Barbara & Mark were married in one of the coolest venues I’ve seen in a long time – MC Motors in Castle Gibson, East London. The couple were keen to make their wedding all about them and what they love, and so they spent money on the things they valued (namely the awesome venue, The Wedding Smashers (DJ’s) and Barbara’s Candy Anthony dress) and ignored the things they didn’t.

“A friend bought me a wedding magazine when I got engaged in December. I opened it up one night and never looked at it again – or any other mag for that matter,” Barbara told me. “I just wanted it to be a proper knees up with lots of music, booze and all our favourite people. Some things we spent money on – like the venue – other things, we just didn’t feel as strongly about – like having the perfect cake or millions of flowers. We just didn’t want to have to follow any rules – and did things exactly as we wanted.”

Barbara’s bridesmaid’s wore beautiful yellow dresses which the bride made herself. With each girl having very different looks (and one being pregnant!) it was important that the style suited them all. The 60’s inspired pattern of the dresses worked beautifully and the polka dot & yellow fabric was both playful and flattering.

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Burlesque performer Roxy Rose was the model for this wonderful gypsy bride (and no we’re not talking a ‘big fat gypsy wedding’ style gypsy bride, think more traditional!) for a styled shoot, the concept of which was dreamt up by Italian photographer Cinzia Bruschini. I am particularly loving the incredibly unique fan shaped bouquet – and yes that is made of real flowers!

Cinzia explains, “This shoot is colourful and playful, in particular we wanted to redefine traditional wedding elements like the flower bouquet and the decorations; the flower bouquet is so daring, made by italian flower designer Roberto Monaldi using a Gregor Lesch technique. It is based on a radial weaved plot finished off inserting flowers (in this case: delphinum blu, dendrobium lilla, gypsophila paniculata).”

“We created other decorations using an old hand design tool: a spirograph! Spirals pattern is on the coloured garland and also on the handmade paper accordion; the result is a very gypsy fancy. The garland is really simple to do and I made it myself. First of all I cut coloured cardboard with round punches in different dimensions and then had a play about with multiple design combinations of spirograph. Then using a needle and sewing thread, I joirned the circles together as a garland.”

Super cute! Be sure to check out the adorable video too.

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Laura & Rich’s classic English themed wedding had some super quirky and personal touches. The couple were legally married at Merton Register Office, London and a few days later had an outdoor blessing ceremony and their reception at Tilford Institute, Surrey. “People were confused as to why we had two days, but why not?” Laura told me. “I wore my dress twice. I was driven in a posh car twice. The first day with my dad, nervous; the second with my new husband, brimming with excitement at seeing my friends! I’d recommend spreading out the love to anyone.”

The bride wore a second hand dress which she found in Oxfam, which she customised with some fabric flowers. “My dress was donated by a recently widowed man,” Laura told me. “It had been his wife’s wedding dress many moons ago. I’ve always loved charity shops and so it was only natural for me to find my perfect wedding dress in one too! On the day of our register office ceremony, I walked in the door and the registrar choked on her words. She stood in shock as apparently she had worn something very similar on her wedding day in 1959. Her marriage was still going strong and she wished us as much happiness as she had had. It was a very special moment for both of us. I found a green satin flower sash to go accessorise the dress from ProjectU on Etsy.”

The DIY elements really made this wedding stand out, and kept the day super personal. Laura continued, “I don’t know if Rich or myself are particularly Rock n Roll (in fact, he wouldn’t let me have a live band, thinking it was too try-hardy ‘cool’) but we just did our days how we wanted.  Putting together a DIY wedding was stressful though, don’t get me wrong. But we could not believe how generous friends and family were with their time and energy. My mum and Rich’s mum did all the food: good, heart portions of homemade curry, chilli and fishpie. The ‘waitresses’ were all neighbours who donated their time to make sure the booze didn’t run dry and the plates were cleared away. Richard’s Mums are Buddhists and so our outdoor ceremony was influence by that and also humanism.”

“I made all the table decorations in the months leading up to the big day. I read online somewhere that pretty wallpaper was a cheap way of doing table runners so the buffet tables had those. Elsewhere, I found a garish 1970’s flower print duvet set in a Red Cross charity shop and so simply cut that into two pieces and draped them in diagonals over the cake tables. I was surprised at how good it looked! Then, I use the two pillowcases to make a matching runner for another table. If you cut the pillowcases open into a strip and sew them together, they end up long enough for a top table!”

“For the daffodil pots I collected jam jars and clear bottles for months and then glued strips of lace, hessian and ribbon to them. I collected lavender from my neighbours’ gardens to dry and then drop in to the bottles. I found some even brighter 70’s fabric that I used for the backdrop to our photobooth. Nice.

I bought muslin bags online from Papermoon on Etsy and then filled them with mini eggs as part of the favours (it was the week before Easter). I also made heart-shaped bird seed feeders with veggie gelatine & silicone cake tins, putting them in cornstarch plastic bags (trying to be eco-friendly!)”

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Part two of today’s continental invasion comes from French photographer Davidone who sent over Pierre & Christine’s Circus themed wedding just last week. Christine is a famous illustrator and Pierre is a photographer himself, so needless to say their wedding was going to be super creative and beautiful captured.

Christine wore a Pronuptia dress while Pierre wore Vivienne Westwood. Their fun and quirky nature really does come though in all these images, especially the fun portrait session. As photographer David explained,

“… Alice in Wonderland ….this is the first feeling that came when I began to view images from the photo shoot of Christine and Pierre. A colourful session, with energy, humour, a touch of poetry … and above all a great morning of “laughter”.  The shoot tool place on the morning of their wedding day, but Christine and Pierre were as motivated as ever. In a word, I would call this morning: TOP!”

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I’m coming over all Français today, with not one but two real wedding features with a French flavour. The first, Candice & Dave’s, took place in South Africa but had a distinctive Parisian infusion.

Photographer Jacki Bruniquel explained, “They were on a tight budget and really made the best of what they had and made their wedding ‘their own’. They had a Parisian theme running through the day as this is where they got engaged, but through in a bit of local flavour too. Friends pulled in to help and Candice made many of the details herself.”

“Candice and Dave live in Umhlanga, a seaside village near Durban South Africa, so they had their creative shoot and reception in their home town and included the icon of Umhlanga – the big red and white lighthouse. The boys all surf so we started the day with some surfing pics.  On the actual day this crazy storm came up and instead of getting into a sulky panic we just embraced it and let the wind take them away! Who says an Armageddon like storm is all bad on your wedding day?”

The wedding was held at The Breakers Resort at Umhlanga Rocks. The tight budget meant that the wedding was full of fantastic DIY elements, as Candice explained, “We did a lot of DIY! It was a good opportunity for all the bridesmaids to get together and hang out a bit. We made the: 1. hand fans, adding lace and tassels  2. the candy apples 3. the ring pillow 4. the aisle runner – This was so easy! We just bought a long piece of white fabric, stitched the edges and stenciled a pattern along the sides using fabric paint. We saved a lot of money and had fun in the process! The best part was creating the table centerpieces to look like Parisian street lamps. We sourced a whole lot of lanterns and had “lamp post” stands made for them. We then named each table after a street in Paris and had the street names hanging from the arms of the lamp post – It looked awesome, and each street was one that we had actually visited when engaged in Paris!”

“Because we were working to a budget, we had to decide what we couldn’t skimp on and what we could – priorities! One thing on top of the list was that we wanted all of our friends there to celebrate with us, as that is what this day is all about! So we needed a big venue, and our numbers were quite high. We managed to find a great venue that looked beautiful and had a great menu, but was really reasonably priced. Also we knew that the one thing you keep after your wedding day are the photos! We knew that a brilliant and talented photographer was the only way forward – Thanks to Jacki Bruniquel (Who is the best in our opinion), we now have the most beautiful memories to last a lifetime, capturing our characters so brilliantly and truthfully – wow. There were other things we could save costs on, hence all the DIY elements! But the result was that we got to have a wedding within our budget that was everything we wanted it to be!”

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Never one to turn down a good party, the invite to Alice’s hen night (bachelorette party for my American readers) a few weeks ago couldn’t have been more exciting news. I was all geared up and ready to rock Thorpe Park with soon-to-be-wed Alice and her hens…Reading Alice’s report is a little scary though because I have no recollection of a lot of the late night (early morning!) stories she’s telling. Maybe one too many Cosmo’s maybe? Whoops…

♥  ♥  ♥

It’s set up to be one of the most classic nights of your life…you hear horror stories about it, have to delete the pictures of your Facebook profile so great Aunty Val in Australia doesn’t see them, and overall enter the experience with a sense of trepidation.  I can only be talking about one thing: your hen night.

I say hen night, but the stag do is just as important.  Admittedly a lap-dance limo and copious amounts of semi-naked ladies never appealed to me much, and not just because of typical ‘girly’ insecurities.  I fully DO NOT agree with the sentiment that your hen or stag do is your last night of freedom.  This implies that by getting married you are throwing your best days behind you, and also that nothing counts until ‘I do’.  Well I disagree with both of these sentiments; getting married is going to start the best chapter of my life, and I would never dream of trying to get one final conquest on my hen (although a man in the queue at Thorpe Park did offer me “one final bunk up” before I got hitched. Obviously I was very tempted by such a romantic offer…!)  So while Graham was off at a surprise band practice and bbq on the beach back home with all his old friends, I hurriedly arranged a day at Thorpe Park and a night in the cheapest hotel I could find, which just happened to be the Travelodge at Heathrow Terminal 5! Only the best for my girls…

Five of us met in the Thorpe Park car park, and I was met with a flurry of pink ‘hen weekend’ sashes and a ‘bride to be’ custom made tee shirt courtesy of my art teacher friend.  I also had a wand and a veil.  Now let me tell you straight, at first I found the idea of dressing up in stereotypical hen do paraphernalia simply horrifying.  However, out of the context of a seedy nightclub in Brighton I suddenly found it quite a novel idea.  Also the attention we drew was quite funny, although I’m still reeling from the muppet who shouted “as if she’s getting married”!!

After a day of fun and frolics at the theme park (and a few water rides that Kat was not loving!) we drove to our hotel via Sainsbury’s for an essential booze run.  Champers and pre-mixed Cosmopolitans purchased, we made our way to the hotel and settled down for a drink and a gossip.  I’d booked three rooms for 6 of us (my photographer and now good friend Sassy from Assassynation was meeting us after she finished at a wedding she was shooting that day) but we hung out in the largest one all together.  At this point we had NO plan for the evening, and I’m so glad of this.  We let the evening pan out, and it ended up being beyond classic!  We asked at reception where was nearest to go out for dinner and they told us Windsor.  So, as soon as Sassy arrived we called a cab and made our way there.

Keeping you up are we Alice?

As soon as we saw the castle we knew we were in a whole different world…posh just isn’t the word to describe how out of place penis straws and pink sashes were!  We went for dinner and then followed the masses of beautifully dressed young people until we found a bar called “AllBarOne”.  And let me tell you, it all went downhill from here.  We made friends with a stag party, where the stag just happened to be Peter Jones from the Dragons Den’s little brother (apparently), and the men were all over fifty and incredibly well to do.  However they loved downing Jaeger bombs with me, so we enjoyed their company for a few hours and enjoyed the drinks that followed suit even more!

At around midnight we went on another wander, and came across a bar that had a dance floor and DJ at the back, so naturally we just had to hit it up.  Cue dancing on chairs and feeling like a celebrity as Kat and Sassy both snapped away while I was dancing with various characters. Oh dear, if only this was the end of the night….

Photo bomb!

We headed back to the hotel by 3am, and as we had some alcohol left over from earlier, we kept drinking.  Fast forward 4 hours later and you have a video of me streaking down the hotel corridor, a tee shirt from a random lad we met in the foyer, and one huge mess of a room.  In fact security came and told us off so many times that they even went and got the master key and tried to physically make us leave! (Kat: although secretly I think the guard was enjoying the entertainment…I can’t imagine the Terminal 5 Travelodge usually sees so much action!) However being drunk and more then a little brazen we bolted the door from the inside and hid in the bath tub (yes the bath tub, not even the bath room, the bath tub!) and waited for them to leave.

The next day I had to rush home to Kent for midday where mine and Graham’s families were having a big meal together in preparation for the wedding.  I was feeling very sorry for myself indeed, until I got to Graham’s parents house and found him lying on his bed, curtains closed, in the dark.  I asked if he was okay, and he replied “Well I would be, if I hadn’t come home from the stag without my shoes and half my shorts missing”. Looks like it wasn’t just us girls that got up to mischief!

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‘Amaze’ and ‘Edith’

Tobi Hannah is one of my favourite new designers. Not only is she super lovely, but her (exclusively) short wedding dresses are utterly perfect for Rock n Roll Brides…and just you wait until you hear how affordable they are. Prices start from just £750.

Tobi also offers a full bespoke service if you want to design your own dress from scratch. The Bespoke service takes just 5-8 weeks from initial consultation to receiving your dress. Simply fill out her online form to get the ball rolling.

‘Mary’ and ‘Natalyia’

She explains, “The Spring Summer 2012 collection is inspired by the youth of the mid to late 1960’s and their sense of assurance, serene beyond all years. The collection can be summed up in three words – youthful, free-spirited and fun. Tobi Hannah Bridal – Intricately detailed short and tea length wedding dresses for the modern bride.”

‘Peyton’ and ‘Vera’

I am proud to share her newest collection with you today. Be sure to check her out today!

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Yeah people keep saying it and it’s really annoying…but seriously…it’s the end of May already?! This year is going fast. Either way, here’s the list of places you can see Rock n Roll Bride in the press this month. Hurrah!

Photo Professional

This month I wrote about the importance of making an impact with your branding in order to attract the right kind of client as a wedding photographer. I profiled the fabulous Image is Found, who also just so happened to be in the London this month for a workshop…and I got to meet them in actual real life!

In Stores Now

Vintage Life

The fabulous Vintage Life Magazine must have liked what I did last issue, because they’ve only gone and asked me to make my article a regular feature! Each issue I’ll be sharing one of my favourite vintage style real weddings. This month I selected Elsie & Nick’s killer festival style wedding….complete with a piano in the woods. I die.

Photography by Emma Case

Vintage Life is available to purchase online or in WH Smiths NOW!

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Charlotte & Kevin were married at The Caves in Edinburgh – a challenging venue for any photographer (it’s very dark!) but photographer Bryony Claire certainly rocked this one and the couple ended up with some fantastic images of their special day.

Charlotte explained, “Kev & I have been together for 8 years now. We went to The Caves for a night out and when quite by chance we heard it was a wedding venue so we booked for 8 months later before he even got a chance to propose! The Caves is a truly magical place and it felt so right to have our whole wedding there. We had a Humanist wedding ceremony that was filled with love and laughter and believe that the whole atmosphere and venue suited us and out relationship. I think quite a few people were shocked at my choice of dress, but hey, if you’re getting married, do it your own way! I’ve always been a bit of the beaten track, I’m sure a few of my friends and family would have been disappointed had I turned up in a traditional white gown!”

“The inspiration for the day really just came from what we are about, fun, sense of humour, great music, good food and a party atmosphere. We wanted people to just kick back relax and share our special day with us, and I think we achieved that! And the Photobooth is beyond genius! What a laugh!  The images from the day really capture the spirit of The Caves and the spirit of our relationship. So many images of us smiling, laughing and enjoying each other.”

Charlotte’s dress was from Enchanted Dreams on eBay and was the first dress she fell in love with. She saw it on another wedding blog and knew she had to have it! The dress was handmade for her within 4 weeks and so Charlotte didn’t even bother venturing into traditional bridal shops. To her outfit she added Iron Fist Zombie Stompers (note: did you know you can get 15% off your purchases at Iron Fist by simply quoting ‘RocknRoll’ at the checkout?!)

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“My inspiration for this shoot came from the bride her name is Alison and she has a pet bunny as well as a cupcake tattoo on her wrist,” photographer Tab McCausland told me. “So when I started to plan doing my first trash the dress photography class I didn’t want it to be just a boring setting.  Sooooo we went all out cake, hats, tea pots, a little tuxedo for the bunny, little caterpillar, table set up the works!  I think the theme was perfect for the bride and since she had pink and purple hair already it just all came together nicely.”

…And so the idea for an Alice in Wonderland themed trash the dress was born. Although this theme is really popular with brides at the moment (even a year after the movie…can you believe it’s been a year already!?) what I love about this adaptation is the fact that it was based around what the bride loved the most…and of course the bunny rabbit, who could resist him?

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Photography Credit: Steep Street

“Within your wedding planning try and factor in a few months after the wedding. You may find after the wedding that you feel like something is missing, you may have spent up to 2 years planning your wedding, so now what? Make sure you book in trips with your new husband, weekends away, days out, new projects – give yourselves something to look forward to.”

From Kelly of Boho Weddings & Events

The sincerest form of flattery is sincere flattery.

Imitation is a different thing.

…from @blankenship, found via @thinksplendid. I don’t think any quote could sum up better how I’ve been feeling the past few weeks. There is nothing, nothing, flattering about being ripped off. However it does force you to push yourself to always be one step ahead and be better than the copycats…and you will be, remember that.

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Credit: via Drops of Juniper. Its true you know…you really should.

Whoa, that was a long title hey? And then I followed it with a huge typography-filled image. I probably broke a whole load of blogging rules there…ah well…

First up, behold, this little video preview of the talk I gave at The Mark Niemierko Academy for wedding planners at The Dorchester Hotel (!) this month. Now obviously I said more than just what’s in the video, but it had to be edited down to take out my swears …whoops…and I didn’t want to give the whole farm away for free (so to speak!) so if you’re a wedding planner be sure to consider booking on the next course to hear some more!

Video by Allora Visuals

For those of you that missed out and would be interested in learning the tricks of the wedding planning trade from the best (Mark) and his team of guest speakers – the last course included talks from editor of Cosmo Bride Magazine Miranda Eason, cake maker extraordinaire Peggy Porschen, florist Rob Van Helden and celebrity make-up artist Maggie Hunt (and erm…me!) – then be sure to check out the next events, to be held on the 4th – 8th July and the 3rd – 7th October.

Each course is limited to 10 participants, allowing the students an intimate and exclusive learning experience.  The course fee is priced at £1,950. To register for visit www.niemierkoacademy.com

What a way to start this week’s treats! Now on with the show…

♥ Emily & Christopher’s Bright & Beautiful Wedding
♥ Super Bright Mallorca Wedding
♥ A Bridal Collection by Veronica Sheaffer – these dresses are super lush
♥ Scandalously Cute Engagement Session
♥ Hand-Made Ribbon: The How
♥ The Wedding Blog Industry at a Glance – makes for very interesting reading, although I assume this only takes into account the US wedding blogs?
♥ Boy Scout Camp Wedding
♥ Alternative Boudoir Shoot
♥ The Virgin Digital Campaign may boggle your mind (you can see a larger image here). There are 75 artist’s names within this illustration, how many can you spot? To get you started I found Scissor Sisters, Gorillaz, Smashing Pumpkins, Guns N Roses, The Eagles, Alice in Chains, Blur, Madonna, White Snake, Garbage…

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Bride Aimee and photographer Naomi Kenton connected through Rock n Roll Bride. They both got talking via facebook about some weddings they’d both seen and liked on the blog and so after getting to know each other well in this informal way,  Naomi shot her vow renewal to Ben.

Can we also just please stop for one minute and share some love for Aimee & Ben’s ink?! Seriously…wow. “Tattoos are a big part of both our lives as Ben is a tattooist,” explained Aimee, “and we are both really into all things rockabilly, hot rods and VW lovers so that’s what we wanted for the day.  We are just ourselves and we do things the way we want and are happy as a result.”

The handfasting ceremony was held at Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire in April. “We wanted to celebrate our relationship and our two children, so we decided to renew our vows – we chose a handfasting as it was a lot more personal to us and was performed by a good friend Caroline Johnson.”

“I made the flowers myself and also used Jack Daniels bottles as decoration on the buffet table,” Aimee continued. ” I gave all the guests a favour bag that we got a couple of ‘meet & greet’ girls to hand out – which were white paper bags lined with tissue paper, in each I put a little spell bag, some heart bath fizzers for the women and skull shaped soaps for the men.  For the children I gave duck shape bath fizzers and rhubarb & custard soaps.”

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Fleur & Alexander’s Brighton wedding took place on the 29th April, although Fleur was keen to tell me that the royals had nothing to do with their choice of wedding date! “Al proposed to me on a beach in Pollensa, Majorca at midnight on July 8th last year and we booked the date in September, long before the Royals!”

“We chose the Unitarian Church for our ceremony venue because we aren’t religious,” the bride continued. “They have the belief that if you’re in love and want to get married they’re happy to perform the ceremony. I’d sang in the church so knew how lovely it was. We could have our friends band play, The Miserable Rich, which was wonderful, our hymn was Old Man by Neil Young, we walked down the aisle with our friends to The Throne Room by John Williams from Star Wars & left the church to Les Fleurs by Minnie Ripperton (very apt!)”

“We wanted to make sure our wedding was very much about us. Alex is a massive fan of Star Wars, hence the music, and has collected comic books ever since he was a child so our order of service had a Spiderman cover. I’ve sang all my life so wanted the band & everyone singing along to Neil Young (who we saw twice in concert & loved, the song means a lot to us). We’ve been to tons of weddings where it could have been anyone, nothing really spoke to us about the couple themselves. We really wanted to make sure that the day was very much ours. I had looked at Jacqui’s website and loved the work i’d seen from previous weddings she’d done. The pictures looked relaxed, happy & like people were really enjoying themselves! Some wedding photos can look so stiff & boring which we definately didn’t want! We had an engagement shoot with Jacqui a few months before the wedding which was so much fun! We loved her ideas, the way she made us both feel so relaxed in front of the camera and the end result was just fantastic, we knew that out wedding would be great. Everyone had such a brilliant time & we have hundreds of gorgeous pictures to treasure forever.”

Fleur wore a David Fielden dress, the first and only dress she tried on.

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Alix & Zack…ahh what’s not to love? I’m secretly still a bit of a closet goth at heart so anything gothic inspired really gets me excited…and cupcakes, cupcakes always make things 100 time better don’t they?

Alix wrote to me to tell me all about their engagement shoot with Rock n Roll Bride favourite Lisa Devlin. “So what do you say when the fabulous Lisa Devlin asks whether you’d like to shoot your forthcoming engagement shoot at, none other than, the Hasselblad Studio in Hoxton? How about “Hell Yeah!!!”

“We knew we had to do something that was very “us”.  This meant including some guitar shots, as Zach plays guitar with glam punk band Bubblegum Screw and the Camden based rock band The Hyenas.  This was reiterated by the fact that we actually met at one of Zach’s gigs in Sydney in 2007. We wanted to throw a few cakes into the mix too, as I own Black Cherry Bakery, where we specialise in Rock n Roll inspired cakes!”

“As much as I love all things vintage,” she continued, “we do prefer a darker palette so hence the gothic tea party idea was born.  We literally packed up our dining table complete with candelabra, black candles, antique silverware, black ostrich and peacock feathers on the day of the shoot and set up a home from home in the studio.  I wore my Slash-esque top hat in a nod to the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland.  Yorick, the skull – who I use as a model when I’m making cakes for Metal Hammer Magazine and the like, came along for the ride too – adding a beautifully, macabre element to the setting.  Then we threw in a little leopard print, black velvet and vintage leather upping the Rock n Roll ante.”

“We love the iconic images of rock couples such as Sid and Nancy, Johnny Thunders and Sable Star, so wanted to incorporate this vibe too. We got inspiration from bands like the Kills, who as a male/female duo have some great looks for engagement shoots it turns out!  We have a whole heap of album covers from The New York Dolls to Black Sabbath and Guns N Roses engrained in our memories so that all added to the overall look too!”

“The studio was such a great place, it couldn’t have been more perfect for what we had in mind-  the checkered black and white wall just happened to be there already, adding a massive punch to our black with pops of red colour schemes.  The crazy angular wall of foam which looked like sound proofing for some futuristic recording studio – was a great find too.”

“It was such a fabulous experience to have the opportunity to do our shoot at the studio with the awesome Hasselblad equipment.  It was a great day and we are so, amazingly over the moon with the results of the shoot.”

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Bex & Jinx were married in The Graceland Chapel in Las Vegas. They didn’t have a reception in Vegas though as only themselves and Bex’s bridesmaid’s were in attendance. However they had a big party with all their friends and family when they got back home to Australia.

Bex wore a reproduction 1950’s style dress made by Joy Taylor and leopard print shoes to match the belt and bolero by Diana Ferrari. Her bridesmaid’s also rocked the leopard print in custom made ‘wiggle dresses’ also by Joy Taylor and red glitter wedges from Steve Madden.

Jinx looked dapper in his retro inspired brown pinstripe suit from Reuben Scarf, vintage braces, Converse trainers and fedora hat from souvenir shop on the Vegas strip.

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The Hengrave Collection by Terry Fox (Images by Adam Alex Photography) – Marie Antoinette-inspired awesomeness

So yesterday I was invited to a prestigious industry preview event in London. Basically a posh trade fair where wedding designers (mainly dresses but a few bridal accessories too) congregate to sell their newest lines to the gaggle of press and various bridal boutiques across the world. People come from all over the globe to attend and get the first glimpses of the designs by some of the most decorated British bridal designers. It’s billed as a great place to go to spot new trends and to meet anybody that’s anybody in the wedding industry.

So I went along and even though I wasn’t sure it would be ‘my thing’ I felt it was an event that I should be at. I got up early (for me…hey, I work from home in my PJ’s usually!) and boarded a commuter train to London.

I walked in at 10am, looking forward to seeing the first catwalk show of the day but was instantly met with a feeling of depression…not the giddy, excitable feeling that I usually get when I go to work events. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something about this show left me cold. Something was missing and had been replaced by clinical white booths, air kisses and expensive cups of coffee.

Matthew Williamson‘s first ever bridal collection stole my heart

I have to say a few things at this point. I toyed for hours whether to post this or not. My mind was plagued with thoughts of ‘Will I get ostracized for saying these things?’ and ‘Am I cutting my nose off to spite my face/ biting the hand that feeds me’ (and other such metaphors) by saying how I really feel? However I do think that sharing my experience can overall be a positive one, and that even though I left yesterday feeling disappointed, that these feelings did confirm to me that actually I LOVE that I’m different and not swayed or influenced by what everybody else is doing.

So let me get one thing straight, I did get to chat to some lovely people yesterday – the girls from various wedding magazines mainly and a select group of amazing designers who were, interestingly, mainly the new kids on the bridal block. These were the kinds of people that were actually genuinely interested in me and my blog and didn’t simply turn away when I entered their booths…pink head, inked arms and all.

These are the kinds of designers I’d encourage you to check out for your own weddings (I’ve listed my favourites at the end of this article and images from their latest collections illustrate this page.) However apart from these few choice rock stars, the majority of what I saw was pretty much exclusively pretentious and (as I like to call it) expensive ‘fluff’.

Claire Pettibone‘s ground-breaking designs

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Ever since my shoot in Paris I’ve had a bit of a ‘thing’ for anything Marie Antoinette – the fashion, the hair, the make up – it pretty much makes me go all giddy inside. So when this shoot landed on my desk last week I didn’t hesitate to email photographer Beth right back to say yes to sharing them as soon a possible.

The colour palette is more or less what my dreams look like…and those cakes…and the jewellery….oh and the flowers…. well divine doesn’t quite cover it does it?

Enjoy!

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Solvig & Diego were married on the rooftop of the modern 500 Brickell building in downtown Miami. They had a very low key wedding but their friend and photographer Amanda was there to capture these beautiful portraits of them just after the ceremony. Their 1950’s look was inspired by their favourite movie, The Notebook, and the modern and urban location provided an interesting contrast to their vintage styling.

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Photography Credit: Steve Gerrard Photography

On the look out for something different in your wedding dress? Well if you’re lucky enough to live near Birmingham, UK I may just have the answer for you! The Couture Company, situated in Birmingham’s uber trendy Custard Factory, was relaunched last September as a shop that specialises in both unique wedding dresses, corsets (Rawhide Corsets) and lingerie.

Photography Credit: Rebecca Parker Photography

Store owner Joanne tells us, “Clients can book a appointment (which is free and absolutely no obligation to order), and with that booking they get our undivided attention for a one to one appointment, we go through their ideas and plans for the wedding , and then get to work playing dress up , trying on gowns to get ideas about lines, shapes silhouettes and fabrics. We are not precious about our gowns that we are not willing to embrace each brides individuality, we are happy to input the clients ideas and discuss how we can make them work and bring them to life.  Its very inspiring meeting our clients and we draw on lots of ideas into the melting pot. Whether it is interpreting a clients idea of her gob-smacking gown or if its just to add a flash of colour or embellished jiggery pokery to an existing gown in our collection we embrace it all. We have designed many different styles of gowns in many different colours that is hard to pinpoint a particular style or type of gown….although we do particularly favour a nipped waist and a curved hip.”

Photography Credit: Steve Gerrard Photography

Designer Joanne and her team will give clients their utmost attention, from your initial consultation to your final fitting, she works with each bride on a one to one basis, and will give you a vast choice of fabrics, colours, styles and detailing that you need for your dream gown. They work with the most beautiful fabrics from around the world, the smoothest Thai silks to the most Regal of Duchess Silk Satins and the most delicate of French laces, and also offer a number of fabric options to suit varying budgets. Joanne works with contemporary embroidery designers who can create the most  unique and exquisite embroidery designs to suit  each customer. Every gown and corset is handmade and created in house by Joanne and her team.

Photography Credit: Steve Gerrard Photography

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