Black Veils, BMTH, and Blanch Almonds: An Emo Wedding to Remember

Some weddings just hit different—and Nikita & Matt’s emo wedding was one of those days I’ll never forget. Set at their home (yes, their house), this wedding was unapologetically them: heartfelt, hilarious, and full of nods to the scene that brought their love to life.

I got the honour of shooting this wedding thanks to my best friend Elle (aka Cellebrate), who also officiated. Both of us are neurodivergent and love creating spaces where our couples can fully be themselves. When Elle told me the brief was an emo wedding, I was basically jumping up and down. Pop-punk and metal have been the soundtrack to my life, so this one hit close to home—in every way.

These two absolutely nailed the details. Guests were asked to wear black, red or white. Nikita wore a bold black-and-white gown with a dramatic black veil, and Matt rocked a My Chemical Romance-style military jacket and made his entrance to The Black Parade. Nikita walked down the aisle to Follow You by Bring Me The Horizon—chef’s kiss.

Their pup Kevin was the ring bearer (icon), and with some clever snack bribery, we got the cutest shots of him trotting down the aisle and greeting guests on his way. Honestly, the view of Matt and Nikita from Kevin’s perspective is one of my fave frames of the day.

The ceremony was packed with pop-punk lyrics, heartfelt vows and a lot of laughter. Elle slayed it as always. Afterwards, guests were treated to a chilled-out high tea, complete with sandwiches, sweets, and Matt spinning emo bangers from his own DJ setup in the living room.

Oh—and the favours? Blanched almonds. Because their shared last name is Blanch Almond. I can’t even.

From start to finish, this day was perfectly them: Metal as f*ck, and brimming with love. If you’re dreaming of an emo wedding that’s equal parts DIY magic, dog cameos and killer music, Nikita & Matt’s day is proof that you can absolutely do it your way.

 

Tell me about your The Beginning!

Nikita went to a club at St James Hotel on Castlereagh Street in Sydney in June 2012, because her sister (Libby) told her there was a DJ competition to find the next TRASH DJ (pop punk club) and she (Libby) knew one of the people in the competition. Libby got them kicked out of the club, and Matthew – the guy in the DJ competition said to Libby “take your sister somewhere, she looks freezing”. The next day, Matthew wrote on Nikita’s Facebook wall “I see you didn’t die of hypothermia, that’s good” (which Nikita found incredibly endearing and loved the correct grammar he used). Matthew asked for Nikita’s number “so he could send her messages about the flyers she said she would help hand out for the next round of the DJ competition”. After chatting for a while, Nikita innocently went to Sydney to spend the weekend with Matthew to watch Adventure Time. After Matt picked Nikita up from Blacktown station in his red VW Golf Convertible, then they went to Coles to get ingredients so Matt could cook Nikita chicken Balti, and the rest is kind of history…

First official date was at Jags Italian restaurant at Bella Vista. Food has always been a big part of our relationship with Nikita growing up eating the whitest of white people food, and Matt being more cultured. Thankfully after 12 years together (officially started dating 30 June 2013), Matt has influenced Nikita’s taste in food quite a bit. The first couple of years together, were a long distance relationship – Matt living in Sydney and Nikita on the Central Coast. Every weekend in the early days was spent at the club, arriving before 8:30pm to setup the booth downstairs in TRASH (and sometimes decorations if it was a special theme night), then Matt DJ’ing all night until the club closed around 4am. Many of the lovely humans sharing our wedding day were met at that very same club. Our lives wouldn’t be what they are without pop-punk music, St James Hotel and way too many late nights.

 

When and where did you get engaged?

5 or so years ago, Matt said to Nikita “Would you rather a house deposit, or a ring?” and Nikita very quickly answered “a house deposit obviously”. So we bought a home in 2020. In late 2022 Nikita had a health scare that made her re-evaluate everything. This including her and Matt’s decision not to get married (as neither of us is religious and we had a house together, and had been together for so long. It didn’t particularly feel like something we needed).

On 30 June, 2023 whilst crossing the road in Melbourne to go and get ice-cream, Nikita asked Matt whether it was still their anniversary. Matt checked his watch and said “yeah for a couple more minutes”, and Nikita asked “do you want to marry me?”. Matt responded yes, Nikita asked if he actually meant it, and Matt said “yes, are you being serious? She said she was and asked if that means they are engaged now, to which they both agreed they were. Nikita went “oh my god, we are actually engaged”, and then they ate ice cream.

It is the most unromantic thing ever, there was no ring. Nikita did not get down on one knee (probably not safe whilst crossing the road in the middle of the city), but it didn’t need to be, because we are forever – no matter how we got engaged, or how we get married. We aren’t a flashy, public displays of affection type couple – so the lowkey moment shared between us that absolutely no one around us knew was happening, was quite perfect in a way.

 

Why did you choose to have an emo themed wedding at home?

“We wanted Kevin involved, and couldn’t really find a nice pet friendly venue that wasn’t too far away. We went back and forth on venues until Matt said “what about if we got married at home, and then its like our forever venue and every day we get to wake up where we got married?” to which Nikita cried happy tears and said it was perfect.

In hindsight… it would have been a lot less work to get married at a wedding venue, but its true that we get to wake up every day and we are in the place we got married. Even walking up the stairs now, before we have even gotten married – makes me (Nikita) emotional, just thinking in about a month, I will walk up those stairs to see my wonderful forever human standing there, waiting to marry me – how lucky I am!”

 

What are you most looking forward to on the day?

Getting to share a day that is utterly us in every way with the people we love. The best thing is that we will be husband and wife – officially each other’s, forever. Getting to profess our love for each other, very publicly (at least for us) when we aren’t a mushy kind of couple feels really special. It’s 12 years in the making for the moment to share all the things we love about each other.

 

Top Tips!

Focus on what is important. Nothing in a wedding goes 100% to plan, but at the end of it you get to be married to your person! Whenever we look back at important moments in life, we don’t notice that someone dropped a cake, or that a tag was hanging out. We remember how we felt, how our cheeks ached with the smiles, how our hearts felt full and how our eyes glistened with emotions we couldn’t keep contained. Focus on that and the day will be perfect.

 

Emo Themed Wedding – The Vendors

Celebrant (& my bestie) – Cellebrate

Dress – Desert Moon Bridal

Kevin Wrangler – Kare Kanine