Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

Beach

A Retro, Kitsch & Cherry-Themed Southend-on-Sea Wedding: Heidi & Jim

Kat

January 11, 2012

You can't help but fall in love with Heidi & Jim's Southend on Sea wedding. The cherry theme is just so cute and perfect for a retro, quirky and kitsch seaside wedding. "Our inspiration was most definately ourselves, our loved ones and where we live, sunny Southend on Sea!" Heidi explained. "We wanted a wedding that was totally personal to us, that involved everyone close to us as much as we could and that was totally full of fun and unstuffy. We knew we wanted good food and a venue that was ours, where we could do what we wanted, decorate it how we wanted, drink the drinks we wanted and eat the food we wanted!"
Read more...

A Vintage Nautical Wedding: Liz & Tom

Kat

December 8, 2011

Liz & Tom injected a subtle nautical theme into their October wedding. "In our first few years as a couple I used to call Tom the one-armed fish man," Liz laughed. "Our venue was The Bull Hotel in Bridport, a harbour market town, and we both want a scrimshaw anchor tattoo (haven't done it yet but the plan is to have one for Christmas). So we flooded our wedding with vintage nautical touches and plenty of rum. Rock n Roll Bride was the only wedding blog that I read as I planned my wedding. It was from reading what other Rock n Roll Brides had done for their big day that we had the confidence to go our own way."
Read more...

A Red & Blue Themed South African Beach Wedding: Rupert & Liana

Kat

December 5, 2011

Anyone fancy a South African beach wedding on a chilly Monday morning? All I know is Rupert & Liana's wedding certainly warmed my cockles when it landed in my inbox recently. Their October wedding was inspired by the things they love. Liana loves red and Rupert blue so they wanted this combination to be their wedding theme. They're also both love the beach so of course they had to have their ceremony on the San Lameer Beach, SA.
Read more...

A Wedding Inspired by the Ocean

Kat

September 8, 2011

The inspiration behind this beautiful Californian wedding, sent over to me by Jerry Yoon Photography, was the ocean. The couple, who met through a mutual friend in Philadelphia and them moved to California, had visited The Monterey Bay Aquarium during their first year living together. "I loved it," the bride told me " the intense blues and greens when you looked down in the water, to the contrasting sand and beaten rocks. I love the ocean and anything relating to it. During that visit, I took a bunch of Polaroid photos at the museum and our walks around Monterey and Pacific Grove. Years later, when we were looking for a location for our wedding, I came across those original Polaroids of Lovers Point Park, and I instantly knew this is where we were getting married."
Read more...

A Laid-Back Beach Wedding at Camber Sands: Fiona & Rob

Kat

August 11, 2011

Fiona & Rob were hitched right by the beach at The Gallivant in Camber Sands. The style of the beautiful hotel suited their beach theme perfectly. "I was quite keen for it not to look too wedding'y - or formal or too orchestrated" newlywed Fiona told me. "We didn't consciously go with a theme but it kind of happened! We live on a beach and both my husband and I are kitesurfers so it had to feature strongly and in the end it made it easier to have a focus shaping our creative decisions! I think always try and make stuff, not only to save money but to make it more personal and make your loved ones feel involved."
Read more...

A British Beach-Inspired, DIY Wedding: Emma & Matt

Kat

August 1, 2011

I teased a photo of Emma in her amazing short short wedding dress on twitter as soon as photographer David McNeil sent over this wedding to me. Whoaaa, I literally had to share it with someone (well 12,000 someone's) right away! I. Die. "We got married in Bardsea (on the bay of Morecambe)" Emma told me. "It's my parent's village which is just such a gorgeous place near the moors and the beach. Even though we live in Camden and love it - we're both down to earth and love being outdoors and away from the city, so it was a natural choice. We got married at Eden Lodge, on the outskirts of the village, which has recently been converted from a Edwardian home to a small, minimalist hotel in some AMAZING grounds. We got married in the hotel itself and then the reception was in a marquee in the grounds. It was the hotel's first wedding and they were AMAZING. We can't sing their praises enough. The staff were EXCEPTIONAL and really went above and beyond to make our day perfect."
Read more...

Oysters, Beach Huts & Paddling in the Sea – Abby & Julian’s Beautiful Whitstable Beach Wedding

Kat

June 21, 2011

Ahh the great British seaside! While we can't rival (what seems like) the rest of the world in the sunshine stakes, our beach resorts certainly do have some beautiful British charm don't they? I've visited Whitstable a number of times (it's where we shot the mad hatter bride shoot!), and I have to say, photographer Joanna Brown's capture of this wonderful town is pretty much perfect. What a lucky couple Abby & Julian are to have had her as their wedding photographer! After Julian proposed on Whitstable beach in September, the seaside town seemed like the perfect place to get married too. The couple were wed at The Beacon House on the seafront. "We both really wanted to get married, but to be honest neither of us were particularly fussed about a fancy wedding, and once I'd had a look at a couple of wedding magazines I started having mini-palpitations at the horror and the cost of it all," Abby told me. " I do love a wedding, but I hate being centre of attention myself and the whole coordinated, packaged nightmare of it was enough to bring me out in a sweat. We did visit a few beautiful venues, but knew they were just not us, and the final straw was visiting a perfectly manicured courtyard garden venue which had installed a permanent marquee 'facility' complete with carpet tiles AND bow back seat covers (my two pet hates), glowing colour change pillars 'to fit your colour scheme' and multi-function twinkling 'star canopy'. They were so proud of it and it just epitomised everything I hate and DID NOT WANT at our wedding. Finding the world of wedding blogs was a revelation and really just gave me the confidence to do what we wanted all along."
Read more...

Candice & Dave’s Budget-Friendly, Parisian-Themed Wedding

Kat

May 30, 2011

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."
Read more...

Hannah & Carlos’ Full Moon, Movie-Themed Fancy Dress Wedding

Kat

April 15, 2011

Hannah & Carlos' full moon/supermoon/autumn equinox/fancy dress/movie themed wedding rocks my world. I'm kind of blown away by the whole thing! The couple put so much love and attention in creating their perfect wedding that I didn't want to miss one detail...so, over to the bride... "We had a fancy dress wedding, the theme being movies. A big part of Carlos and my time together has been spent watching movies...we love them! We've shared many hours snuggled up together, going on journeys through film."
Read more...

Rachael & Jake’s Maui Beach Engagement Session

Kat

April 11, 2011

When it came to shooting Rachael (from Maui) and Tim's (from Florida) engagement shoot, where else could be as perfect as on the beach? "These guys are all about the beach and rock the surf style," said photographer Wendy Laurel. "I mean who else wears their bikini on their engagement shoot? The shoot was at one of their favorite beaches on Maui, Ironwoods, and in the Honolua Valley (next to the famed Honolua Bay). Both places are on the upper west side of Maui where lots of good surf and a large surf community can be found."
Read more...