Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

Australia

Colour, Confetti, Candy, Cakes & Kilts: Amanda & Colin

Kat

July 14, 2011

"Colin and I have been together for almost 7 years and thought it was about time that we tied the knot," read the email I received from newlywed Amanda last week. "Unlike most women, I don't think I ever really dreamed of what my wedding would be like so I didn't really know where to start when it came to the planning. I'm a complete control freak and knew that I wanted to make and take part in creating as much for the wedding that I could so I started looking for inspiration on various websites and in books." "We knew that we wanted a few things for certain: a great photographer (or 2) to capture every grin, tear and laugh; a sweetie buffet; lots of handmade touches; fairy lights (and lots of them!); cupcakes; photo booth; a black and white wedding with splashes of colour; a hand fastening ceremony; confetti and sparklers." From these simple ideas they created the stunning wedding you see on these pages! "Colin was really eager to have a hand fastening ceremony and we both wanted to involve our family in the ceremony as much as possible," continued the bride. "It was so important to us that we showed our love and appreciation for our family and this was the perfect way to not only add a splash of colour but it was also to show them exactly how much they mean to us."
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Stacey & John’s 1950’s Cocktail Party Wedding

Kat

July 6, 2011

Stacey & John's 1950's inspired Melbourne wedding was held at The Gables Mansion. Their photographer Kim of Red Telegram told us all about it, "In discussion with Stacey & John they revealed that they wanted their wedding to feel as much like a wedding as a 1940′s/ 50′s style cocktail party, with guests arriving to the beautiful Gables in East Malvern on dusk for a night filled with love, laughter, tears (of joy), gypsy jazz and romance."
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Loretta & Andy’s Backyard BBQ Wedding

Kat

June 22, 2011

"I would describe our wedding as a bit country barn ho-down, a bit backyard BBQ and a sprinkling of vintage," newlywed Loretta. "We've always been a bit Rock n Roll. We met over a shared love of music and spent the first three years of our relationship going to gigs together. Our first date after our son was born was going to see Midlake at the Prince of Wales. Andy's other true love is his Martin guitar. Our inspiration came from drives through the country, we always stop when we find a great old ramshackle barn and take photos. Some of our favourite gigs have been in places like Meeniyan at the old Town Hall. It's in places like these that bucket loads of inspiration can be found. You mix pretty fabrics and detailing with rusty old sheds and and fields of grass and hay and it's a match made in heaven."
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Katherine & Marc’s ‘Non-Weddingy’ Brisbane Celebration

Kat

June 15, 2011

"Your blog inspired me to reach for the stars," wrote newlywed Katherine. "We began our seven month wedding planning journey with no theme and no colours...I did not want to be restricted. We choose wedding elements that we loved...not because they matched or fit a certain criteria and let it come together organically. I love everything whimsical...so it was a natural progression for our wedding to have whimsical elements." The ceremony was held at St Stephen's Cathedral, Brisbane, and the couple rocked up in a blue Cadillac belonging to their friends. "Afterwards, 40 of our family and friends boarded a boat for a twilight cruise on the Brisbane river...it was magical! We chartered a 2 level boat; with an open top deck and enclosed area downstairs where we had a buffet dinner & desert. We walked around with no shoes on, mingled, ate, drank and had a good time! It was so nice & relaxing with just our family and closest friends."
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Peter & Alisha’s Whimsical Woodland Wedding

Kat

June 1, 2011

Peter & Alisha's Sydney wedding had a whimsical woodland vibe (complete with animal masks no less!)...with both modern and vintage twists. The bride explained, "I wanted to do something bright and whimsical with some traditional and vintage twists. I love colour so the blue of the bridesmaid's dresses knocked me over when I saw it ... its also one of my maids favourite colours. I wanted to surprise my friends and family with some little surprises , I hope we did. I love autumn colours and bright blue skies in May. Green goes well with these two palletes too and thats my favouite colour."
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A Johanna Johnson Bride – Belinda & Joel’s Rainy Australian Wedding

Kat

May 13, 2011

Belinda & Joel's wedding is exciting to me for a number of reasons. Not only was it sent over by one of my favourite dress designers, Johanna Johnson (Belinda's dress and headband were by the designer) but the wedding was shot by photographer Marcus Bell, who has just been included in the top 10 photographers in the world by American Photo Magazine (alongside a load of other Rock n Roll Bride favourites including Jonas Peterson, The Image is Found and Our Labor of Love.) So needless to say, this wedding is a crash! bang! smack-you-between-the-eyes-with-awesomeness of a wedding. "Once I found my beautiful Johanna Johnson dress the inspiration came from there!" the bride told me. "I didn’t want to be a traditional bride with the big dress and veil or have my bridesmaids in all the same dress, I wanted the wedding to be unique and individual – to be me."
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Sarina & Wayne’s “Spectacular! Spectacular!” Rock n Roll meets Moulin Rouge Wedding

Kat

May 12, 2011

Sarina & Wayne were married on their own estate in Denmark, West Australia, where they farm large crayfish (lobster!) Their gardens made the perfect setting for their ceremony and Moulin Rouge inspired after party. Sarina wore a dress by Collensione which she rocked up herself by adding a vest by Dada & Co. The bride also designed and made the junior bridesmaid's dress from black satin. She also gave it a black bustle of tulle at the back to really give it a Rock n Roll edge. Her adult bridesmaid wore a dress by Wheels & Doll Baby.
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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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A Marie Antoinette Inspiration

Kat

March 23, 2011

You know I've got a bit of a 'thing' for Marie Antoinette right? Well Marie Antoinette + pink hair couldn't really be more perfect for Rock n Roll Bride if it tried could it? "This is what happened when 2 crazy photographers from different states in Australia put their heads together," began photographer Vanessa. "It all started with a wig Rhondda found on the internet (not the 1 we used actually) and after many chats and emails later we came up with Marie Antoinette as a bride. I wanted a bouquet out of the norm and didn't really want traditional flowers in it. What better florists to put my thoughts of an "APPLE" bouquet into something fab.."Velvetlily" florist. So after a talking to them about want I wanted they came up with this amazing result! I also wanted apples and vine in the hair!!..a bit of a task for the make-up artist but we got there in the end."
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Anthony & Stephanie’s Sydney Harbour Wedding

Kat

March 9, 2011

Anthony & Stephanie were married in November in Sydney and had the wonderful and exceptionally talented Jonas Peterson to shoot their wedding. When Jonas emailed me to let me know he had a new wedding to share with me he didn't have to ask me twice if I wanted to blog it or not! Regular readers will know I am a big (massive, enormousness) fan of Jonas and his work so it's an absolute pleasure to feature this gorgeous wedding on these here pages. The ceremony took place at St Peter Chanel ("oh yes I had a designer's name in the title of MY church HA" laughed the bride) in Woolwich, Australia. After the ceremony the guests were treated to a boat ride across the Sydney harbour to Aqua Dining - a restaurant with the quintessential Sydney view - for the reception.
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WIN Free Wedding Photography from Xanthe Roxburgh

Kat

March 7, 2011

Everyone deserves to have fabulous wedding photography. Fact. After the wedding day is done, it's the one thing that's there for the rest of your lives, to remind you of your special day. However not everyone can afford a professional which is why I am seriously excited that Australian photographer Xanthe Roxburgh would like to offer one lucky Rock n Roll Bride reader Free Wedding Photography and a free engagement or day after shoot! And the best bit? Even though Xanthe is based Down Under, she is willing to travel world wide to shoot the winning wedding! All we just ask is that transportation and lodging costs are covered if it’s 100km outside of Newcastle, Australia.
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Jemima & Jacko’s Genuine Vintage Wedding

Kat

February 17, 2011

Jemima & Jacko's vintage wedding took place in Australia in January. They wanted to create a wedding that was a true reflection of them as a couple and the vintage theme just fitted! "We started out wanting to have a feel that was uniquely ourselves. We wanted to do things differently but didn’t know how to go about it. In the end, we chose everything by our own taste and the whole vintage/antique theme just fell into place purely by accident," Jemima told me. The bride wore a genuine vintage dress and jewellery which she was gifted by a friend who owns a vintage store after she'd modelled for her. Her reception dress was by Fleur Wood. Jemima's bridesmaid also wore a vintage dress from Ruby Lane and to keep the theme going, the couple made all their invitations using a vintage typewriter on hondmade paper, "Time consuming but really a joy to type up. Also cost effective" Jemima concluded.
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Renae & Albert’s Rained-Off but Perfect DIY Wedding

Kat

February 15, 2011

Renae & Albert were married on 10.10.10 in Australia. Their 5 minute ceremony took place on Renae's parent's porch and their reception was held in a renovented old pub in Caboolture Historical Village, Australia. They were supposed to be married at a secluded park and creek at Rocksberg but due to torrential rains, it got flooded so had to be moved. "We could not even get to the suburb let alone the park," Renae told me. "Many tears were had the day before the wedding but my parents stepped up and offered their place. They actually had a friend’s wedding there the day before ours."
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Monique & Lee’s 1920’s Powerhouse Wedding

Kat

February 8, 2011

Jonas Peterson weddings are like gold dust and I'm so honoured that he lets me feature so many of them (for those of you that don't know the inner workings of blog-land, a wedding will generally go to one blog or magazine only, so being allowed to be the lucky one is really something when a wedding is as stunning as this one.) Monique & Lee were married at Brisbane Powerhouse - a wonderfully urban and industrial converted powerhouse. It is now home to a theatre and a couple of restaurants and is right on the river. Stunning! Monique wore a gorgeous reproduction vintage dress from Le Luxe Clothing. "I never even set foot into a bridal store, let alone tried on a ''proper'' bridal dress - I always wanted a vintage, flapper inspired dress but found it incredibly difficult to find one in my size - I'm an AU 14, and I'm pretty sure chicks in the 1920s had waists the size of my thigh! I spent months searching for one and really hit the jackpot when I found Le Luxe Clothing. Because it's not enough for me to just have beads and sequins, I added a feather capelet by Ksubi, that I bought on ebay." She chose not to carry real flowers, and instead created her own vintage brooch bouquet.
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Jo & Johan’s Eclectic Cocktail Party Wedding

Kat

January 28, 2011

Jo & Johan and we were married on the 25th of September in Brisbane, Australia. Their wedding was an eclectic mix of their own personal styling ideas. "The wedding planning for me was a process of questioning absolutely everything that was the 'norm' when it comes to weddings," Jo told me. "We kept the traditions that had value to us, but completely reinvented or simply discarded those that we felt were unnecessary. One of the very first decisions I made was that I knew I didn't want to have a traditional bridal party. Instead, we asked all our guests to wear black and white, then our bridal party and immediate family members wore colour - that way they stood out as important, without having to be matchy-matchy. I'm so glad we did it, it was one of my favourite things about our wedding."
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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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