Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

Top Stories

A DIY Country Wedding: Jacob & Sarah

Kat

February 22, 2012

Jacob & Sarah had a DIY country wedding at Harmony Museum, PA. "Together with our community of friends, we pretty much made everything on our own because we wanted our wedding day to represent who we are," Sarah told me. "Having the wedding ceremony and reception take place in a non traditional atmosphere also helped to sort of describe where we were coming from, a subculture scene of punk music and tattoos. One of the most important things that we wanted to come from our wedding day was to have a celebration with the people who we love the most. We have a very close group of friends that we respect and hold close and we wanted them to feel like it wasn't just 'Jake and Sarah's Day' but rather a party for all of us. Immediately after the ceremony, which was fairly short, there was just a big party."
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WIN The Soundtrack to your Wedding with Wedbeat

Kat

February 21, 2012

Wanna party like Monique & Lee (pictured above) at your own wedding? Well I've got someone that might just be able to help you on your way. Wedbeat is a unique online service that allows you to compile your own personalised wedding playlist and then have it presented and ready to play on a 24ct gold CD. No more cheesy wedding DJs and no more having to faff with an mp3 playlist, when, let's be honest, all you wanna do is crank up the music and party! They say, "With our flagship service - The Soundtrack to Your Wedding - couples can order 3, 4 or 5 hours of music on a professionally produced, ready to play 24ct gold CD. The music on each and every CD is highly personalised by a couples' choice of their favourite genres and eras and 'must have' songs."
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Curiosity & Courage: A Guest Post by Marianne Taylor

Kat

February 21, 2012

One of the biggest fears for photographers (and I’m referring to photographers as that’s my reality, feel free to substitute a camera for whatever is your passion) when making the transition into a working professional is the doubt about whether doing something for a living takes the shine out of it. Whether in a few years you will start feeling like a new assignment is just ‘another day in the office’, and that in the end you lose that passion you have for your craft. For me this was one of the biggest psychological challenges to get over when I was thinking about starting my business. I was so protective of my craft, my creative process and my artistic outlet, and I was so afraid of potentially compromising all that I loved about photography if it was to be the provider of my main income. Eventually a switch flipped in my head though, and it seemed like madness to sit in an office doing a job that wasn’t fulfilling, while I could spend all my days with a camera in my hand doing what I love. Making that leap was at the same time scary and overwhelming, but also freeing, like stepping into my true self.
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A Burning Man Inspired Wedding: Christine & David

Kat

February 21, 2012

TThere's so much about Christine & David's wedding that I utterly adore - Christine's Wai-Ching wedding dress, the metal-welding ceremony, the Burning Man inspired after-party... seriously, if you don't love this wedding you're bonkers. "Well, we started off by not trying to be anything other than ourselves," Christine told me. "The only thing I knew I wanted was my Wai-Ching dress and a gluten-free cake, and David just wanted a raucous party. Neither of us had expectations of what our wedding should be, so we just took the parts of the traditional wedding that we liked, ditched the parts we didn't care about, and made some things up along the way."
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A Breathtaking Australian Wedding & A Bride Who Wore Black: Amber & Gary

Kat

February 20, 2012

You know when an image just stops you dead in your tracks? An image that you can't help but pause for a few seconds and go 'wow'. Well that pretty much happened to me with every single photograph of Amber & Gary's wedding. Wedding photographer Samm Blake is quite simply phenomenal. See? I bet you whispered 'wow' too didn't you? "I wouldn't say we were purposely going for a Rock n Roll wedding, but as I play at many weddings every year as a professional musician, the cookie cutter white strapless dress look really didn't excite me," Amber told me. "I tried on over 50 traditional dresses in dress shops and didn't love any of them!. My decision to wear black was probably the biggest diversion from 'traditional' and came from my love of being slightly dramatic and different, while also wanting to be glamorous."
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Roo’s Favourite Finds: Fabulous Favours

Kat

February 20, 2012

As the rest of you Rock n Roll Brides will be aware, there are certain age-old wedding traditions that we love and want to uphold, whereas others leave us looking a bit glassy-eyed. The beauty of the contemporary wedding is that we’re free to do away with the stuff that doesn’t make sense to us pretty much without question – for us, I naturally just assumed that we’d be forsaking the wedding favour. Now, I’ve only been to three weddings in my time and I received a wedding favour at just one of them – so you’ll forgive me for thinking that there was no real “meaning” or general substance to the idea. In fact, the tradition apparently dates back to as early as the 16th century, when wedding guests were given what is known as a bonbonniere – a small trinket box that held sugar cubes/confectionary. Sugar was then somewhat of a luxury, and to give it as a gift was indicatory of the bride and groom’s wealthy standing. As time went on and sugar became more of an affordable commodity, the tradition became popular with lower classes of bridal parties – and the rest, as they say, is history.
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A Family-Central, DIY Backyard Wedding: Adam & Kim

Kat

February 17, 2012

Adam & Kim were married at home in their back garden in front of a retro caravan that they'd bought especially for the occasion! The entire day was DIY as they wanted their wedding to be about all the things, and the people, that they love. "Our love and what we love is what inspired our wedding day. We wanted to create something that was very personal and a signature of our relationship," the bride explained. "Each part of the day was special and unique to us; even the format was flipped to the traditional idea of many. I found the traditional wedding magazine’s a bore and wondered if there was something wrong to not admire these staged, stuffy epic weddings. It wasn’t until I delved more on the internet that I found that I wasn’t the only one who felt this way and that others were creating some fabulous and unique days of their own. Rock n Roll Bride was a site that made me feel at home."
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The Inspirations: Princess Lasertron

Kat

February 15, 2012

You know Princess Lasertron right? Inventor of the felt & button bouquet (yes, the original inventor of the concept!) and fashion designer from Omaha. Jeez, it's hard to put into words how much I adore Megan, the lady behind the brand. After falling in love with her over the internet, and a mutual respect that grew from expanding our respective businesses at the same time, I was utterly flummoxed when she invited me to model in her catwalk show at Omaha Fashion Week in August. At the time I thought the trip would be a shrewd business move and nothing more. However yes while it certainly was, what I didn't expect was the epic and genuine real life friendship that would blossom from that trip. I love her, I love her family, I love her outlook on life and work, and I love love love that she's agreed to be interviewed in The Inspirations. My sister from another mister, I adore you...
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A Christmas Meets Halloween Wedding: Holly & Gareth

Kat

February 15, 2012

Holly & Gareth were married in late November and so had a kind of Christmas meets Halloween themed wedding. "Originally I quite liked the idea of a festival-y vibe wedding but Gareth's not very outdoorsy and I'm not keen on hot weather so a winter wedding it was!" Holly explained. "We were also on a budget so an out of season wedding also worked in our favour! My sister described our theme as, 'What do you get if you cross Christmas and Halloween?!'"
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How to Maintain a Good Work/Life Balance: A Guest Post By Adam Bronkhorst

Kat

February 14, 2012

I’m going to start out by saying I'm not here to tell you that this is definitely the right way to get a good work/life balance. However this is the way that I (try to) do it so I wanted to share it with you - who knows, hopefully I can help someone! It’s what works for me at this moment in time and enables me to switch off when I need to and not being all-consumed by my work. It’s really difficult being a freelance photographer. Right I’ve said it. We all know it. We all love it, but lets face it, it can be tough as hell sometimes. I can only imagine it's exactly the same for people in other areas of the wedding industry. We love our jobs so we spend most of the time on our own sat in front of a computer...at any time of day or night. As business owners we often need to work for long hours over the weekend and still be expected to be sat at our computers at 9am on a Monday morning to answer emails.
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Most Popular

Wedding Planning Advice

Your Wedding Doesn’t Need a PR Campaign

Kat

The Photography Carousel Ride

August 12, 2025

Planning a wedding is hard enough without also being subjected to a running public commentary. And yet, that’s exactly what’s happening on TikTok right now. Every detail is open for critique, whether it’s the dress silhouette, the centrepieces, or the way someone walks down the aisle. Not just behind closed doors, but in your own comment section, where onlookers are ready to openly judge your every decision and brazenly discuss why they don’t like what you did.
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Preserving Your Wedding Flowers: How to Turn Your Bouquet into Pressed Flower Art

Guest Contributor

August 11, 2025

Your wedding bouquet doesn’t need to die a slow, soggy death in a vase after your wedding. If you’ve put time, money, and meaning into your flowers, why not actually do something with them? Pressing your bouquet is an easy, hands-on way to make something that will last forever. Artist and founder of Domain of the Flowering, Tricia Paoluccio, breaks it down into something anyone can do, no experience required. This is your no-fluff, no-fuss guide to turning wedding flowers into something worth keeping.
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How to Create the Ultimate Alternative Wedding Playlist

Guest Contributor

Twigs Branch

July 30, 2025

More often than not, weddings are much more than a quiet evening event with a little dinner and music. They’re an all-day, outright celebration of lives intertwining – and music is the symphony that elevates every moment. So what better way to mark the occasion than to creatively compose the soundtrack for your entire day – just as if you were soundtracking the movie of your life. Here’s an outline of what your day could look like. Use it as inspiration to create a day that feels authentically you!
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The Soundtrack of Love: How to Choose the Perfect Wedding Music

Jon Carpenter

Alyssa Foster

July 22, 2025

Music is the language of us all. It is the Great Mood Bringer, the Atmosphere Creator, the Immortal Setter of Tones. It’s what makes us cry at the start of Up, and at the end of Forrest Gump. It gives you the power to bring every guest to their feet, or have them sobbing in the aisle. And when you’re crafting your wedding day ‘experience’, it’s the most powerful tool at your disposal - more than the speeches, styling, and stationery combined.
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Diversity in Bridal – Are We Going Backwards?

Kat

Maggie Sottero

July 21, 2025

There was a moment, not too long ago, when it felt like the bridal industry might finally be waking up. In 2020, the push for inclusivity hit a much-needed tipping point. The Black Lives Matter movement forced many of us to acknowledge what had long been true: representation in bridal - especially for Black, mixed and non-white couples - was sorely lacking. Around the same time, body diversity started to gain traction too. Brands began hiring larger models, offering extended sample sizes, and showing dresses on more than just one very specific body type.
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Las Vegas Weddings

The Best Wedding Venues in Las Vegas for Alternative Couples

Kat

July 3, 2025

Whether you want retro kitsch, desert drama, or a quickie with flair, Vegas has you covered. One of the best things about getting married in Vegas is the freedom. You actually don't need a chapel or specific wedding venue at all; you could get married on the street if you wanted to! But if you are looking for a tried and true space that will be used to working with alt couples like you, here are our favourites:
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Tattooed Weddings

Second Time Lucky: A Dark, Urban & Industrial Wedding

Kat

Amanda Downie Creative

July 24, 2025

Jodie and Billy’s wedding wasn’t their first. Back in 2011, before same-sex marriage was legal in Australia, they held a commitment ceremony. They tried to make it traditional, but later realised most of it hadn’t felt right. After eight years apart to figure out who they both were, they reconnected and wanted to marry again - this time with the same rights as straight couples. They were also really clear on what they did and did not want from a wedding.
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A Private Joshua Tree Elopement with Edge

Kat

Love and Lattitudes

July 22, 2025

Vegas natives Sara and Anthony decided to marry away from the neon lights, wanting something a bit quieter, that felt more like them. They had visited the park together many times so when it came time to plan their wedding, they knew it would be the perfect place. They even booked the same AirBnB that they stayed in on their very first trip together. “We wanted our theme to be a mix of our love of the desert, our Vegas roots, and a little edge,” they explained. “The inspiration was ultimately the things we love and who we are.”
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Organic Bohemian Wedding with Earthy Elements

Kat

Laura Wills

July 16, 2025

Set against the dark timber of a black barn, Gabrielle and Ross' wedding day featured textured florals, stone-cut signage, and a timeline designed to feel relaxed. They skipped the altar line-up, seating their closest people in the front row instead. They also didn't want to say long vows in front of an audience so those were shared privately earlier in the day. Their main ceremony lasted just five minutes. “It felt incredibly special to share that intimate moment between the two of us alone reminiscing on the six years we’ve spent together", the bride said.
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Gothic Weddings

Second Time Lucky: A Dark, Urban & Industrial Wedding

Kat

Amanda Downie Creative

July 24, 2025

Jodie and Billy’s wedding wasn’t their first. Back in 2011, before same-sex marriage was legal in Australia, they held a commitment ceremony. They tried to make it traditional, but later realised most of it hadn’t felt right. After eight years apart to figure out who they both were, they reconnected and wanted to marry again - this time with the same rights as straight couples. They were also really clear on what they did and did not want from a wedding.
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Gothic Wedding: Embrace Dark Elegance with Faux Flowers

Guest Contributor

July 3, 2025

There’s no one way to be goth. Some of us were raised on fantasy novels and Victorian mourning gowns. Some of us still listen to Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge on repeat. Others just feel most themselves in black, with a little lace and a lot of eyeliner. Whether you’re leaning medieval, romantic, emo, soft goth or something in between, a gothic wedding is about choosing aesthetic over tradition and owning the mood that feels most like you.
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Gothic Romance on the Beach

Kat

Rust and Bark

June 25, 2025

t's not often you see gothic inspired weddings on white sand beaches, but that's exactly what felt right for Koleen and Tay. Both hairstylists with the same February birthday (!) they chose a private stretch of Mexican coast because Koleen had always dreamed of getting married by the ocean wearing black. Tying the knot the day before Halloween, right in the middle of Día de Muertos celebrations, it was the perfect setting for them.
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Photo Shoots

A Spooky, Witchy Artists’ Engagement Shoot

Kat

The Shukans

July 23, 2025

Whitney and Isaac are incredibly creative, so when it came to planning their pre-wedding engagement shoot, they knew they didn't want the standard 'lets go to a random location and take some average pics' type vibe. Instead, they leaned into what makes them, them. Isaac started a painting during the shoot and then actually finished the piece. It now hangs in their home. They wanted their love (and their many creatures!) captured in a way that felt raw and real, mixing moody home life with artistic expression.
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Goddess Meets Gladiator: A Fine Art Elopement for Modern Mythology

Kat

Smoke and the Sea

June 17, 2025

Every now and then, a shoot lands in our inbox that makes us want to scream YESSSSSS and throw our laptops across the room in pure excitement. This is one of those shoots. It’s not just visually stunning, it’s visionary. Bold, sculptural, mythic and modern all at once. A wedding editorial that doesn’t just break the mould - it tosses it into a volcano and dances in the ashes.
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