Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

DIY

60’s Girl Bands & 50’s Rock n Roll – A Vintage North London Wedding: Laura & Daniel

Kat

November 10, 2011

Meeting through a love of 60's girl bands and 50's Rock n Roll, it was inevitable that the wedding of Laura & Daniel would be made for this little blog of mine. Combine this with a penchant for vintage clothing and you've just about created the perfect Rock n Roll Bride wedding. "It seemed natural for us to reflect the way we met in our wedding," Laura told me. "I'm an artist, designer and one half of 50's Rock n Roll DJ duo The Truckin' Laura's, and Daniel is guitarist in The Special Needs, so music was a big part of the wedding. I walked down the aisle to a piano version of 'Sea of Love' by Phil Phillips played by our friend Galia. Our friend Anna and her all singing all dancing Ronettes played a beautiful ukelele version of Phil Spector classic 'Be my Baby' at the end of our ceremony which set the tone for the day perfectly. Another really special moment was Daniel singing The Tempations 'My Girl' after his speech and all our guests joining in with the chorus. After our first dance to The Ramones 'Baby I Love You' our DJ friends took turns on the decks and kept the guests dancing all night!"
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A Handmade South African Wedding: Megan & Peiter

Kat

November 10, 2011

South African weddings are blowing me away at the moment. I've been featuring so many beauties from this fabulous country recently, I feel very lucky indeed! Well my luck was very much in when Megan & Peiter's beautiful wedding landed on my lap last week. The wedding was held outdoors at Kleinkaap Pretoria, a boutique hotel in Centurion, Gauteng. "I wanted to do everything!" Megan laughed, "and everything had to have a significant meaning so all my vendors were our families. Everything from the bunting to the match-books we handmade and actually (sorry for the cliché) made with thought, consideration and love. To me the fun part wasn’t only the actual wedding it was getting together with friends, family and a great bottle of wine to stick match-books together."
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A Vintage-Inspired Mountaintop Wedding: Roxanne & Braxton + WIN Her Twigs & Honey Veil

Kat

November 9, 2011

Roxanne & Braxton's beautiful mountain view wedding took place at Meditation Mount, Ojai, CA. Photographer Lydia Hudgens was there to capture the day. "We wrote the ceremony ourselves and our friend John was our officiant," Roxanne told me. "We had some friends perform readings from favorite writers of ours - Emily Dickinson, Virginia Woolf, Paul Eluard, etc. Another friend, Rob, provided the processional & recessional music on guitar, accompanied by Braxton's cousins Kati and Madi. We walked down the aisle to Joanna Newsom's 'Bridges and Balloons' and finished with Michael Jackson's 'The Way You Make Me Feel.' It was so lovely and just what we wanted; Meditation Mount was an amazing place for a ceremony--the view of the surrounding valley is epic, sublime."
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A Simple & Intimate Concert Hall Wedding: Valerie & Craig

Kat

November 8, 2011

"For us, we wanted our wedding ceremony to be kept simple - no flashiness and relaxed," newlywed Valerie told me, "which is just the way we are. We wanted intimacy and for it to be very personal which I think was reflected in our music, readings (the lyrics of the Adam Sandler tune from the Wedding Singer and an extract from the Irrational Season, Madeleine L'Engle) and having our little boy with us. However, we definitely wanted a big party afterwards to celebrate."
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‘Rock n Robin’: A1950’s Christmas Shoot for the BBC

Kat

November 7, 2011

I know what you're thinking...Christmas stuff already woman?! Well just hear me out would ya... I've known wedding photographer Ashton Jean-Pierre ever since we both went to Emma Case's wedding back in March. I don't think we managed to talk on the night, but after the event I saw some of his incredible photos (that he just took on his iPhone!) on facebook and so I got in contact to ask if I could share some of them on my blog. He said yes and we've chatted online ever since. Ashton is deaf which makes no differece at all when communicating online, but when he asked if Gareth & I would like to do a mini shoot with him I was a teeny tiny bit nervous on how we would get on it 'real life'. However I needn't have worried. Ashton is so expressive and animated that it's actually pretty easy to have a conversation, and although I didn't know any sign language before we met, we were easily able to chat by gesturing and using good old fashioned pen and paper to write things down.
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DIY Tutorial: Multi-Layered Tulle Petticoat (Make Your Own Rainbow Petticoat!)

Kat

November 5, 2011

First up, I have to say a huge thank you to everyone that's emailed me with their DIY ideas. I've has a huge response and I'm really looking forward to sharing them with you over these coming weeks. Be sure to keep them coming! I'm starting with this amazing underskirt tutorial by Alexandra King, an independent designer from Somerset. Alexandra produces fabulous vintage-inspired dresses and accessories. So without further ado, over to the lady herself...
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A Footloose Meets Vintage Romance Wedding: Jessie & Mark

Kat

November 2, 2011

You might mistakenly think that Jessie & Mark's wedding is a little on the pretty and elegant side for me, but you'd be wrong. On the odd occasion (in between all the tattooed chicks and badassery) I do like to swoon over a genuinely beautiful wedding like this one. The outdoor ceremony wedding and rustic barn reception were held at Fischer Hall, Texas. The bride wore a Priscilla of Boston gown which she found on preownedweddingdresses.com and real flowers in her hair.
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A Rock n Roll London Wedding with Rockaoke!: Chris & Natalie

Kat

November 2, 2011

When photographer Annamarie Stepney slipped Chris & Natalie's wedding my way, I just about squealed with joy. Not only was Natalie an avid Rock n Roll Bride reader throughout her wedding planning, but I could see a few little ideas that she'd gotten from my blog snuck in there - hello purple wedding dress and Butler & Wilson skull crown! "I fell absolutely head over heels for the Butler & Wilson skull crowns after seeing photos of Kat in one so I checked them out. It was great as no one realised it was made up of skulls until they got close. I also wore it for my 30th birthday a month later."
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A DIY London Wedding & A Barefoot Bride: Hannah & Olly

Kat

November 1, 2011

Hannah & Olly were engaged at Bestival in the inflatable church, "Olly proposed to me at Bestival in the inflatable church following our annual Bestival wedding in front of all our friends dressed as unicorns, Mario, Luigi, Alien babies… " Hannah wrote to me. "It was chucking it down as we strolled back to the main stage (engaged!) and The Wailers were playing. All of a sudden the sun came out and like from nowhere Olly handed me a Pina Colada in a pineapple! We spent the afternoon dancing to Chic and chinking our pineapples." From this unconventional proposal, it was clear that this couple were to have anything but a traditional wedding. As the groom explains, "We’re both very creative people and from the start of organising our wedding we wanted it to be different. Throughout it we used blogs, including Rock n Roll Bride, and we did it together. Myself and Hannah contributed equally and both did a lot of homework on details. The motto from the beginning was that it was to be a party, not a ceremony. With that in mind we kept thinking of the things that we loved from parties we have been to."
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An Edgar Allan Poe Themed Spooky Romance: TJ & Elizabeth

Kat

October 31, 2011

TJ & Elizabeth's wedding had a spooky Edgar Allen Poe or "Spooky romance" theme as the bride described it,"Think Edgar Allan Poe meets the Addams Family!" she explained. "Our inspiration basically just came from our relationship. We took things we love in our every day lives and tried to figure out how to incorporate them into our wedding. We wanted a vintage feel but wanted it to be a little on the darker side."
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