good sport and is happily entering into the steampunk theme despite having no real interest herself. Supportive parents are awesome. Anyway, I thought it might be fun to have her outfit be a bit more Regency than Victorian, kind if a dowager empress-y thing. Plus she adores the regency period. Chalk my love of Mr. Darcy up to her. We don't really have a lot planned for her as yet, so here are the basics:


Possibly incorporating this fabric:



Yes, for those of you who are especially observant, that is the Haunted Mansion damask wallpaper print on the edge there. Haven't shown it to her yet, we'll see.

Since I have very little in the way of things for the MoB I thought I'd throw the flower girl stuff in. Really the flower critter as my 4yo is quite the personality.

This picture is actually what inspired my color scheme:


Isn't it great that it's a Disney pic? I'm not even sure where I saw it first but it started popping up everywhere. I wanted slightly different shades, though, more like this:



Stole that one. Sorry whomever. So, like that but with darker green. This is the style of bodice I want:




My little critter is gonna love this dress.

I want to show off the Save the Dates but I can't until the website is done. DF and I are making collages of the wedding colors to send out with the Save the Dates. Mostly him because, though it was my idea, he's way better at it.
C'est la vie. It's twenty minutes after midnight and I am way too sleepy to be clever at this point, so g'night everybody!

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

I don't have a PJ but love your ideas. We're doing a "steampunk lite" theme, so not as heavily incorporated into the clothing as yours is.

I will say we just had our planning session and they didn't have much to offer. They have some copper votives. We also priced out some candelabras and a mix of books and votives. They can do a lot with the room atmosphere though.

 

[EleishebaNacht]

Yeah, I always wade way too deep into anything I'm doing. Luckily my family is used to me and tolerates my oddities. Copper votives and books sound like a good start! I'll have to see what I can dream up. Other than the somewhat meager offerings I hope you really enjoyed your planning session!

 

[Bewitch324]

Oh your wedding theme has me very excited! I cannot wait to see how everything unfolds as the day approaches! I love the ideas you've posted so far, I think the wedding will be really unique and very very cool!

Those boots turned out great!

Congratulations!

Enjoy the planning process...it goes way faster than you think it will. I swear, yesterday was 19 months until the wedding and now I'm at less than 6 months! ARGH!

Brooke

 

[EleishebaNacht]

Thank you! I'm really worried things'll go by too fast! I hope you're enjoying yours! I've been checking out your PJ on and off for a while. I love your color scheme!

 

[EleishebaNacht]

My lovely 12yo will be my junior bridesmaid, although by that time she'll be 14. (My baby, a freshman in high school! Gah!) She's already tall and willowy and blonde and lovely. She's had extreme amounts of poise since she was five years old. She wants a subtle Alice in Wonderland theme to her outfit which I think is wonderful. I have certain things for my "ladies in waiting" to kind of bring the outfits together. They'll all have cameos somewhere on their persons and they'll all have pocket watches of one sort and another, so those were good places to start her theme:




Or



She really likes this top:


And this skirt:

With the front possibly looking a bit more like this:


And she seems to have fallen into the duct tape craze so she wants to make a hat:


And I forgot to put this in earlier, but I thought it would be cool for someone


We've decided to go to the DFTW bridal showcase so maybe we'll see some of you there! Next time on Steampunk Haunted Mansion Wedding (of doom): Can't Live With 'em, Can't Throw 'em in a Blender; The Guys!