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Creepy Queen: What interested you in alternative weddings, and do you think they are something that will become more popular in the future?

Wedding Skulls: I'm less interested in the 'wedding' side of things and more interested in the subculture itself. Firstly, a wedding is such a huge, fun party, it's a great vehicle to express yourself, and I just LOVE seeing what all the crazy, zany, fun, creative people within our subcultures think up - especially when it comes to expressing love, that most elusive of emotions. Secondly I'm a true believer that it's the artisans - designers, writers, musicians, crafters - that keep subcultures alive. I really want to do my part to support creative people by allowing them to be featured on the blog. 
 
I think more and more people strive to push the envelope of what's 'acceptable' in society nowadays, and dark alternative weddings will get more popular as a result. The longer subcultures hang around - like goth, or punk ,for example - the more 'acceptable' they become. Nowadays, most people have some notion of what a goth or a punk IS, whereas Emo is still a mystery (my parents have no idea what an emo is). Second and third generation goths, punks and metalheads have no fear of what their parents and grandparents will think of their all-black wedding party or haunted house wedding - in fact, their parents are probably arguing over which Slayer song should be the father-daughter dance.

CQ: Is this a full time endeavor for you? What else do you do?

WS: I wish! No, I have many and varied jobs. Mostly I work as an accessible formats producer, transcribing braille books and resources for blind New Zealanders. I also do large print and electronic text. Apart from that, I work as a copywriter and freelance writer. I write anything from magazine articles to website content and marketing copy.
 
When I?m not working on either of these jobs, I?m writing a novel or poem, painting or crafting, jumping around at a heavy metal concert, hanging with my husband and our awesome friends, planning my next overseas trip or on the hunt for the perfect sausage roll.

CQ: Can you give us one tip for planning a Halloween wedding?

WS: A wedding is two things and two things only - a ritual ceremony to announce and legalize your commitment to each other, and a celebration. There are no rules, no must-haves, no "traditions" that govern what you can and cannot do. Strip the concept of a wedding back to its core and rebuild it according to YOUR pricipals, YOUR relationship, YOUR friends and family and YOUR budget. And make it fun. Weddings should be fun.

All photos accompying this article are of Steff's own "Halloween Wedding". Over the next few months Wedding Skulls will be featuring MORE Skully Weddings - real wedding profiles, some wonderful guest posts, AND they will be releasing the Gothic Wedding Planner, along with some other, brand new ebooks for your dark delights.

www.weddingskulls.com

-Shannon