It’s the weekend! Today on Marry Me Ink, I get to share with you tattooed bride Zelda and husband Paul’s skull-filled wedding at St Mary’s Boat Club from Topher + Rae Studios.
Paul and I met more than a dozen years ago at the Red Fox Tavern (it was a bit of a shady place and it has since closed down , too bad, they did have great wings ) “we were foxing it up” as we like to call it, after we danced the night away Paul drove me home but not until we almost got murdered by a train, yup we ran the tracks, what a close call I can still hear the train and see the lights, now that’s excitement for ya. We exchanged phone numbers and I heard from him a week later and we started dating we instantly clicked, it wasn’t long after and we moved in together.
The skulls were defiantly a big part of the day. Like I said in our program why the skull theme? The wife likes skulls, happy wife = happy life.
Being from Newfoundland I wanted some Newfie elements as well so I had ordered a seal skin bow tie from Always in Vogue from St. John’s Newfoundland, “this store is amazing”. Another Newfoundland element we added was an ugly stick a time long tradition of a Newfoundland musical instrument used while mummering at Christmas time. It’s made from a broom handle (being totally Canadian we used a hockey stick) and an ol’ rubber boot, a tin can here and there and a crap load of beer caps, “some lovely craft beers was consumed in the making of the “ugly stick” add a large coffee can for the head & a mop as the hair. Voila, an ugly stick was made. Pick it up, bang it around and beat on it with an old wooden spoon… this was our request for kissing at the reception instead of clinking wine glasses which we deemed too hard on the ears and probably not safe for the glasses.
The whole wedding was a DIY – I am a hardcore crafter and I loved every minute of it but I kept adding more and more to the pile… So much so that my sister wanted to do away with me! My favourite project was the headpiece which turned out beautiful, and it was also fun to try and design unique skull themed centrepieces for all the tables.
My least favourite, even though I’m glad I did them was the coffin favour boxes and the making of the chocolate to fill them. I got the idea from a Martha Stewart video tutorial; they were all hand cut, scored and glued, topped with a bedazzled skull stamp & finished off with a hand written message. Inside was hand pipped skeleton chocolates kept safe by hand tying the coffins closed with ribbon. Much thanks went to my sister and mother for staying up and helping me to complete these without their help – in the end I would have thrown them out the window.
I already had a dress designer lined up to make my black dress, but around the same time my sister surprised me with a trip to New York… I was turning 40 and this was one of the best birthday presents along with me getting both my hands tattooed. So while I was there, we had a look at some wedding dresses and I fell in love with a dress.. Get this!!.. Is was ivory, crocheted with beading, and a long freaking train, I had no idea I would fall for a dress like this – but there it was and I loved it. I left it there, the last one in the store and thought I should continue to shop around. We went to Macy’s and a few other places but I kept thinking about that one dress. That night my sister and I wandered around Hell’s Kitchen and found a great little Greek spot to eat at and I couldn’t stop thinking about that dress the whole evening we were out. I didn’t want to spend a lot but I couldn’t stop thinking about it, (it was kinda a little over my budget) The next day after texting Paul about this dress and me professing my love for him and the dress, he replied back to say go ahead and get it, just don’t tell me how much…. (I truly love this man). Bonus – I ended up getting a greater discount at the register thanks so much to my consultant who truly was a gem, I don’t even know how I would have found a dress without her…. So that being said no not a black dress, not even a red one, peeps were shocked shoulda had bets going….
We got married the day after Halloween… So on Halloween day I went to Sinful Xpressions to get a tattoo that Paul had no idea I was getting, I had thought about this a long time and wanted to get P.S. I Love You in scripted on the back of my neck. P.S. Is also the initials of my husband.
Top Tips for your wedding day from Zelda & Paul:
~ Have back up – Shit happens & things go wrong.
~ Just breathe – It will work out just fine, if it didn’t go as planned who the fuck cares, no one will know but you.
~ Don’t take on more than you can chew (Seriously, not kidding here.)
~ “But I am a crafter of Stuff” “I can do it all”, “I can make it, knit it, crochet it, draw it, make it happen” Which by the way.. NO! No you can’t do it all which translates too “No matter how crafty you fucking think you are – Don’t bite of more than you can chew or you will have a crazy sweatshop in your house two days prior to your wedding along with family members, who even though they say they love you. (Do they???? Really just look in their eyes!!..)
Ahhh, How awesome is Zelda and Paul’s wedding? Thank you to them both for sharing their Halloween and skull filled day with Marry Me Ink. Thank you to Topher +Rae Studios too for gorgeous images of the day. Be sure to leave them some love and their full list of suppliers can be found at the end of the feature!
Photographery – Topher & Rae Studios
Wedding & Reception – St. Mary’s Boat Club
Zelda’s Dress – Justin Alexander, RK Bridal in New York
Zelda’s Shoes – Iron Fist
Suit/attire – Guy Laroche
Bridesmaids dresses – Always & Forever Bridal, Dartmouth
Flowers – Topher & Rae Studios
Hair – The Head Shoppe
Rings – Fire Works Gallery, Halifax (When we got engaged years ago Paul proposed to me with just a Canadian diamond in the box, said he couldn’t even try to pick out a ring for me)
D.J- Ken MacKenzie, Millenia Group
Seal Skin Bow Tie – Always In Vogue
Cuff links – Black Persimmons
Wedding invitations & wine bottle labels – Claire Mackenzie
Tattoo – Kurtis Worth, Sinful Xpressions
