The Steampunk Wedding That Rocked!

Steampunk is a genre I had never heard of until Gina and Andrew invited us to their wedding. The timing was perfect for us. We were already planning a trip to the Goldfields during September, so we just used their wedding as our launching pad for our main expedition.

I understood that Steampunk had elements of fantasy and science fiction with lots of industrial revolution gadgets, goggles and guns. Waistcoats, cogs, bustles and outrageous hats were also in the mix. What I was unprepared for was the sheer wizardry and creativity of the wedding guests, the bride and groom, the celebrant and her husband and even the attending children.

We had an absolute blast. We rocked up twenty-four hours early for a very specific reason. I am the most unpunctual woman on the planet. Michael is the most unpunctual man on the planet. We are always quite astonished when we arrive at a destination more or less on time. Hence our anxiety to actually make an early appearance in proceedings.

Chittering Acres had been in a state of high excitement for several days. People were everywhere, efficiently participating in final preparations. We retired to the "camping ground" and set up our gazebo. We enjoyed a casual BBQ that evening with a variety of other guests, who had come in from all over Australia and the world. I knew one other person there - my friend Punya - who I hadn't seen for about fifteen years. The common denominator was Gina and Andrew and we became instant friends with everyone.

The wedding day dawned. We had an incredibly lazy morning. We presented Gina and Andrew with their  present, one of Michael's redback spider fridge magnets. Magda was promptly delivered to the compost loo and deposited as a mascot on one of the corrugated iron walls. We also gave them a deceased microwave oven and a departed printer to take apart and use in their Steampunk art. What more could any bride and groom want?

We showered and started the transformation into Steampunk wedding guests. We had decorated our hats with al manner of metal objects. Michael was the man in black, except for an exceedingly fetching waistcoat I had bought in a Northam op shop.

I had a calf length black skirt, polished steel capped boots, black fishnet stockings, a frilly blouse, a denim waistcoat and my hat, of course. I had created a utility belt which was decorated with a red flower fascinator, my goggles, gloves and a bit of leather and metal I found in Gina's costume pile.

The paved area outside their studio and their pop up Steampunk lounge rapidly filled with people as the afternoon shadows lengthened. A good friend and singer, Tracey, had somehow organised a gospel choir on the day of the wedding. The two male members had only been amalgamated into the group that afternoon and learnt the songs with about five minutes to spare.

The studio was the site for the official wedding feast and guests were  adding their offerings. We all started nibbling! The food was delicious and varied and of stupendous proportions. Nobody was going to starve. And the wine was flowing even before the ceremony.

Which was perfect. Andrew and Gina declared their love and commitment to each other. There was cheering and clapping and whistling and hooting. More songs by the choir. Then Gina and Andrew sang to each other. Andrew had been practicing for weeks in the paddocks on his tractor. Gina didn't need to practise, as her voice took my breath away. Clear, sensual, throaty and filled with love for Andrew. This was absolutely electric. The guests roared their approval.

Speeches followed, including a hilarious tale by Andrew's dad, when he revealed the daunting fact that Andrew had demonstrated mad scientist tendencies as a small boy. He and Ann, Andrew's mother had then contemplated how they would bring up this eccentric and gifted young man.

Dinah, Gina's mum, had been shivering in her boots as she'd come down from Darwin, with her partner, universally known as Gina's "spare dad", prior to the nuptials. She paid tribute to her fantastically talented daughter. We thought that Andrew and Gina were a match made in artistic heaven.

The official Steampunk firepit was lit at dusk. This was most appreciated as the evening cooled off rapidly. Eventually, we'd had the bomb and retired to the camping ground. We sat around our little fire to warm up before bed. I have no idea if the bride and groom slept at all on their wedding night.

The following morning was time for us to pack up and leave for the rest of our trip. We didn't hurry. Unfortunately, Michael's brand new Captain's chair flipped into the fire and the totally synthetic material melted quite spectacularly. We left yet another corpse with the happy couple!

We did leave with a couple of unwelcome hitchhikers. For some reason, Michael's body is absolutely irresistible to bush ticks. He picked up not one, but two of the biting little buggers from Chittering Acres. I am sure nobody else was even sniffed by a tick.

If spite if this ever so slight misfortune, we would not have missed Andrew and Gina's Steampunk wedding for the world. We had so much fun. And I now know how to construct a bustle out of a shirt or two. For the next Steampunk event, my costume with be busier, with an enormous bustle and more metallic baubles. With proper Steampunk goggles!

The Beverley Hillbillies attempting Steampunk fashion...

Punya needed Roger, our motorbike, to complete the look...

the groom...

the bride (on right)...

the bride's mum and the groom's daughter...

the groom...

the bridal party. The groom's mum and dad are on the right. His mum is the aviatrix and his dad is the casually Steampunked geezer standing away from the rest of the crowd...

the choir...

the bride. on the point of marriage...

did you ever see a more besotted couple?!