Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

DIY

Candy Coloured Cuteness: Lucy & Michael

Kat

August 18, 2011

Lucy & Michael's candy coloured cute-as-hell wedding stole my heart! The pastel colour palate is so fresh and totally perfect for their DIY wedding. Lucy & Michael actually found their photographer, the fabulous Shell De Mar, through an engagement shoot featured on Rock n Roll Bride too so it's really cool that I'm allowed to feature their gorgeous wedding too. "We knew that it was important to have a wedding photographer who understood the style and inspiration for our big day and would capture all of the details we had so painstakingly created," Lucy told me. "We wanted a fun and creative record of our day rather than a set of stuffy portraits. We discovered Shell De Mar when we saw a seaside engagement shoot that was featured on Rock n Roll Bride. We immediately fell in love with her use of light and colour, and the way she captured her couples."
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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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A CMYK Themed Wedding: Rebekah & David

Kat

August 16, 2011

When Rebekah & David's wedding landed in my inbox a couple of weeks ago I just about let out a 'whoop' of joy! Colour colour everywhere, what's not to love? Their CMYK theme is just perfect....perfect! "Shortly after our engagement, David suggested that we have a CMYK wedding" Rebekah told me. "Graphic design is a massive part of our lives and to base our wedding on the colours that make up a lot of printed design work (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key Black) made so much sense to us. It was so much fun applying CMYK theme to our day, from table numbers, to my wedding dress to our bridesmaids."
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Bohemian England Meets Mexican Fiesta: Francesca & Iain

Kat

August 15, 2011

This time last week I blogged a wedding at the beautiful Fforest Farm Campsite in Wales. I loved the location so much that when Francesca & Iain sent me their wedding at the same venue I didn't hesitate to want to share it too! I think it really interesting to see two different weddings at the same place actually and to see how different a venue can look with a different couple's aesthetic and vision stamped on it. Francesca described her wedding theme to me as "Bohemian England meets Mexican Fiesta." I just love how they brought this out with ideas such as the decorations from Lisa Piercy, the paper goods by Thunderwing Press and the amazing screenprinted napkins personalised by Leonie Flower. I'm also swit-swooing over the flower garland head wreaths worn by Francesca and her bridesmaids. This is a wedding trend that I hope doesn't go away any time soon. I love it!
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An Organic Farm Wedding: Elisha & Russell

Kat

August 11, 2011

When I saw Elisha & Russell's wedding I knew they'd made the perfect choice in their photographer Joanna Brown. If you follow Joanna on twitter you'll know that she loves her garden and grows her own veg, so the fact that this wedding was held on Magdalen Farm on the Dorset/Somerset border...well she must have been in her element! "The staff of The Magdalen Project at Magdalen Farm are amazing and even joined us on the dance floor and around the campfire at the end of the evening," the newlyweds told me. "We loved that our wedding was helping to support the Wessex Foundation who encourage active learning in and about the outdoors."
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A Laid-Back Beach Wedding at Camber Sands: Fiona & Rob

Kat

August 11, 2011

Fiona & Rob were hitched right by the beach at The Gallivant in Camber Sands. The style of the beautiful hotel suited their beach theme perfectly. "I was quite keen for it not to look too wedding'y - or formal or too orchestrated" newlywed Fiona told me. "We didn't consciously go with a theme but it kind of happened! We live on a beach and both my husband and I are kitesurfers so it had to feature strongly and in the end it made it easier to have a focus shaping our creative decisions! I think always try and make stuff, not only to save money but to make it more personal and make your loved ones feel involved."
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Design Your Own Shoes with Upper Street

Kat

August 10, 2011

At the beginning of July I was contacted by the lovely people at Upper Street Shoes. My interest was immediately sparked. "Wait? I get to design my own shoes?" I replied, "AMAZING!" To say I became somewhat obsessed with their website for the remainer of the day would be a huge understatement (and no I didn't get any more work done...) I probably designed about 20 pairs of shoes before the day was out! It was super easy and super duper fun. Jimmy Choo has nothing on me I tell ya!
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Regula & Bruno’s Afternoon Tea Party Reception (Part Two)

Kat

August 10, 2011

Remember Regula & Bruno's spooky Rye wedding? Well they're back, not once but twice today! I'm kicking of this Wednesday morn' with the Belgian leg of their wedding and this afternoon I'll be sharing their creepy wedding portraits taken at an abandoned fairground! Originally from Belgium the couple were keen to have a tea party reception in their home city for all their friends & family that didn't come over to the UK for their ceremony. Writer Regula told me all about their tea party. "We knew what we wanted to do for our wedding reception immediately. Because we were getting married in England we wanted our friends from Belgium to feel like they were in the UK. We decided we were going to do a Wedding afternoon tea."
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An Informal Picnic Wedding with a Touch of Vintage: Michelle & Jodie

Kat

August 9, 2011

Being a wedding planner herself, newlywed Michelle knew exactly what she wanted for her British Summertime wedding to Jodie. In the 18 months of their engagement she spent hours crafting and painstakingly putting together their vintage and craft themed day. "I wouldn't change a thing!" she explained. "We had so much fun planning the day, we did everything from choosing the playlists to writing our vows and designing the picnic menus."
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A Handmade Campsite Wedding: Maria & Chris

Kat

August 8, 2011

A campsite in Wales played host to Maria & Chris' fabulous wedding. With the help of their friends & family the couple pulled a lot of the wedding together themselves. The flowers played a huge part in the styling of their day as Maria explained, "For the flowers I wanted it to look as though we had picked them all from the fields that morning and used whatever we had lying around to put them in. We had been collecting vintage china for some time and used the various jugs, bowls and cups & saucers for the flowers on the tables. The campsite also had some rustic enamel jugs that we used too. Some of these Flowers I had ordered from the florist (Peonies, Cornflower, Lavender, Margharites etc) but the rest my Mum, her neighbour and my Auntie's had brought with them from their gardens! The Tipi was decorated with ribbon and Ivy from my Parent's garden too."
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A DIY Fashion Shoot Using The Rock n Roll Bride Planning Notebook!

Kat

August 8, 2011

A photo shoot featuring the Rock n Roll Bride planning notebooks!? Oh yes that's one sure-fired way to get my attention! "We styled the whole shoot ourselves using items from eBay (and of course the Rock n Roll Bride notebook," photographer Jaye of Tux & Tales Photography told me. "We decided we would do a few styled shoots ourselves on a shoestring budget. I think it is a great way to show brides that they can have a fun and fab style with a little pocket change and a lot of elbow grease. I hope you enjoy my ultra-rad millinery. Picture me sitting on the living room floor, feathers flying everywhere whilst my cat tries to run off with the hat in his mouth every time I turn around to get another feather. The bouquet I made myself out of crepe paper. Boo (our model) is a burlesque performer so she did her own hair & make up!"
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A “Totally Neat, Totally Sweet” Music-Themed Wedding: April & Rich

Kat

August 8, 2011

"Some people described our wedding theme as Rockabilly, but the only rockabilly music was played at the ceremony," newlywed April told me. "We are punk rockers at heart, but listen to a wide variety of music in the rock genre. We thought it would be very difficult to do a punk rock wedding and still keep it somewhat formal. (Rich's family is Catholic and I am not religious in any way. We didn't want to horrify his grandmother!)"
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A Quirky, 1950’s & DIY London Wedding: Rebecca & Morgan

Kat

August 5, 2011

I fell in love with Rebecca & Morgan's quirky wedding as soon as it landed in my inbox and I'm honoured and super excited to share it with you today...especially because they used some of my favourite suppliers (including Lisa Jane Photography and Vivien of Holloway) and well as some of the DIY project that I've posted on my blog. Yey! Rebecca told me all about their fabulous wedding. "Morgan and I grew up only 8 miles apart and even went to the same secondary school; in fact he was in my sister’s year in school. However we didn’t meet each other until April 2009, believe it or not he sent me a facebook friendship request, we went for a date and a crazy year later I asked him to be my fiancé. I even commissioned a ring from the quirky designer Amber France as a surprise, he said yes (sigh of relief on my side). Our daughter Efa was born and things went on the back burner and then 7 months later on my birthday he gave me a beautiful blue opal ring, it was like a green light!"
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A Gypsy Rocking Dancing Celebration of Love: Cole & Mike

Kat

August 5, 2011

Cole & Mike were married at The Mercury Cafe in Denver which is is actually they first met. When I asked the couple how they'd describe their wedding they replied, "A gypsy rocking vintage dancing celebration of love!" "I don't know if we could ever NOT do things differently, but with our wedding, this was especially important," Cole continued. "The venue itself created a unique atmosphere. It's this gorgeous ballroom above a local-healthy-organic-delicious cafe, and they have dancing there almost every night of the week. The place is strung with lights all over, and the walls are painted with gorgeous murals. The whole place is a bit bohemian and romantic, and in a lot of ways it dictated the style we went with-a very eclectic and romantic theme. The only thing that was really consistent throughout was. . . peacocks."
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A Weekend-Long Family Festival Wedding: Emily & Stef

Kat

August 4, 2011

If you're a blog addict like me you may have seen some of the following images from Emily & Stef's incredible festival wedding around the interwebs already. Emily is a wedding photographer herself and so a lot of the suppliers they used for their wedding weekend were friends as well as being exceptionally talented wedding industry peeps! After proposing to Stef, Emily set to work planning a unique and quirky wedding to suit them and their family. Being a wedding photographer herself Emily had seen a lot of things she didn't want for her own big day. It was important to them to have a wedding that reflected them, was chilled out and laid-back and fun for all their guests. "We had a bright, colourful, happy wedding that was all tied together with buttons," Emily began. "We have shot weddings together for the past 5 years and wanted to have something that didn't feel like we were at work. We also wanted an environment that was going to work well for our three children and lots of other little ones who would be at the wedding (about 27!). We both love music and festivals, so we wanted a lovely big party where everyone could relax and have fun. Someone described it as a mini summer holiday. That was the vibe."
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A DIY, Lesbian Wedding: Natalie & Sarah

Kat

August 3, 2011

Natalie & Sarah were married at El Rio, a bar in San Francisco. "My friend described our wedding as 'A backyard picnic with 52 pieces of flair'. I wanted it to feel like a big huge queer love fest," newlywed Sarah told me. "Our wedding was Rock n Roll because it was a queer wedding first and foremost. We had so much wiggle room to shape our event to be exactly what we wanted it to be. We were able to incorporate some traditional aspects, like the ring exchange, and do away with others that had no meaning to us like a bouquet toss or smashing a piece of cake in one another’s face. Although Nat and I can’t legally get married in the state of California we’re looking forward to taking a trip to New York to do it soon! I have a full sleeve of tattoos and wanted to feel sexy at my wedding, so I opted for a short dress that showed off my sleeve & some cleavage."
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A Hippy, Eco & Vintage Styled Shoot

Kat

August 3, 2011

This beautiful shoot with an eco hippy vibe tugs at my heart strings. Isn't it just beautiful!? I die over the summery details - the coloured glass, the cute props (owls for the win!), the yummy confectionery and the stunning florals. Photographer Nikita Gross used digital, Holga and Polaroid photography to capture the whimsical and retro vibe of these shoot...and I'd say she's done that perfectly! "We used tons of yellows and greens to keep with the natural vibe," she explains. "All of the decor was found at local thrift stores. Earlier this year myself and Jen Pritchard of Your Wedding by Jen created Cincinnati's first Alternative wedding Expo, Love+Bash. This is one of the table concepts from the show."
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