Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

Carnival

A Crazy Carnival Wedding: Dustin & Tara

Kat

July 2, 2012

Well who doesn't love a carnival? Exactly... no one. Hence why I'm super excited to share Dustin & Tara's epic adaption of a traditional carnival theme into a totally non-traditional wedding. The couple were married at home. They transformed their own backyard into the perfect carnival setting. They had a kissing booth 'altar', a bouncy castle for the kids (and big kids), a bell ringer, a snow cone machine, a popcorn machine and a photo booth! There was a paddling pool filled with rubber ducks and big carnival-style posters for everyone to take home with them. Carnival-style round lights were strung all around the garden and big wooden picnic benches, bales of hay and over 200 balloons decorated the space. They served old fashioned sodas and grilled hot dogs with tons of beer and cocktails. Even most of the guests dressed up to fit in with the theme. "We had a lion, a lion tamer, a ring master, someone on stilts and a ton of top hats and mustaches", Tara explained.
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A 1920s Speakeasy Carnival Themed Wedding: Emily & Jesse

Kat

May 24, 2012

Vintage themes aren't always my bag, but throw a 1920s carnival idea at me and I go weak at the knees! A strong theme like this, done really really well, gets me very excited indeed. Emily & Jesse were married at The Voorhies Mansion at Edenvale Winery. It provided the perfect canvas for their creative ideas! "I would encourage anyone planning a wedding to use wedding tradition as a springboard and focus on the experience you want your guests taking away from your event," newlywed Emily told me.
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A Fun Fair & Carnival Themed Wedding: Julie & Jaques

Kat

March 21, 2012

I've known about Julie & Jaques' wedding for a long time because the bride's sister and maid of honour is one of my best friends, wedding photographer Shell de Mar! I've been hearing all the exciting details of the wedding plans for so long and now I'm thrilled to not only see the results but to share them with you guys too. The wedding took place in Melbourne. The ceremony was held on the rooftop of the Arcadia Hotel and the quirky and cute reception was at Garage Cafe, Carlton.
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A Halloween 80s Carnival Extravaganza: Tressa & John

Kat

March 7, 2012

For Tressa & John, the most important thing for their wedding was that their guests were entertained and had a great time...and their Halloween 80s carnival theme complete with an costume party dress code made sure of that! "John and I knew we didn’t want anything traditional in terms of wedding other than a declaration of love for each other," the bride told me. "We have a fantastic, eclectic, diverse group of friends who have high expectations of us when it comes to throwing a good party so we knew we couldn’t disappoint! We both spent our most formative years in the 80s and wanted to recreate the tubular vibe while also celebrating our most favorite holiday - Halloween!"
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A DIY Carnival Wedding at Home: Bethany & Eric

Kat

January 18, 2012

Bethany & Eric's carnival-themed wedding was held at their home, Antebellum Farmhouse in Granville, Ohio. "The inspiration for our wedding really started with our pre-civil war home", Bethany told me. "When Eric and I first saw our house with our realtor we both stood on the front porch with tears in our eyes. We had not even walked through the front door but we knew this was our home. Eric looked at me and said 'we could be married here.' He then carried me across the threshold. Sounds like a fairy tale.... But so real." The theme may have started with their home but over time 'a day and night at the fair' became their manifesto. Royal Steamline provided the perfect stationery to fit the idea. "We wanted to create a vintage carnival feeling for all ages of guests to enjoy," the bride continued. "I have an antique and interior design business named after our home, so I incorporated many antique and vintage items, furniture and props to create the scene. I searched auctions and estate sales for real vintage goblets, punch cups and plates for our guests to enjoy. I used vintage furniture outside to create a living room area that was a fabulous photo booth for all of our guests as well as the bridal party."
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A DIY 1940’s Carnival Wedding: Marcie & Rich

Kat

November 29, 2011

Marcie & Rich's Nerdy DIY wedding was inspired by the things they love. The couple love to hang out at home with cat and dog playing video or board games and reading so the wedding theme kind of stemmed from these ideas. "I think our inspiration for doing things the way we did was that we didn't want the same old same old", Marcie told me. "We've both been to tons of weddings where the details were essentially the same but for a few differences. People tend to do the long church ceremony with the long gown that you would never want to wear again and make a bunch of stuff for the guests that they will never use or even want just because you saw that tiny beer stein in a craft store and thought it was perfect cause you like beer. We wanted people to have fun all the way through, including ourselves! We would much rather have a swinging party and get married in the middle of it than the other way around."
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A Carnival Destination Wedding in Trinidad and Tobago: Erin & John

Kat

August 17, 2011

"The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is not your usual destination wedding location... Then again, we're not your typical bride and groom," wrote Erin & John. "First of all, we wanted to base our wedding and honeymoon around Carnival that happens every year in Trinidad. It's one of the world's largest Carnival celebrations - and we wanted to be dressed in sequins, feathers, and not much else for our honeymoon celebration. We invited our friends to come to Tobago the week before Carnival for our wedding. We rented out all the villas at The Palms Villa Resort - and partied for a solid week leading up to our big day. The following week, our friends followed us on our honeymoon...and danced with us in the streets of Trinidad! How nice of Trinidad to throw us such a lovely wedding reception!"
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Arnold & Melissa’s Festive Old World Carnival Wedding

Kat

May 16, 2011

Hold onto your knickers ladies (and gents!) because Arnold & Melissa's South African wedding is gonna make you squeal with delight. "We wanted to keep the wedding personal, real and down to earth," the bride told me. "I am a wedding photographer myself, so I've been to so many weddings that the last thing I wanted was a traditional wedding. We love the outdoors and being out in nature, so we wanted the wedding to be outside, but also in a natural setting. We went to look at Beloftebos and immediately knew it was the right venue."
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A Diy-Heavy, Cotton Candy-Eating, Vivienne Westwood-Wearing, Jeans-Definitely Allowed, Handmade, Carnival Themed Wedding

Kat

July 3, 2010

Jess & Bryan's is my favourite kind of wedding. I love the fashion, I love the style, I love the amazing diy touches and the whole chilled out and creative vibe of the day. "We really wanted usto be present in everything that was a part of our day" the couple told me. "We tried to make, and do, as much as we could for our wedding. This meant enlisting the help of our talented and wonderful friends and family to make paper cupcake toppers, straw flags, escort cards, wooden signs and much, much more! We all got together the day before the wedding to set up the entire tent and yard and then relaxed with a night of BBQing and laughing.
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Oh I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside

Kat

April 17, 2010

Whenever the sun shines in London about 80% of the population speculate going to the beach and Brighton is usually the first port of call. It's quirky, it's quaint, it's nostalgic, it's hilariously British and it has a killer night life! So when it came for Charlie & Ross to have their 'Cherish the Dress' wedding shoot, where better to descend then this wonderful beach location!? The couple actually got married in December so they thought the juxtapositionof having some lovely, warming, outdoor shots would be absolutely perfecto.
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All the Fun of the Fair

Kat

April 13, 2010

Amy & Darren are a gorgeous, fun and music-loving couple who are getting married this June in the New Forest. The idea for their engagement shoot was just to follow them having fun and sharing the things they love. "We started the shoot at their place in Blackheath, London" photographer Sarah told me "with me shooting from the mezzanine down on them lying amongst a fraction of their 5000-strong record collection, even Martha the cat wanted a piece of the action!" "Next, we took a trip up the road to take advantage of the gorgeous evening light at the May bank holiday fair on Blackheath, finishing with a stroll through Greenwich Park to the bandstand which holds a romantic significance to them as a couple as it's where they spent a lot of time together when they first started courting."
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What a Small World…

Kat

April 8, 2010

I love a shoot with a great story behind it...especially when it revolves around people I know! When bride-to-be Laura checked in on Rock n Roll Bride a few months ago she fell in love with the work of UK photographer, David McNeil. She promptly contacted him to arrange an engagement shoot in Brighton. Her fiance Nick and her turned up on the morning of the shoot, only to discover that unbeknownst to both of the boys, they already knew each other! David and Nick actually used to work together long before David tried his hand at wedding photography and Nick got engaged...but wait the tale gets stranger because when David sent me these images it turns out I used to work with Nick too! What a small world...
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Carnival Love

Kat

April 6, 2010

Hayley & Brett's funfair/carnival themed love shoot makes me feel all playful. Gotta love a couple who can have a blast together! Together for a little over 2 years, this pair found comfort in each other through some difficult times at the beginning of their relationship. They decided to do their pre-wedding shoot at a carnival to symbolize their fun personalities and has a celebration of their love for one another. Her dress is vintage which she found at a thrift store and their flowers were done by Mignonne Handmade.
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Carnival Crazy

Kat

February 7, 2010

Dina & Gary's 1920's vaudeville carnival themed wedding makes me wanna squeal. I wish wish wish we'd done something as fabulous as this when we got hitched. The wedding took place at Asbury Park, New Jersey and the pair really went to town with their theme - from popcorn and candy for the guests, a sideshow performance, goldfish in bowls... in fact everything you might expect to find at a carnival! Dina wore a custom dress (made by a friend) and wore jewellery and carried a candy bouquet made by another friend Melissa Heid. Just. Wow. Thanks to Brandi for sharing this awesome day with us. Woooo!
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Off the Hook Carnival Eye Candy

Kat

November 17, 2009

I knew Amy & Jesse's wedding would be off-the-hook with it's intense awesomeness as soon as I saw and blogged their engagements a while back. Surely a couple this offbeat and rockin' couldn't have anything but a super crazy, kooky, inspirational and incredible wedding day could they? However, even I was blown off my chair when I laid eyes on these little beauties. Their DIY, carnival wedding was not only ridiculously creative and awe-inspiring but the couple themselves literally looked like a candy covered explosion of kick ass attitude and fun all over! (By the way I fully realise that my explanation of my thoughts on this wedding probably make little or no grammatical and linguistical sense - however my intense excitement over getting to blog these appears to have rendered by logical brain dysfunctional!) Got it? Right...on with the show... A HUGE Rock n Roll thank you to Marina of Red Heart Photography for sending these over. I couldn't wait to blog these (as always) and so the photos below are actually only part 1 & 2 of her posts. Go check out her blog over the next few weeks for even more eye candy!
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Perfectly Sweet

Kat

November 4, 2009

Carnival weddings always make me smile. Jenna & Tommy's wedding is no different. I thought I'd share another wedding with you that I did this summer. The bride's last name was Morrissey which made me instantly think of The Smiths (one of my most favorite bands ever). Jenna and Tommy were married in Providence, RI in Roger Williams Park. Their inspiration was that of a 1950's carnival complete with carousel, penny candy and popcorn. The bride stole away during the reception to change into a pink vintage dress to surprise her new husband. Their first dance? "There is a Light That Never Goes Out" by The Smiths. Perfectly sweet. Thanks to Olivia for sharing this and making me smile (again - she shoot the Married by a Moose wedding!)
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Pillow Fight

Kat

October 23, 2009

I saw a feathery sneak peak of Mary & Stephan's engagement session on their wedding coordinator's website and immediately shot and email to Erin & Court asking if I could blog them when they were all ready. Lucky for me they were of course delighted and I got the email this morning to tell me they were up. I knew they were going to be good because of the hilarious and fun 'pillow fight' scene, yet I wasn't expecting the rest - the balloons, the guitar playing, the balloons, the fun fair..eeek. These are just perfect! A massive, huge and ginormous thank you to Erin & Court for letting me be the one to share these simple beautiful images! Credit: Erin Hearts Court
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