23 Mar A Gothic Wedding

I had the great pleasure of being asked to create a Gothic bridal headpiece for the ever beautiful and eccentric, Philamae Gray. The headpiece components she brought to my studio were inspiring and challenging.
I was very happy with the final piece & Philamae was a delight to work with.
She is now a sweet and inspiring friend.

The Bridal Party

My experience by Philamae

“I was very inspired when I saw Alexander McQueen’s Antler headpieces on his last runway before his death, so I knew I wanted to have a jaw dropping headpiece created for my Gothic inspired wedding, to complement my black dress. My daughter is an artist and loves creating art with antlers, I bought her a pair a year ago, so I knew they were available. That was my creative start point.

Discovering Wendi from Philadelphia Philpot was the perfect match. We clicked straight away…. I remembered when I said over the phone “I’m Philamae, and I’m interested in a bold, gothic, fantasy headpiece for my wedding”, Wendi said “Your name is Philamae? with mine being Philadelphia Philpot, we are just meant to be working together on this!”. Our fate, as partners-in-crime in this project, was sealed there and then.

I arrived at Wendi’s studio armed with fabulous pieces that I wanted in my bridal headpiece. The gorgeous antlers were imported from the U.S. The lovebird (whom I’ve nicknamed ‘Philpot’ after Wendi) is from  Queensland – it was a pet that died a natural death and was taxidermied.
The 3 eggs, which represent each of my 3 girls, were dyed by me to match the pheasant feathers that came from an Australian bird farm.
Wendi commissioned Anitra Morgana from Brooching Matters  especially, to design and hand-weave the beautiful, delicate nest. We had many joyful, crazy sessions and fittings, and I loved the process and the outcome.
The outcome was perfect, in bringing to life, the Queen Bride for our unusual Gothic wedding – which incidentally was a play I wrote.

The Process – bespoke, creative challenges, flamboyant imagining, laughter and Wendi’s amazing openness and dedication to form and function – made the kind of memories I had always wanted in the process of art directing my wedding.
I loved it all!”

Post-Script:
“Wendi’s studio is my lolly shop – all those amazing and unique creations, displayed so beautifully!  Each time I went there, I tried on some hats…what a joyful time. Here’s to planning more hat parties!”  Philamae Gray

See more of my blogs on Gothic, Steampunk and alternative weddings
Please contact me if you would like me to create and “alternative bridal” headpiece for your wedding
Wendi 0411 22 82 32  email me