DIY Tutorial: Scratchcard Wedding Invitations

Kat

May 12, 2012

Hi Rock n Roll Bride readers! My name is Michelle and I am marrying Dan this summer in a garden in Scotland (where he proposed in fact!) and we are doing almost everything ourselves. Partly this is because we are trying to save money (more to spend on food and drinks!) and also because getting married is a great excuse to do all sorts of crafty things you wouldn't normally have budget to do! We made a stop-motion video for the save the date (so. much. fun.) but then wanted to send a physical postcard for the actual invite so people have something to keep. I came up with an idea for a scratch-off card - like a lottery ticket - with the prize being the details of our wedding! Dan got totally behind the idea and did most of the fiddly tasks (including cutting out almost a hundred little plastic hearts). We sent them out last week and our guests love them. I've put together a little tutorial for how to make the cards - they were lots of fun to make and came out looking quite professional-looking!

A Tropical Paradise, Bohemian Wedding: Linda & Tyler

Kat

May 10, 2012

Linda & Tyler's wedding makes me yearn for long lazy summer nights and scorching beaches. I could drink up this wedding and be satisfied for days...And with the event taking place at a venue called Paradise Gardens, is it any wonder? "Our wedding day was a wonderful accumulation of memories that we will embrace forever," Linda told me. "We’re beyond grateful for the love we have for one another and the natural way it shone through onthat day. I feel that every aspect of the wedding screamed us - from the lotus field, to the sounds of Devendra Banhart wailing, to the venue bathed in tea land gold! Our venue was amazing and we were ecstatic to have found this exotic little gem tucked away in the hills of Oceanside."

A 1960s Inspired Easter Wedding: Kate & Daniel

Kat

May 9, 2012

The Yorkshire wedding of Kate & Daniel took place in April at Victoria Hall, Saltaire. The bride's look was undeniably 60s with a bespoke mod style wedding dress made for her by one of her bridesmaids, and genuine vintage shoes, jewellery and a veil sourced from the shop her bridesmaid owns, Glory Days Vintage.

DIY Tutorial: Paper Cut Eyelashes

Kat

May 5, 2012

If like me you've been swooning over those paper eyelashes but couldn't quite bring yourself to spend £20 on what is essentially a teeny weeny piece of well...paper...behold, I have these DIY tutorial for you! Blogger and crafting expert Cat Morley of crafty community Cut Out + Keep created this easy and awesome step by step guide and I'm thrilled to share it today. I look forward to seeing some of your fluttering away with these soon!

An Australian Wedding with Pops of Colour: Asha & Greg

Kat

May 4, 2012

I love when weddings with bright pops of colour like Asha & Greg's brighten up my inbox. They really do make me smile! However I love them even more when the people behind the wedding seem like just the kind of guys I'd like to be friends with...if only they didn't live in Australia! "We didn't have a theme as such because we didn't want to confine our choices," Asha told me. "We found things we liked, which suited our style, and I suppose a loose theme just organically grew from there. My parents collect a lot of old antique trinkets so we used those as the starting point for our reception decorations and added lots of bright fresh flowers. We also wanted to incorporate some music references because music is what really brought us together."

A Japanese Tea Shop Wedding: Adam & Klara

Kat

May 3, 2012

Adam & Klara had two weddings, the first in Osaka, Japan and the second in Brighton, UK. The Japanese ceremony was held in Kitahama and afterwards the couple and their select few guests headed to Tables in Shinsaibashi, Osaka for tea and cake! When back in the UK, the ceremony took place at Brighton register office and they recreated the tea & cake reception idea with a simple gathering at Metrodeco, a 1930s themed cafe that specialises in high tea.

A Runaway Bride Styled Shoot

Kat

May 2, 2012

London wedding photographer Ann Charlotte set up this morning's editorial shoot in order to showcase an idea she'd had running through her head for a while. "I love fairytales and this fictional fairytale wedding/fashion shoot was inspired by Alice in Wonderland and the idea of a runaway bride. I wanted to shoot a misunderstood bride, running away from her wedding in tears. After some soul searching she eventually came back home to a waiting husband-to-be and a reconciliation."

A Handmade Florida Wedding : Mike & Melissa

Kat

May 1, 2012

Working in the music industry it was important to Mike & Melissa that their wedding suited their lifestyle and sensibilities and 1903 Hontoon, a vacation property in Deland Florida, turned out to be the perfect place. "Mike is a local musician and recently I have decided to leave my job and become his manager!" began the bride. "We have been together for almost 4 years now and over the next two we will be setting up our lives to hit the road indefinitely until we find the best place to live! We are too hot here in Florida and always long to be in the mountains. We changed our wedding date 3 times just so that we could have it at this venue, because as far as Florida goes it was pretty hard to find a place that really spoke of who we are. We chose 1903 Hontoon, a vacation property that used to be an old boat & motor repair shot. It has an awesome feel to it. Our wedding is hardcore DIY & hand made - from 1,000 paper cranes to the tablecloths to the bridesmaid dresses and jewelry. I'm extremely crafty so I have been a non-stop force of productivity in creating everything I possibly can for this day. With that being said it is REALLY important to us to have our wedding captured because every detail is so dear to our hearts! The two of us never imagined that we would get married but, love eventually finds you and before we left for our travels it was important to us to share this bond and experience with our families."

Batman, Fish & Beards – A Party-Hard Nightclub Wedding: Dustin & Morgan

Kat

April 30, 2012

You'd be shocked at the number of emails I recieve from brides-to-be who tell me they love my site and the weddings I feature but that they're worried that their wedding will somehow not 'measure up' or be 'as cool' as the weddings they see online. My response to these girls is always the same: your wedding is not a 'coolness' competition or a chance to show off. Your wedding is for you and your partner and it will be awesome because you are awesome. The love is the most important thing, not the amazing centrepieces, the quirky stationery or the beautiful dress. These things are meant to enhance your day for you, to be fun and exciting, they do not and will not define anything other than that. So why did I want to mention that again today? Well Dustin & Morgan's wedding is pretty much the epitome of Rock n Roll awesome. It wasn't detail-heavy or wedding blog pretty - it was just a seriously awesome party! It celebrated their love in their way and they were 100% unapologetic about that fact... And you know what? It's one of my favourite weddings that's I've featured in a long time! So, forget about the bunting, the mason jars or the designer frock and focus on what's important - the LOVE (and in this case, the dancing)...

A Glitter Bridal/Trash the Dress Shoot

Kat

April 30, 2012

For her bridal shoot Emma wanted to do something different, and after buying a simple dress she decided to alter it herself as part of the shoot. Scissors, glitter and metallic spray paint all played a role, and I have to say I think I actually prefer the dress afterwards! How about you?

DIY Tutorial: Cinemagraphs Using Photoshop

Kat

April 28, 2012

I've been obsessing over cinemagraphs for ages - in essence they are still images with a small isolated section that moves. When you first see them they're quite confusing but totally entrancing! I've always wondered how they were made and how you can get essentially a still image to have bits of moving video within it but today (eeek) my questions have been answered. When I was sent this Photoshop tutorial by photographer Violet Short I literally gasped. Check out this cute one she made of her dog Marshmallow!

A Scottish Loch-Side Wedding: Wayne & Mac

Kat

April 27, 2012

Wayne & Mac were married at The Lodge at Loch Goil in Scotland. The beautiful venue and epic scenery really defined their gorgeous wedding. Newlywed Mac told me all about their fabulous day. "Rock n Roll Bride was a favourite blog for my when planning my weddings! It was a bit of a godsend actually as all the standard wedding websites and magazines made me feel a bit nauseas with twitterings on about favours and general frilly pinkness. Wayne and I are both fairly scruffy monkeys that don't do a lot of dressing up so we were keen to have a do that catered to us and our friends tastes. We wanted a fairly small wedding with close friends and family to have a chance of spending time with them rather than a quick 5 minutes that some mates had endured at their bigger do's. And we wanted to get some time together! The original plan was poking around a snow wedding in Norway or away snowboarding but the practicalities of shipping 20 plus people north or to mountains proved epic, and Wayne chipped in his 'must haves' of Scotland, bagpipes, and being able to keep his mutton chop sideys. We stumbled across The Lodge at Loch Goil during my many productive hours at work Googling and from our first visit adored it. Alice Gill, the head planner, and her assistant Kelly sorted out pretty much everything from their list of regular bookings - they do in-house catering (even with our veggie and gluten bothering mates), a resident florist and use local staff and suppliers for as much as possible including their own kitchen garden in the grounds."

The Rainbow Wedding to End all Rainbow Weddings: Jen & Ben

Kat

April 26, 2012

I think most of you will be aware by now that I love love love a rainbow wedding...why pick one or two colours when you can pick twenty seven!? So as you can imagine I squealed like a small child on Christmas morning when Jen & Ben's wedding landed in my inbox. If I was less of a chatterbox I'd say that 'I had no words' when I saw these images...but in actual fact I had all the words in the world flying around my head as I made my selections for this blog post...

A Masquerade Wedding: Zoe & Chris

Kat

April 25, 2012

Many couples shy away from heavily themed weddings, but I have to say when they're done well they can be darn right incredible. Zoe & Chris' masquerade wedding is testament to that! The Australian couple met before the ceremony with their closest family to have some quiet time, as well as time for photographs, before the festivities began. "Chris collected me from the hotel and we went to meet our close family at a beautiful inner city garden to crack some champagne and make a toast to the rest of the night," Zoe explained. "This was a beautiful opportunity to spend some time with those closest to us before the party began. We got some beautiful photos in the afternoon light as well."

A 1950s-Inspired Shoot with a Brightly Coloured Modern Twist

Kat

April 25, 2012

1950s wedding inspiration isn't going anywhere, but these days I'm loving seeing shoots that have taken from this era but added a modern twist to it. Whether that be with bright pops of colour, modern accessories or quirky details (aren't the bouquets in the shoot the coolest?!) This shoot organised by The Sugared Saffron Cake Company and certainly landed smack bang in the middle of this new-wave of modern vintage styling. I'm thrilled to share it with you today.

A Colour Pop Bridal Shoot

Kat

April 24, 2012

"Waking up to a dark sky and torrential rain, the day started with two long suffering, bare foot models scampering through puddles and sheltering under crochet blankets", photographer Becky Mitchell wrote. Luckily for all involved the shoot was to be held indoors, in an old school building. The inspiration for this shoot came from wanting to create something simple but delicate, pretty and soft - pastels juxtaposed with a bold and bright and neon edge.

A DIY Beach Wedding: Jaq & Patto

Kat

April 23, 2012

A Picnic Wedding: Alex & Denise

Kat

April 23, 2012

The inspiration for Alex & Denise's Brighton wedding was for it to be "just like a big picnic". They used local suppliers (including the caterers who used local produce and supplied locally produced champagne) where possible and DIY'ed the rest! "Our inspiration was for it to be like a big picnic - although without having to sit on the floor!" Denise told me. "I found mini picnic baskets that were used as the centrepiece on each table. These were filled with chutney, pickles and breadsticks. We wanted the wedding to be really relaxed – I've always disliked formal situations. I also wanted there to be lots of colour. For the meal we had a blanket set up on the floor for any children that got bored of the adults. We also did a play area with a wigwam, dress up box and colouring books. Although on the day they mainly opted for running around the field like lunatics."

An ‘Old Soul’ Bridal Shoot: Bella Angelina

Kat

April 23, 2012

There are few things I love more than a beautiful pink haired bride. So when Bella Angelina's (yes, I know, best name ever!) bridal shoot sent over by Veronica Lane Photography I was thrilled. "Angelina is a locally known artist who also teaches art classes to children at the one of the galleries in Chatham-Kent, Ontario (Canada)," Veronica told me. "Angelina has been 'pink' for 6 years and has no intention of letting the look fade away any time soon. She did her own hair and makeup for the session and made the white wedding dress shown in the photos herself!"

DIY Tutorial: ‘Cocktail Time’ Clock

Kat

April 21, 2012

NB Other considered and witty titles for this feature included 'a clock-tail display' and 'gin o'clock'...although granted I came up with those on my own and Chloe, who created this tutorial, is much much classier than I. Over to you lady...