It was as if a smitten Beetlejuice met Maleficent in a romantic sea of red, complete with every Goth fashion cliché imaginable. Eccentric, yes, but no one could deny that the visually stunning June 6th wedding was a romantic celebration of love.
Kat Von D’s Wedding
The wedding ceremony and reception of Kat Von D to Leafar Seyer (born Rafael Reyes), was a production like none other. And we have all the good gothic deets for you – from the candles to the clothes.
All vegan, all cruelty-free, all goth and all out gorgeous, the celebratory second wedding (the two eloped in February ) of Kat Von D to Leafar Seyer was an all out Glam Goth Gala. Seriously.
Musician, artist and make-up maven Kat Von D, 36, and Prayers vocalist Leafar Seyer, 42, hired Wedding Planner Michele Fox Gott of Center of Attention Events to help them create the instagram-perfect event.
From the lavish invitations to the channeling of Heaven and Hell for the receiving and reception rooms respectively, the union of the two tatted celebs, dressed by in red and black and surrounded by friends and loved ones, was a sight to behold.
The Invitations
Thanks to Markus Biren of candle company Biren & Co. (who created the stunning candle installations for the wedding shown in this post), we’ve got a video of the extraordinary wedding invitation whose calligraphy was done by the bride herself.
What They Wore:
The custom red bridal gown and antlers, as well as the groom’s embellished and embroidered custom suit were designed and hand made by Majesty Black
Little known fact, courtesy of the wedding planner: Wedding dresses were traditionally red until Queen Victoria’s wedding 175 years ago when she betrothed Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in a white wedding gown. Still today many Asian brides wear a red dress as a sign of auspiciousness and prosperity.
The Veils:
The bride wore a red lace veil designed by Adolfo Sanchez, and the groom wore one by Black Majesty (seen as a fringed lace cape in the sketch). Having both the bride and groom obscure their faces under a veil is upholding an extremely old custom known as The Soul Exchange which claims it’s not until the veils are lifted that the two souls become one.
The Bride’s shoes were designed by Natacha Marro.
White Heaven
Before entering the Red Ballroom, the guests were initially received in a Heaven-like space of white.
Handmade gothic arches concealed the ballroom’s modern doors inside which was decorated with all-vegan white leather furniture, vegan white wax candles, and white faux fur carpeting.
Here they signed the long scroll (a goth version of a guest book):
And were offered goth cocktails named after the couple’s three beloved cats (Piaf, Poe and Nietzsche) on gold imprinted napkins:
This is also where the guests received their table assignments for seating on these beautifully personalized glass-like cards:
The guests were then lead down a spiral staircase adorned with all-white floral arrangements and carnation-covered crosses that stood more than 12 feet high. (According to Kat, carnations are her husband’s favorite flowers).
The Red Ballroom
In a ballroom filled with red candles, red roses and gilded accents, the bride and groom exchanged vows and then sat upon what else? Red thrones.
Tables and walls were swathed in red velvet and embellished with engraved glass hurricanes and cloches over red roses, skulls and beads.
Large floral centerpieces, a red grand piano and people in red latex gimp suits (yes, you read that correctly) were highlighted by the candles suspended from the ceilings.
The Candles:
Oh, the candles! Markus Biren of Biren and Co (formerly Wicked Candles) helped create the candle installations in both the white room and red ballrooms.
He also gifted the bride and groom with this special custom candle before the wedding
The Castle Cake
The vegan red velvet cake stood about 5 feet tall. Instead of getting a typical bride+groom topper, they decided to film footage of them waving and blowing kisses to all of their guests, that was later was projected onto the entrance of the castle to greet everyone as they walked into the red ballroom.
The Music:
Friends Sam Hell, Matty T. and Robert Harvey (all shown above) performed at the wedding.
Kat even sat down at the red Yamaha grand piano herself to sing to her betrothed.
“I wanted to sing him our song [which happens to be: “Into My Arms” by Nick Cave] at our wedding.
At first he was sitting at our little throne table, but after the first verse he started walking down toward me and the piano, and I just lost it.
That chorus fucks me up every time I hear it, but singing it out loud to my beloved husband… well, there’s just some things that all the practice in the world can’t help. Rafael, I love the way you make me feel bulletproof and fragile all at the same time.❤ ps. thank you to @yamahamusicusa for lending us your beautiful red piano for our wedding”- Kat Von D
In keeping with the cruelty-free theme, in lieu of gifts the bride and groom requested donations to one of their favorite animal rights organizations, Animal Equality.
The bride and groom are also expecting a child!
A big thanks to the following instagram accounts of the Wedding Planner, the Bride, the Groom, the Couturier and other friends who so generously shared their photos and credits:
Michele Fox Gott on Instagram
Kat Von D on Instagram
Leafar Seyer on Instagram
Markus Biren on Instagram
Biren and Co on Instagram
Majesty Black on Instagram
Adolpho Sanchez on Instagram