Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

Kat

Thursday Treats – 27th January 2011

Kat

January 27, 2011

Have you signed up for the party of the year yet? It's shaping up to not only be one of the most popular events I've ever been involved in (nearly 400 of you have already applied for tickets!) but also one of the most exciting. This week I've been chatting music, sweets, cupcakes and centrepieces with my army of helpers, and BOY is this gonna be one hell of a party! In other news, don't forget that if you're not able to attend the party then I'm going to be at a number of other events over the coming months. I'd love to see loads of you there as always!
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Sarah & Jason’s Perfect-for-Them Wedding

Kat

January 26, 2011

One of the (many) things I love about Rock n Roll Brides is how different you all are. You are diverse and fabulous in you own unique ways and that makes me so happy! I love the way I see you all bring who you are to the table, to create the perfect wedding for YOU. It's great to get inspiration from wedding blogs like this one, but at the end of the day it's you + your fiancé who should create YOUR perfect wedding. Sarah & Jason did just that.
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Nathaniel & Eve’s Quickie Wedding

Kat

January 26, 2011

When photographer Eliza Claire tweeted me to tell me the bride she had just met was wearing a Vivienne Westwood dress for her wedding I immediately got excited. So excited in fact that I 'bagged' featuring the event before I'd even seen one photograph! Eve's dress was not an actual 'wedding dress' at all, but one from Vivienne's Anglomania range that she had fallen in love with. "I'd been non stop dress shopping for two weeks and so far had six wedding dresses hanging in my wardrobe - all cream or ivory, all perfectly lovely, but none quite hitting the spot," Eve told me. "The fact was that I wanted a Vivienne Westwood dress - I just love that VW look, the corset style waist, emphasis on the bust, full skirt... But I'd been to her shop and couldn't find anything, I think at that point I was still set on a white wedding you see. Then, the week before the wedding, in one last ditch attempt to find THE dress, I was racing through Selfridges when I passed the Anglomania concession - and there it was. I fell in love with it straight away. It helps that grey and navy are my favourite colours."
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Katie & Olivia’s Natural Beauty

Kat

January 26, 2011

Today's first feature actually isn't wedding-related at all, but I just loved it so much that I had to share it anyway. Sisters Katie & Olivia's shoot took place at the home of photographer, and friend of their family, Lee Anne Havens of Flower Child Photography. The idea for the shoot was inspired by the girls' natural beauty and a desire from Lee Anne to create something unique. "It took me a long time to decide how and where to do this shoot, and in the end I settled on just doing everything at my home studio and made some crazy "costumes" for them," explained Lee Anne.
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Under the Spotlight – For Your Eyes Only

Kat

January 25, 2011

The trend for brides to organise a pre-wedding boudoir shoot to commemorate their pre-wedding self, as well as provide their husband's to be with a sexy memento of just how lucky they are (!) is one that has gained momentum over the past few years. Not many of you will know this, but Iactually did a similar shoot before I got married! Needless to say it wasn't as scary as I thought it was going to be (it was the first professional photo shoot I'd ever done!) and Gareth erm...LOVED the results! One of the poineers in boudoir photography are For Your Eyes Only. The studio based company is run by women for women! They company was set up in 2002 by Alexandra Burns - her idea being to create stunning images of gorgeous women of all shapes and sizes.
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Holly & Michael’s Heart of San Francisco, Fashionista Wedding

Kat

January 24, 2011

It was The Great American Music Hall that played host to Holly & Michael's wedding. It was the couple's love of a good party, Rock n Roll and quirky fashion that inspired their day. "The team behind Union Square’s uber chic Shotwell Boutique, Holly Kricher and Michael Weaver are style savants who’ve worked their way into the hearts and minds of San Francisco’s fashionistas in a very short period of time," explained photographer Christina about the couple, "So, it makes sense that their wedding thoroughly reflected their fashion-forward sensibility."
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Kennon & Bob’s “Double Rainbow” DIY Wedding

Kat

January 24, 2011

Kennon & Bob's "double rainbow" wedding is a perfect example of why less than perfect weather doesn't have to spell a disaster for your wedding or your wedding photographs! The wedding was held at South Shore Cultural Center, Chicago - the same venue that The Obama's held their wedding reception! The couple also loved the venue because all their rental fees are given to support arts and cultural programming in the area. "If you asked our family and friends, they'd say that we're Rock n Roll because we have tattoos and piercings, aren't traditional or religious, go a lot of concerts and love to throw parties," the bride told me. "Ok, we agree. We just didn't want a cookie-cutter wedding. We wanted nothing to do with dowries, religious figures or treating women as possessions. We wanted to share our beliefs in marriage -- love, respect, equality, friendship -- and to throw one hell of a party!"
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A Day in the Life of…The Green Parlour + Lovely DIY Flower Ideas

Kat

January 23, 2011

Last week I was invited to visit The Green Parlour, located in Pangbourne, nr Reading, Berkshire. The flower shop is owned by a girl I actually went to school with, Emma Sampson. Having not seen her for 10 years (!) and having a bit of a penchant for pretty blooms, I jumped at the chance to go and have a play. The idea was to do some quick DIY tutorials to show you all how to make your own bouquets, buttonholes and finally a cute flower crown. However much gossip and laughter meant that the photographs I took weren't the best to illustrate what we did! Whoops... Emma has written up a very helpful step by step guide for the bouquet and the buttonhole though so I do hope you enjoy these despite my rubbish photos. Why not have a go yourself? (and send me your photos afterwards too please!)
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“It’s My Party”…Come Rock n Roll With Me in April!

Kat

January 21, 2011

Remember the last Rock n Roll party? It was totally awesome! However this time I'm going bigger and BETTER! I'm hiring out a whole bar in central London (Soho) on Thursday 14th April 2011 from 6.30 - midnight for the party to end all parties...and guess what? You're ALL invited. Brides, photographers, suppliers/vendors, bloggers, wedding obsessives...all of you! And the reason for this little get together? Well...cos parties are fun right?! The last party was pretty popular. I organised it in just two weeks and just had a small area of a bar reserved. Even though a lot of people couldn't come because it was so last minute, over 100 people still turned up! I was a little blown away by it all and so needless to say I'm now expecting this one to be just as popular. The venue has a capacity of 200 people. There will be a DJ, cupcakes and a photo booth (hopefully complete with silly props - if you have any you'd like to bring please do!) to keep you entertained as well and lots of yummy cocktails and lots of lovely people to talk to! I really hope you can make it!
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A Groovy Kinda Love – The 1960’s are BACK!

Kat

January 21, 2011

"The idea for a 60's inspired shoot came about after I noticed we’re seeing lots and lots of vintage 1950's style about and I figured it was about time the 1960's gave it a run for its money," explained photographer Shelly. "I had a vision of a pink bowler hat and from there, everything else fell into place." Shelly invited planner Kelly (of Boho Weddings) and Asher to model for her. "I knew I wanted mini dresses in a Mary Quant style and Debbie over at Danielle Lara Couture created these two especially for the shoot. When I went to collect them, I ended up picking up a couple of others at the same time – I just couldn’t help myself!"
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Our Wedding Featured in Wedding Ideas Magazine (Again!)

Kat

January 20, 2011

Back in the Summer I was asked by Wedding Ideas Magazine, who originally featured Gareth & my wedding waaay back in 2008, if we would like to take part in a Real Life Weddings Revisited feature. Being a huge poser, I of course jumped at the chance (and Gareth came along for the ride - again - too!) I also thought it would be a nice opportunity to share our wedding with all the new readers of the blog who probably won't have seen it before. What a difference 3 years can make huh? As you can see, our wedding certainly wasn't the most Rock n Roll out there. The wedding industry in the UK was a very different place in 2008, and my disillusion with most of the choices that were offered to us at that time was actually the catalyst for starting this blog and campaigning for alternative weddings everywhere!
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Michael & Chloe’s Seriously Bad Ass Festival/Circus Wedding

Kat

January 20, 2011

Michael & Chloe got married in the Circadia Circus Tent at Woodford Folk Festival, Australia. I think that's all I have to say to let you know that this wedding is seriously bad ass and awesome right? The bride wore a handmade dress and Wellington boots (festivals are muddy!) and the entire wedding was organized by the 'Circadia' team. The couple didn't have bridesmaids, groomsmen or flowers, but they had a cake organized by Michael's sisters (and a sweetie table, again organized for them by their family!) Bogan Bingo - a 90's hair band doing a "bogan" version of Bingo - entertained the guests before the wedding began.
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Pheigi & Kiichiro’s Japanese/Scottish Fusion Wedding

Kat

January 19, 2011

Just wow. Like seriously, wow. That's pretty much all I said for 5 minutes when Pheigi & Kiichiro's Japanese/Scottish fusion wedding hit my inbox this week. I almost don't know where to begin telling their epic wedding story, luckily for me the bride explained it a lot better than I ever could. The couple actually had two weddings - the first in Japan in July 2009 and the second (pictured) in Scotland in September 2010. "My new Hubby and I actually got married in Japan (where we live) in 2009. We went to the city office and signed lots of forms to update my alien registration card, change his official address and get hitched. Which one of those forms was actually my marriage certificate I still don't know. I wore my mothers 1970's full length purple embroidered waistcoat over my purple cord flares and after we went to the crazy Japanese arcade on our street and had photos taken in the hello kitty photo booth. Much fun yet somewhat lacking in romance. We thus decided to come home to Scotland and have another celebration with my family, which we did in September. Planning my wedding from Japan was hard to say the least, especially as I wanted something a little different from the norm, and the whole thing became more of a disappointment as I spent hours trawling through ugly dresses, bland invites and over the top bling, until a good friend with similar problems directed me to your site. From then on I visited your site nearly every other day to remind myself that there were options other than white wedding package A, B or C and so in turn I am sending you my wedding in hope that it may help other brides in the UK realise the same and give them a wee break from the monotony of the wedding industry. I hope you like."
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