Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

DIY

A Rustic-Glam French Wedding: Daniel & Caroline

Kat

December 7, 2011

Daniel & Caroline were married in Chateau Puits es Pratx in Ginestas, in the south-west of France. The gorgeous surroundings provided the perfect backdrop to their rustic wedding. "The Chateau is only a few miles from Dan's dad's house in a nearby town, so it is an area of France we have visited often and know well," the bride told me. "We knew from the off that we wanted our friends to help us celebrate our wedding in this beautiful place and the Chateau fitted our requirements perfectly - cottages on site, and a self-contained venue for a long weekend of fun! We wanted the weekend to feel like a party in a stunning venue, with good company, great food and endless wine. Simple!"
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An Origami Wedding: Ceri & Terry

Kat

December 7, 2011

Ceri & Terry didn't really plan to have a theme for their November wedding, however once they started with the origami they found it hard to stop! Ceri told me all about their beautiful wedding, "When we first started planning the wedding, we were determined to do our best to be relaxed about the whole thing. We decided that, if we could find the right venue then even if everything else went wrong, we'd be ok - we could turn up in jeans and order pizza, if necessary, as long as we could get all our loved ones in the right place. After a couple of months of looking, we found it: Great Wilbraham Hall Barn. It was perfect - big enough for our guests, fairly isolated, licensed for weddings (we wanted everything in the same place), ideal for the winter months with lots of warmth and character, and within 30 minutes drive of Terry's grandparents."
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A Vintage Festival Wedding…in the Rain!: Natasha & Charlie

Kat

December 5, 2011

Natasha & Charlie are the kind of couple that wedding photographers dream of - creative, unique in their inspiration and totally in love. The bride told me all about their vintage festival wedding. It may have rained for their outdoor ceremony, but it certainly didn't damper their spirits! "Even though I had prayed for months for sun on our wedding day, it still rained! I thought that this would ruin the day as everything we had planned involved being outside – including the ceremony. Just before we were due to go down, the wedding organiser at Maunsel House said that it was raining and tried to convince me to move everything inside. But I couldn’t bare the thought of not getting married under the beautiful bandstand as this had been my dream from the start – so I made everyone stand outside with umbrellas! It actually turned out really well and everybody loved it – the pictures of everyone with umbrellas looked great as well!"
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A DIY Thrift Store Explosion: James & Renee

Kat

December 5, 2011

James & Renee's eclectic thrift store explosion of a wedding was a real DIY effort from the couple and their friends & family. The bride, who couldn't stand the thought of a "boring, traditional wedding" explained her vision to me, "I could not stand the idea of a boring traditional wedding and reception with only two colors & every table was the same so I did everything my way. No one understood my vision until we set up the morning of the wedding & it all came together."
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A Rolling Stones Rock n Roll Circus: Nicola & David

Kat

December 1, 2011

Nicola & David were married on Halloween weekend in The Hospitium in York (England's most haunted city apparently!) The venue is in the middle of the Museum Gardens and in the shadow of the ruins of St. Mary’s Abbey. The unusual setting was the perfect backdrop for their Rolling Stone Circus wedding. Nicola explained, "We’re both massive Rolling Stones fans so we wanted to have the same type of feel as The Rolling Stones Rock n Roll Circus. Slightly carnival like with a serious nod to music. We drew the line at stilt walkers, jugglers and such, though I did very much want a peacock and an elephant. Surprisingly there are no ‘hire a peacock’ websites. Even less chance with the elephant."
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A Pretty Vintage Islington Wedding: Cecilia & Robert

Kat

December 1, 2011

Cecilia & Robert's pretty London wedding took place at Union Chapel and Union Hall, Islington. "At first we had to decide where to have our wedding as I'm from Italy and Robert London," Cecilia wrote to me. "We soon realised that London was the perfect place, as it’s where we've chosen to live and where we definitely wanted to start our life as a family. We started looking at a few venues, but they all looked a bit impersonal and soulless to us, we definitely wanted somewhere that would have a meaning for us and our relationship. And so that’s how we “stumbled” upon the Union Chapel. Rob had been there several times to see gigs, and we had been together to see a very special acoustic performance by Editors. Many people think it’s not an actual church, but it actually is – and it made perfect sense to us to get married there!" "We were also delighted to find out that – apart from the main auditorium - they have several spaces for hire that can be used for all sorts of events. The Upper Hall fitted the bill perfectly, as it’s a completely blank canvas that we would be able to personalize according to our own taste."
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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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An Undead Steampunk Wedding: Renee & Ian

Kat

November 28, 2011

So where do I begin trying to explain the awesomeness of Renee & Ian's undead steampunk wedding? I think maybe the title gives away just how amazing this wedding is going to be doesn't it? The couple were married at Catalyst, a private live/work artist community in Chicago. "We actually had to 'audition' for the space," Renee told me. "The members have a delicate relationship with the community and can't risk any trouble. We had to prove to them over several months that we talented and responsible enough to be able to use their space. We had to foster a personal relationship with them before they would even consider us. It was tedious, but worth it in the end. We gained some more wonderful friends for our already stellar collection, and the space allowed us freedom that traditional venues could not (like staying until 6am and coming back later in the week to help clean up)."
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‘Lola the Bird’: An Art Deco Photo Shoot

Kat

November 23, 2011

This beautiful shoot was set up by headpiece designer Natasha Jane to promote her amazing 'Lola the Bird' headpiece (I've seen it in real life and it is an amazing piece, I'd love to see a real Rock n Roll Bride wearing it!) The shoot took place at the UK's oldest cinema, Birmingham's Electric Cinema, which has been open for over 100 years. The art deco cinema is even available to hire for weddings so it really was the perfect venue to show off this new wedding collection.
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A Gothic Masked Ball: Debs & Sean

Kat

November 22, 2011

Sean & Deb's masked ball wedding took place at the beginning on November at Brownsover Hall Hotel, Brownsover, Rugby. "We stumbled on the venue by accident after previously reserving two other venues", the bride told me. "We were on our way up to my parents for christmas and made a detour to see the hall - it was amazing! Gothic, yet romantic. We fell in love with it as soon as we saw the giant Elk's skull in the entrance hall!" The venue fitted their wedding theme perfectly - slightly gothic and masqueradey (I'm pretty sure I just made up that word) with a 1920's/30's vibe.
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A Black Wedding Dress, A Traditional Church Wedding & A Burlesque Themed Reception: Scarlet & Craig

Kat

November 21, 2011

Scarlet & Craig's wedding wowed me as soon as I spied that dress. I was so excited to be able to share this incredible Goth extravaganza and luckily for you lot, so were the newlyweds. In fact Craig's reply when I emailed him back saying 'Yes yes, hell yes (ps your wife is hot)' was something along the lines of 'OMG so excited that you're going to feature us!!! Squeeee'. "I'd never really thought about my wedding day growing up, so when Craig proposed on a trip to Amsterdam (with a tattoo that simply said 'Marry Me' on his wrists!) I was thrown into a bit of a panic!" Scarlet explained. "But as soon as we started planning we knew we wanted to do things our own way. Luckily we found Rock n Roll Bride, which made us realise there really are no 'rules' for a wedding, and then we just went all out! We didn't start out with one, but as we went along we developed a kind of pink and black gothic fairytale theme, pink being my favourite colour, and black being Craig's!
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