Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

DIY

‘Til Death Do Us Party Wedding Shoot: Angelo & Rin

Kat

July 22, 2011

"Angelo and I were super lucky to have design/photography duo Everywhere We Shoot on board to do our prenup photography," bride-to-be Rin writes. "These guys are friends who frequent the same gigs, art spaces, and thrift shops that we go to. Their philosophy has always been to keep doing and creating, not for money, but just because they love what they do. And knowing that we were on a budget-DIY-wedding, they agreed to do a pro bono engagement shoot for us in a heartbeat. I was also blessed to have a former schoolmate slash band groupie of mine, Kitty Caragay, do my make-up."
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A Crafty & Fish-Themed Wedding on the Banks of Loch Fyne: Claire & Doug

Kat

July 21, 2011

Unlike in England, in Scotland you can legally be married in an outside ceremony. The photos of this part of Claire & Doug's day in particular made me fall in love with this wedding. The celebrations were held at Inver Cottage Restaurant on the banks of Loch Fyne. Claire explains, "We went on our first family holiday to Strachur last year and when we stumbled upon Inver Cottage Restaurant on the banks of Loch Fyne we fell in love with it. We love all things seafood. It was during this holiday with our 9 month old daughter, Maggie, that Doug proposed. Directly across from Inver Cottage at the ruins of the old castle Lauchlan. The only place for our wedding ceremony was at Inver Cottage. We both hated the idea of a formal wedding but wanted to share the day with close family and friends and do it in a personal and well thought out way."
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A 1940’s Military Themed Wedding: Sierra & Jake

Kat

July 21, 2011

Sierra & Jake met while in the music store where Jake worked, "I shopped at the music store he worked at for a long time," laughed the bride. "I had the biggest crush but was way too shy to talk to him much. I always thought, "I want to end up with a guy just like him!" but certainly this one was out of my league. One day I was pretending to be interested in harmonicas, of all things, to get his "assistance" and he told me casually that he was joining the Marine corps. I panicked! I was running out of time to scoop up my dream man so I had to act fast. A few days later I finally got the nerve to ask him out. I decided for sure on that first date that he was the one for me. Two weeks later we started talking about marriage... crazy, I know! But here we are and he's the best thing that ever happened to me."
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A Crafty Vintage Wedding: Heather & Wil

Kat

July 20, 2011

Heather & Wil's crafty wedding was held at a friend's house, which just happened to be an ex-church and was big enough to house all their guests as well as looking quite impressive. They kept things simple, didn't have a bridal party and kept everyone fed and happy with a good old fashioned BBQ! "We did everything just how we wanted it," explained the bride. "We walked down the aisle together, didn't have a bridal party, only invited 35 people and were very happy with the results. The most important thing that happened that day was that I married the man that I have loved for almost 10 years, it wasn't about impressing or out-doing, it was about love and I think finding true love is pretty damn Rock n Roll!"
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Swings, Balloons & A First Dance to Weezer: Joie & Cody

Kat

July 20, 2011

When the recently married Joie emailed me to share her awesome first dance video, I knew instantly I wanted to share it! Anyone that dances to Weezer is bad ass in my book! I was surprised though that Joie didn't send me her full wedding as she said wasn't sure that it wasn't 'Rock n Roll' enough for the blog. Erm...no way lady! As soon as I saw the beautiful Meschantes Couture corset dress and the portraits on the swing I was smitten!
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A Mad Men Inspired Vintage Wedding: Rowan & Neil

Kat

July 18, 2011

Rowan & Neil were married at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church, Renfrew followed by a Mad Men inspired reception at 29 Private Members Club in Glasgow. "The wedding ceremony was particularly special to us," Rowan explained. "My Dad is an Episcopal minister and it was a great honour to have him conduct the service in his own church. My Mum walked me up the aisle - it was lovely to have them both involved in the duties of 'giving the bride away'."
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Colour, Confetti, Candy, Cakes & Kilts: Amanda & Colin

Kat

July 14, 2011

"Colin and I have been together for almost 7 years and thought it was about time that we tied the knot," read the email I received from newlywed Amanda last week. "Unlike most women, I don't think I ever really dreamed of what my wedding would be like so I didn't really know where to start when it came to the planning. I'm a complete control freak and knew that I wanted to make and take part in creating as much for the wedding that I could so I started looking for inspiration on various websites and in books." "We knew that we wanted a few things for certain: a great photographer (or 2) to capture every grin, tear and laugh; a sweetie buffet; lots of handmade touches; fairy lights (and lots of them!); cupcakes; photo booth; a black and white wedding with splashes of colour; a hand fastening ceremony; confetti and sparklers." From these simple ideas they created the stunning wedding you see on these pages! "Colin was really eager to have a hand fastening ceremony and we both wanted to involve our family in the ceremony as much as possible," continued the bride. "It was so important to us that we showed our love and appreciation for our family and this was the perfect way to not only add a splash of colour but it was also to show them exactly how much they mean to us."
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Film Wedding Photography – Sophie & Robert’s Quirky Vintage Countryside Wedding

Kat

July 13, 2011

There's something about film photography. Something magical. Our wedding was shot on film in fact, and while at the time this wasn't even a conscious decision (digital wedding photography wasn't as popular then - wow I sound like we got married in the dark ages!) it's a choice I'm pretty happy we made. There's just a certain quality with this format, that no matter how hard it tries, digital images simply can't compete with. So when photographer Ashton Jean-Pierre sent me Sophie & Robert's wedding last week, shot 100% with film, I jumped at the chance to share it with you.
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Tess & Ray’s Dream-Like Backyard Wedding

Kat

July 12, 2011

Tess & Ray's backyard wedding is pretty much what my dreams look like. Tess told me all about it and I swooned over every detail, "From the very beginning Ray and I knew that we wanted our wedding to be relaxed and FUN, but most importantly something we could be proud of. We wanted to stay true to ourselves and not worry about any kind of fuss or frill. We wanted to make our dream a reality without breaking our backs trying to pay for it."
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Jo & Oli’s East End Knees Up!

Kat

July 11, 2011

When I asked Jo & Oli to descrive their wedding, they simply called it an "East End knees up!" I love that and think the description cetainly matches the party vibe of their wedding photographs from Rosie Parsons. "We knew that we didn't want a hotel reception (we couldn't have afforded one anyway!) because we wanted to put our stamp on our day: we wanted it to be really about what we like: tea and cake; Rock n Roll; dancing and cocktails!" Jo explained. "I dragged my Mum around every hall in the East End of London before deciding on St Peters in Bethnal Green. It had so much character whilst being a blank canvas at the same time. It was really important to me to get married in the East End as I grew up in Stepney and we now live in Bow. The hall was within walking distance of the hall and traffic was quite bad along Valance Road that day so Oli and I got to ride to the hall in our Morris Minor and chat to our guests as they walked along!"
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Jill & Justin’s Nature-Inspired Music Lovers Wedding

Kat

July 11, 2011

Jill & Justin are both huge music lovers and so they wanted this to be a big part of their day. "We love anything from jazz to punk to french new wave, and we knew we wanted music to be the theme in our wedding," Jill explained. "This was reflected in our wedding invitations, our table numbers, our choice in the amazing jazz band we got, our favorite DJs and the favors for our guests, which featured lyrics by the Beach Boys."
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Steve & Shelley’s Post-War Britain, DIY Wedding

Kat

July 11, 2011

Steve & Shelley's Isle of Wight wedding had a post-war vintage and DIY theme. The couple were keen not to spend a fortune on their day and the theme really evolved quite naturally and organically from this idea. "We were conscious we did not want to spend a fortune on our wedding and the theme of 'Post-War Britain' fitted in nicely with our DIY wedding," the bride told me. "Everything was done on a budget, a lot sourced from eBay, friends and family helped to make bunting and paper chain hearts for decorating the reception venue. Our favours were Thorntons chocolates wrapped in brown wrapping paper with blue butchers twine (eBay again) and a parcel tag attached with the guests name as a place card. I handmade the invitations which were a shimmery Union Jack postcard style with the invitation wording as a telegram, on the invitation we requested that guests attend in their interpretation of post-war Britain dress, and gladly the majority of guests did so!"
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April & Christian’s Colourful Dance-Party Rooftop Wedding

Kat

July 8, 2011

April & Christian's rooftop wedding was held at Aerial in Nashville and from the sounds of things it was a fun-packed wedding from start to finish. "The ceremony was on the rooftop in downtown Nashville right beside all the honkey tonks," photographer Alex Bee told me. "The bridal party DANCED down the aisle to live music played by the bride & groom's brothers. They really got into it! The bride's entrance had the most tension/energy/anticipation that I have ever experienced at a wedding. The bride entered the ceremony to rising beginning guitar solo of "She's the One" by Bruce Springsteen. Did I mention that they passed out tambourines & eggshakers & encouraged the guests to play along? It was really amazing! The reception was an epic rooftop dance party + karaoke."
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Marcus & Simone’s Laid Back, Country Vintage Wedding

Kat

July 7, 2011

Marcus & Simone used some of my favourite wedding suppliers for their barn wedding in Gloucestershire, including Joanna Brown for photography, Fur Coat No Knickers for the dress and Severin of The Hepburn Collection for the bride's hair. I love this! "I got a little frustrated at how little choice there is when it comes to creating an individual wedding, especially as I didn't have that long to plan it (5 months)," the bride told me. "I found it easier to not refer to magazines and traditional wedding websites and preferred to take inspiration from Etsy.com, blogs such as Rock n Roll Bride and to go with my own ideas. I think it's easy to get sucked into the wedding machine and things can become too fussy. My ethos was to try and keep it classic, stylish and simple."
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Stephanie & Aaron’s Budget ‘Peacock Vintage’ Wedding

Kat

July 7, 2011

"The whole wedding was sort of 'peacock vintage' themed," newlywed Stephanie told me. "We really managed to keep the wedding cost pretty low and spent less than $12,000! We was able to do this by making our own centerpieces, boutineers, corsages, invitations, and headpieces. We also used an older, less popular florist because I knew exactly what kind of flowers I wanted, and I provided the ribbon and feathers to her, leaving no room for error."
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