Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

Kat

Sarah & James’ Deep Purple, One Mayfair Wedding

Kat

May 11, 2011

I was actually really excited about Sarah & James' wedding before it even happened. My friend Alicia Barron, events manager of One Mayfair, told me about this fabulous wedding she had coming up at her venue - a bride in a purple dress, loads of dramatic lighting...ie right up my street! I told her to try and find out who the photographer was so I could beg them to let me feature it afterwards. But low and behold, would you believe that the lucky photographer was actually my friend Annamarie Stepney! I saw these images pop up on her blog last week, but before I could even email her with my request, she'd already sent them over...and told me that the bride had read Rock n Roll Bride throughout her planning too. Woo! Happy faces all roun
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Stephanie & Kevin’s Rockin’ Party Wedding

Kat

May 11, 2011

Stephanie & Kevin were married at Alveston Manor, Stratford upon Avon. The day started with an intimate ceremony and reception for just 20 guests. The couple then had a massive evening party with 200 people. "Only having 20 guests in the day we wanted it to be relaxed and just about the family and us the way we wanted to do it, then 200 guests in the evening to really party," the bride told me. "We did it our way and had great fun."
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Engracia & Andy’s Marrakech Wedding Photos

Kat

May 11, 2011

Engracia & Andy got married in Flagstaff, US but had their wedding portraits taken in Marrakech by Andreas Holm. "We both love to travel, but didn't want the hassle of figuring out the paperwork for getting married outside of the United States," they told me. "So instead we had a very small ceremony with our closest friends and family in our home town right before we took off to celebrate, just the two of us, in Marrakesh. Even though we didn't get married in Morocco we still wanted our wedding photos to be taken there... I was dead set on having wedding photos on a camel in the desert. It was the perfect location for our wedding/honeymoon...it's exotic, romantic and the vibrant colours and people made a perfectly contrasting backdrop for our wedding photos - even though it was raining."
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Candy Coloured Spring Inspiration

Kat

May 9, 2011

Following on from yesterday's beautiful shoot from Lara Jade, I wanted to share some more mouth-watering Spring inspiration, this time from photographer Yuna Leonard. This shoot was set up by Yuma to show some of the aspects of Spring that inspire her and her photography, "I am so fascinated with cherry blossom, candy, all the pretty flowers, the Spring smell… a vintage dress + western boots + candy looking balloons is my favorite spring combination!" she wrote.
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“And the Bridesmaids Wore White” ~ My Top 10 White Bridesmaid Dresses

Kat

May 7, 2011

The world let out a collective 'GASP' as Pippa Middleton stepped out of her car and walked towards Westminster Abbey last Friday. "Shock...horror! The bridesmaid is wearing white!" I imagined a million old ladies whispering. I personally loved the look - fresh, clean and more than anything, wearing the same colour (and designer) as the bride made them look like a team - a unit...Team Middleton if you will! As you can well imagine, I was not one of those completely shocked, and this 'revelation' wasn't actually a huge surprise. We've seen bridesmaids in white on this blog before (waaaay back in January 2009 in fact!) and did you know it's actually quite the royal tradition to have bridesmaids wearing white - even Diana's maids wore the same colour as she did.
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Free Wedding Photography For all with Hannah Millard Photography!

Kat

May 6, 2011

Hannah Millard is a budding wedding photographer from Derbyshire, UK, and in order to shoot the kinds of weddings she wants to (ie yours!) she would like to offer the readers of Rock n Roll Bride the chance for free wedding photography! Just to make this clear, this is not a competition. Hannah is super keen to shoot more alternative and Rock n Roll weddings, and so if you think you're wedding fits the bill and she's free on your wedding date (and it's before 1st July 2012) she will come shoot your wedding for free! Too good to be true? I think so! Quick...before she changes her mind!
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Post-it Notes – Top Tips for your Wedding Planning & Business – 6th May 2011

Kat

May 6, 2011

DIY is a great way to get creative, stamp your personality on your day and save some money. Reader Terri writes, "I fell in love with the shoes from the GHD Cinderella advert that were covered in rhinestones! I thought they are perfect for my bridesmaids. I managed to find Benjamin Adams ones for around £275 and Perditas would customise your own for around £150. However I am having 11 bridesmaids so both options were way out my budget!
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Thursday Treats – 5th May 2011

Kat

May 5, 2011

I have yet more exciting news to share this week (seriously, I'm boring aren't I?!) I've been asked to speak at a two-day workshop for photographers, called Love to Learn, taking place in London on September 6th & 7th. I will be speaking alongside Feather Love Photography and Bash, Please event planners! The venue is to be confirmed but to reserve your spot, and get the early bird rate of £650 (will go up to £800 closer to the date), head over to organiser Christina Bronson's website and register your interest. Also, check out this video made by killer video-demons Sharkpig to promote the event!
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Carly & John’s Laid Back, Offbeat Wedding

Kat

May 5, 2011

Carly & John's wedding had a laid back and simple vibe. It was important to them to keep their day genuine, and all their planning and thematic ideas really came about organically. The ceremony took place in Edogawa Japanese Gardens, East Gosford, Australia. "We didn't really have a theme, everything kinda just happened organically with us making decisions about venues, outfits and decorations as they came up," Carly explained. "In the end it was a blend of colour, asian themes with a Rock n Roll twist. The wedding fully represented us as a couple. The ceremony was completely hand crafted for us by our celebrant Sarah Tolmie (love and life inspirations). Instead of the traditional ceremony Sarah started the ceremony with acknowledging aboriginals as the the traditional custodians of the land where we were married, followed by her sharing our story of how we met and how our love grew. She then read out why both of us love the other to our guests, and then instead of vows we used askings that would be the foundations of marriage and how we would strive to behave through out it."
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Hannah & Tom’s Shabby Chic, English Charm Wedding

Kat

May 5, 2011

Hannah & Tom's shabby chic, English country garden wedding had so many adorable details that I simply couldn't turn down the opportunity to feature it. I love how the term 'Rock n Roll' can be applied to so many different styles of weddings don't you? 'Rock n Roll' is an all encompassing love of expressing yourself and your individual quirks though your wedding (well, and real life too!) Anyway, mini-morning lecture over, let's get on with sharing all these beautiful touches shall we?
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That 70’s Show – A Retro Flower-Child Bridal Shoot

Kat

May 4, 2011

The 1970's are well and truly BACK. I don't know about you but I'm seeing the styling of this decade everywhere at the moment - from the rails of the high street to the lookbooks of the high end. Even kitsch 70's décor is back in vogue (apparently...not sure about the whole avocado bathroom thing making a comeback ...) So needless to say, I didn't expect it to be long until someone brought this iconic styling into a bridal shoot. Photographer Catherine of Lily & Frank Photography and florist Steph from Fairy Nuff Flowers worked together to bring this concept together. They set out their goals from the outset as they were keen to make this shoot stand out from the crowd. They wanted the flowers to take centre stage to the styling, to echo the 'flower-child' movement of the 70's I'd suppose, so they make a conscious decision not to use any jewellery or hair accessories on the models. They were also very keen to make it a retro style, rather than the oh-s0-popular vintage styling of the moment - therefore bold pops of colour and strong statement pieces moved to the forefront. Finally, an obvious British feel was imperative as was a vibe of laid-back, fun and alternative-ness.
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Sarah & Justin’s Modern Vintage, New York Wedding

Kat

May 4, 2011

I put a little teaser shot from Sarah & Justin's beautiful wedding on my facebook fan page a few weeks ago, and within about 3 minutes it had received about 40 'likes' which pretty much convinced me (like I didn't know already) that you guys are going to totally heart this one. The elegant New York wedding took place at Bridgewaters Restaurant, New York. The theme for the wedding was an evolving one, and one that really reflected what the bride & groom loved in their daily lives, as well as being complementary to the scenery around them.
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Hitchfest 2011 – Britt & Mike’s “Re-Do” Vegas Wedding

Kat

May 3, 2011

You remember The Bowie Bride and her ridiculously awesome 'Hitchfest 2010' wedding right? Well I have news...and news that shows that even the most meticulously planned/detail-heavy/totally killer weddings can...erm...sometimes go wrong. Britt emailed me this week to tell me all about the drama! "Basically we were told that the wedding we spent over a year planning and pouring our collective heart and soul into, didn't count. Not one bit. We were, at first, very shocked and devastated. Our wedding day was oh-so-special and unique and was such a personal expression of our love that upon hearing this news, made it seem all for not. We knew we were married in our heart of hearts, but legally, our marriage wasn't legal." "This is what happened... we think: Our officiant was supposed to mail our marriage paperwork back after everyone put down all the appropriate signatures. For whatever reason, this step did not occur. So when we went to go order a copy of the marriage certificate, the state told us that we are not legally married and that it was too late to send them the original paperwork from our July 31st nuptials. Cut to us letting out a collective sigh mixed with a resounding, 'F*ck' and a couple of 'What do we do now's?' We knew we had to get ourselves married. Again. But how? We had considered heading down to the courthouse and doing it quick 'n dirty style, but that didn't seem fun enough or crazy enough for a couple like us. I mean, we started the dance party at our 'first' wedding with a group shot of tequila. If a calm and quiet courthouse certainly wasn't our vibe then, it sure as hell wasn't going to be our vibe now."
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A Modern Retro, Bowling Alley Shoot

Kat

May 3, 2011

Today's shoot is one that celebrates all thing British-ness but without a blatant 'jumping on the royal wedding bandwagon.' Thank goodness for these guys and their original take on what it means to be British. "With the royal wedding drawing so much attention around the world to good Ol’ Blighty, I wanted to showcase a quirkier side of England!" stylist and wedding planner Mary of Forever & Ever Events told me. "So I teamed up photographer, Aneta Mak, who specializes in shooting on film, designer Delphine Manivet, milliner Edwina Ibbotson and Bloomsbury Lanes Bowing Alley for an inspirational shoot that celebrated what I consider truly British: high-end meets retro."
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