Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

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Tina & Scott’s Travel Themed Crafty Wedding

Kat

June 1, 2011

Tina & Scott's travel and craft themed wedding took place at The Greenbranch, Texas. It was predominately a DIY wedding influenced by the couple's travels. "It was mostly a do-it-your self peacock inspired wedding with a splash of anything vintage was a blast," the couple told me. "Our invitations were an image of a vintage suitcase with travel stickers of places we have visited. This connected with our first date; a “geocaching date”. We not only wanted to share our journey as a couple with our guests but also encourage them to have an adventure of their own. The wedding favors for the evening were uniquely trackable geocaching coins designed by us."
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Laura & Rich’s Eco-Friendly & DIY Two-Day Wedding Celebration

Kat

May 31, 2011

Laura & Rich's classic English themed wedding had some super quirky and personal touches. The couple werelegally married at Merton Register Office, London and a few days later had an outdoor blessing ceremony and their reception at Tilford Institute, Surrey. "People were confused as to why we had two days, but why not?" Laura told me. "I wore my dress twice. I was driven in a posh car twice. The first day with my dad, nervous; the second with my new husband, brimming with excitement at seeing my friends! I'd recommend spreading out the love to anyone."
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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."
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Aimee & Ben’s Heavily Tattooed, Handfasting Vow Renewal

Kat

May 26, 2011

Bride Aimee and photographer Naomi Kenton connected through Rock n Roll Bride. They both got talking via facebook about some weddings they'd both seen and liked on the blog and so after getting to know each other well in this informal way, Naomi shot her vow renewal to Ben. Can we also just please stop for one minute and share some love for Aimee & Ben's ink?! Seriously...wow. "Tattoos are a big part of both our lives as Ben is a tattooist," explained Aimee, "and we are both really into all things rockabilly, hot rods and VW lovers so that's what we wanted for the day. We are just ourselves and we do things the way we want and are happy as a result."
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Katie & Tim’s Rustic English Garden Wedding

Kat

May 23, 2011

Katie & Tim were married in August 2010, after being together for nearly 12 years! "We got married in Batcombe Old School Hall, a tiny listed building nestled within the rolling countryside of Somerset," Katie told me. "I was getting overwhelmed by the size and price tag of large stately homes. The Old School was £120, at this price we were able to hire it for the day before to decorate it too!" For their reception they took over an old manor house in Wiltshire (which is no longer doing weddings unfortunately) for 4 whole days with all their friends. A few people even camped in the grounds. "We loved it because it had a barn attached so we didn’t need to spend extra on a marquee plus our guests paid us to stay there which bought the cost down considerably," the bride explained.
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Under the Spotlight – Plan the Destination Wedding of Your Dreams with Sandals & Martha Stewart Weddings

Kat

May 18, 2011

I've got a slightly different kind of post for you today, sponsored by Sandals and Martha Stewart Weddings. I have to say, I got pretty darn excited when I received the call from these industry giants wanting to work with little old me! Sandals have put together a series of three videos, following the story of a couple getting married in Jamaica using their service. The incredible Martha Stewart Weddings are working alongside them to style the weddings of their lucky clients too. The companies were keen for me to be the lucky blog to share these fabulously made videos and I have to say my mind has certainly been changed as to what a 'package destination wedding' can really be. Doesn't the whole wedding looks just totally divine? The couple were able to escape from it all and plan the intimate wedding they wanted - just for them - and that dear reader, is what being Rock n Roll is all about!
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Isobel & Dave’s Vintage-Inspired Budget Wedding

Kat

May 18, 2011

Isobel & Dave's incredible vintage-inspired budget wedding gives me butterflies! I am so excited about sharing all the beautiful personal touches that they put into their day. The whole wedding is a testament to the fact that you don't need to spend a fortune to have your perfect wedding. "The two things we had in our heads from the start were; that we didn't have a very big budget and that we wanted our wedding to reflect us," Isobel told me. "We started by approaching it as a really big party where we’d just happen to get married. The important things for us were that our favourite people were there, our favourite music was playing, and everyone would have fun! We aren’t particularly conventional and there was never any question of following rules or doing things because we ‘should’. I didn't buy a single bridal magazine or visit any bridal shops during the whole process! Rock n Roll Bride and DIY Bride were my only ‘go to’ blogs for inspiration and ideas! We just did things because we wanted to (if we could afford it)! With the little touches – the badges, the teapots as vases, teacups full of sweets, the birdcage for cards and messages, the photo booth (definitely a Rock n Roll Bride idea-steal!), and the bunting – I think we created a wedding that was fun, unique, and best of all, exactly what we’d imagined."
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Caleb & Eliza’s Beautiful Handmade, Vintage Wedding

Kat

May 17, 2011

I have been loving the photography and videos of photographic team For You Love Me for a while now, so I'm super excited to finally share one of their weddings on Rock n Roll Bride...and believe me, it's a beaut. Caleb & Eliza beautiful hand-made, vintage wedding is what wedding dreams are made of. The ceremony took place at Wheatland Presbyterian Church, Lancaster PA, followed by a reception at The Iris Club. Eliza wore a genuine vintage wedding dress that had belonged to her Grandmother. She had worn it for her own wedding in 1952. Eliza even hand-made her headpiece from the fabric of the matching jacket that came with it. She added a brooch from Designed by Jane to complete he bridal look. Her bridesmaids also wore brooches from Designed by Jane. The bridesmaids were asked to choose their own dresses and shoes, and were just given the task of getting something that was 'greyish and knee length.'
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Jenni & Neil’s Eclectic DIY Wedding

Kat

May 17, 2011

"I read something on a wedding blog during my planning, which I clinged onto for my own sanity," bride Jenni wrote, "It said not to worry about decorations etc matching, if you like what you have, in the end it will all go together. This was my mantra for our wedding and it worked. We didn’t have a theme and I didn’t really have a plan or a colour scheme. I operated like a magpie, picking up inspiration where I found it and with the help of my husband and our friends it worked for us!"
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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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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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Sandra & Colin’s Budget, DIY, Bicycle Ride Wedding

Kat

April 20, 2011

Sandra & Colin's were married on 10.10.10 at The Franklin House, a private mansion in Tucson, Az. Their wedding was a super budget affair and 99% DIY. The couple did it their way and Sandra even had her dog walk her down the aisle (after some family disagreements.) "Our wedding was 99% D.I.Y. and very low budget," the bride told me. "We did get our wedding cake as a gift made by Busy B's Bakery. Colin designed all the programs and invitations and printed them at Vistaprint. We used all biodegradable bamboo utensils (that were wrapped with recycled fabric napkins I made) and sugar cane plates we found online pretty inexpensive Green Party Goods. At the time I was teaching a recycled art class in a middle school. For one of the classes I had the students decorate the plates with edible markers."
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Linsey & Wes’ Totally Rock n Roll Wedding

Kat

April 19, 2011

Linsey & Wes found their photographer Jessica Monnich through a feature on Rock n Roll Bride (yeeey!) so it's only right that it's come full circle and I now get to share their awesome wedding too. The wedding took place in February at Mercury Hall in Austin, Texas beginning with a beautiful ceremony in the gardens. "I was not a traditional bride in any sense (even down to the short dress), so I just kept looking for things that felt like us," bride Linsey told me. "We were always going after more of a feeling than a look, which made it hard, but in the end the feeling was achieved and everything just fell into place thanks to awesome friends and family. It was challenging with everyone else's opinions and being told things have to be done a certain way, but we threw that out the window a long time ago. Working on a budget that we put together from the beginning, we were also able to get more creative and decide what were the most important things for us on that day - friends/ family felt loved for and had fun and that we were able to enjoy ourselves."
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Alice in Weddingland – Beautiful & Affordable Wedding Flowers

Kat

April 4, 2011

With less then 12 weeks to go everything is (hopefully!) coming together. Still, there remains a few pieces of my wedding puzzle that need to be organised, and this month I’ve been an absolute bridal machine getting as much sorted out as possible. Wedding flowers always caused me slight concern when allocating a budget to each element of the wedding, because, quite frankly, I had no idea where to begin! I’d never stepped foot in a florist, and found the ones that I walked past in Brighton quite unapproachable and intimidating. So needless to say, organising my wedding flowers was not something I was looking forward to.
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Lucy & Andy’s Budget-Friendly, “Let’s Do It Our Way” Wedding

Kat

April 1, 2011

This beautiful, vintage-inspired wedding came about after Lucy proposed to Andy on a trip to London. "I took Andy away to Tower Bridge London, to stay in a 5 star hotel on Valentines Day 2010," the bride told me. "He kept saying,'You're not going to propose are you?'. I said 'No of course not, don't be silly'. Then as we were walking back to the hotel under the bridge by the dolphin statue, I placed a ring box shaped like an orange in his hand. He looked at it and said 'What's this?' with a scared look on his face. And I said 'Open it', then 'Will you marry me?'. The colour drained from his face, I cried, he said 'Oh, I was planning to propose to you, and I started saving for a ring, and what is everyone going to say?' I just said, 'Look, I have saved you the bother of saving your money for months and months. Let do this our way'."
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Emma & Pete’s “Enchantment Under the Sea Dance” & A Big Fat Surprise Wedding

Kat

March 30, 2011

I honestly don't know where to begin describing Emma & Pete's wedding to you all. From the reaction to just the sneak peek post (epic) that I put up last week, I know pretty much the whole of blog-land has been eagerly awaiting to see this wedding too and so I'm pretty flipping honoured that not only was I invited (and let into the secret that it was a surprise wedding!) but that Emma & Pete have allowed me to share it with you all. I have the best job in the world.
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Jess & Brian’s Backyard Holga Wedding

Kat

March 29, 2011

I spied Jess & Brian's wedding, shot almost entirely on Holga, on one of my regular scouts around Flickr. I was not only blown away but the stunning photography by Laura Burlton (who doesn't love a bit of Holga magic?) but the actual wedding itself, and all the love and attention to detail that the couple put into it made it super duper Rock n Roll worthy. "I didn’t want the standard cheesy wedding photographs," Jess explained when I asked about her decision to have her wedding shot on a toy camera. "I am a photographer myself and I have a love affair with my Holga. I went searching for a photographer who shared the same love, but also did weddings. No easy task! I found Laura Burlton though and she’s won quite a few awards with her Holga work. And joy, she also does weddings! My parents and I are both happy now and I love the way the Holga shots perfectly portray the feeling of the day."
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