Bre and Steven met at a goth club in Ybor City where both had spent years orbiting the same dance floors without ever properly meeting. A mutual friend finally got them together in February 2020. Within weeks the world shut down, and by March they were quarantining together.

Their wedding mood was dark, with a rock ‘n’ roll edge that felt intrinsically theirs. There were nods the Ybor nightlife too, and after the main event everyone went out to the club! They married at Hotel Haya, once a nightclub called Czar, another place they had loved long before they loved each other.

“Our love for Ybor City really shaped the entire day”, Bre said. “We wanted to honour the clubs that raised us and bring that underground nightlife energy into our wedding. The reception room at Hotel Haya was originally very white, bright, and airy – basically the opposite of our vision. But our wedding planner and designer, John, saw it as a blank canvas and completely transformed it into a dark, moody, nightclub-inspired dream.” Stained glass visuals were projected across the room, referencing the windows at The Castle, the club that they first met at. The cake had the same motif too.

Their wedding invitation was designed in the shape of a leather jacket, a staple of Bre’s wardrobe, and had ‘patches’ that represented their favourite things – their dog, playing cards (for their love of Vegas), a lightning bolt, an airplane and a rooster smoking a cigar.

Another one of their favourite details was the custom Chambongs which Bre’s dad made for every guests. “They are specialty glasses made for chugging champagne”, she explained. “Instead of a traditional toast during his speech, he had everyone chug a Chambong together – something I am famously known for! It was hilarious and got the party started.”

“We also skipped the tradition of not seeing each other before the ceremony and chose to do a first look instead. That allowed us to get our portraits done early and actually enjoy cocktail hour where The Vocalitas Trio performed jazz versions of our favourite pop and emo songs.”

The ceremony began with Pepper, their eighteen-year-old dog, arriving as ring bearer in a remote-controlled Lamborghini. Bre then walked down the aisle with both of her parents to Sea of Love by Cat Power. They kept the ceremony pretty short as their vows had been exchanged privately during the first look.

“There are so many choices and it can be overwhelming to make a decision”, Bre admitted. “Thankfully we had a great wedding planner and vendors that helped guide us in the right direction and narrow down our choices so it did not become too overwhelming.”

“Rock n Roll Bride magazine was one of our biggest resources for inspiration when wedding planning. We spent hours scrolling through the website and Instagram, reading stories of other couples’ amazing alternative weddings, and it gave us the confidence to make our day entirely our own. It reminded us that we didn’t have to fit into anyone else’s idea of what a wedding ‘“’should’ look like. Rock n Roll Bride gave us permission to break the rules and do exactly what felt right for us.”