Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

DIY

Loretta & Andy’s Backyard BBQ Wedding

Kat

June 22, 2011

"I would describe our wedding as a bit country barn ho-down, a bit backyard BBQ and a sprinkling of vintage," newlywed Loretta. "We've always been a bit Rock n Roll. We met over a shared love of music and spent the first three years of our relationship going to gigs together. Our first date after our son was born was going to see Midlake at the Prince of Wales. Andy's other true love is his Martin guitar. Our inspiration came from drives through the country, we always stop when we find a great old ramshackle barn and take photos. Some of our favourite gigs have been in places like Meeniyan at the old Town Hall. It's in places like these that bucket loads of inspiration can be found. You mix pretty fabrics and detailing with rusty old sheds and and fields of grass and hay and it's a match made in heaven."
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Oysters, Beach Huts & Paddling in the Sea – Abby & Julian’s Beautiful Whitstable Beach Wedding

Kat

June 21, 2011

Ahh the great British seaside! While we can't rival (what seems like) the rest of the world in the sunshine stakes, our beach resorts certainly do have some beautiful British charm don't they? I've visited Whitstable a number of times (it's where we shot the mad hatter bride shoot!), and I have to say, photographer Joanna Brown's capture of this wonderful town is pretty much perfect. What a lucky couple Abby & Julian are to have had her as their wedding photographer! After Julian proposed on Whitstable beach in September, the seaside town seemed like the perfect place to get married too. The couple were wed at The Beacon House on the seafront. "We both really wanted to get married, but to be honest neither of us were particularly fussed about a fancy wedding, and once I'd had a look at a couple of wedding magazines I started having mini-palpitations at the horror and the cost of it all," Abby told me. " I do love a wedding, but I hate being centre of attention myself and the whole coordinated, packaged nightmare of it was enough to bring me out in a sweat. We did visit a few beautiful venues, but knew they were just not us, and the final straw was visiting a perfectly manicured courtyard garden venue which had installed a permanent marquee 'facility' complete with carpet tiles AND bow back seat covers (my two pet hates), glowing colour change pillars 'to fit your colour scheme' and multi-function twinkling 'star canopy'. They were so proud of it and it just epitomised everything I hate and DID NOT WANT at our wedding. Finding the world of wedding blogs was a revelation and really just gave me the confidence to do what we wanted all along."
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Alexandra & Kevin’s Homespun, Canadian Wedding

Kat

June 21, 2011

After a ceremony at Cathedral of Mary Immaculate, Alexandra & Kevin headed back to the bride's family home for their reception. Alexandra and her sister were actually married within a week of each other (!) and so they both decorated the property to suit both their weddings. Their photographers treated the couple to a ride on their pink cruiser bike for their portraits as it perfectly complimented the bride's 50's inspired Dolly Couture dress.
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How to…Make Your Own Wedding Garter By Elsie Larson of A Beautiful Mess

Kat

June 18, 2011

If you're a wedding blog junkie like me, you will probably have seen Elsie & Jeremy's beautiful wedding photographs on a number of the 'big boy' blogs this past week. However I'm super excited to be getting a piece of this beautiful handmade wedding to share with you too. Over the next few weeks I will be posting a number of DIY tutorials that this super crafty lady made for her wedding. First up, a DIY garter...
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Elizabeth & Simon’s Homemade Vintage Tea Party Wedding

Kat

June 17, 2011

Elizabeth & Simon's crafty vintage tea party wedding was a DIY effort and the beautiful touches and attention to detail really shows. The couple put a lot of themselves into their day and the bride especially homemade a lot of their wedding details. "Over several months I purchased vintage china and glass wear from various charity shops and Pannier Markets," she told me. "This was used as the crockery for the tea party and because we've managed to collect some really nice pieces and a substantial amount, we’re keen to start a small vintage crockery hire service after our wedding."
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Sarah & Aaron’s Rustic Vintage Wedding

Kat

June 16, 2011

Sarah & Aaron were married at the bride's Grandparent's farm in Lake Ariel, PA. "Our wedding could not have been done as well as it was without the selfless help of our family and friends," the bride told me. "People were always volunteering their time to help us out in any way they could. And in that way our wedding day was not just about me and Aaron, but a celebration of our friends and family as well. Our community not only came around us in support of our marriage the day of the wedding, but were also a big part in making it the beautiful day that it was!" Their rustic vintage theme was set by the venue, but continued with the DIY elements the couple put into their day like the fabric garlands and tin can lanterns. "We didn't want one of those cookie cutter weddings that you go to a store to pick out and purchase every little thing. No printed napkins, no machined decorations--we wanted a hand and a heart to create our wedding instead, " Sarah continued.
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Claire & Joe’s Beautiful & Funky New Forest Wedding

Kat

June 15, 2011

A Temperley dress, a skull handbag and a groom in Vivienne Westwood? Oh yeah, this is my kind of wedding! Claire & Joe's wedding was held at Rhinefield House Hotel in the New Forest and was beautifully captured by photographer Lisa Devlin. Quite frankly this wedding is made for these pages, and so I'm more than a little bit thrilled to share it with you today. "We knew we didn’t want to look like every other bride and groom and wanted to be ourselves," the bride told me. "We took our inspiration from the 1930’s and although it wasn’t a theme it had a definite feel. One of the most important things for me as a make up artist was how to wear my make up which I did myself on the day. I love a strong rock n roll lip so I went for a dark 30s look using MAC Current lip liner all over with MAC Ruby Woo lipstick on top."
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Katherine & Marc’s ‘Non-Weddingy’ Brisbane Celebration

Kat

June 15, 2011

"Your blog inspired me to reach for the stars," wrote newlywed Katherine. "We began our seven month wedding planning journey with no theme and no colours...I did not want to be restricted. We choose wedding elements that we loved...not because they matched or fit a certain criteria and let it come together organically. I love everything whimsical...so it was a natural progression for our wedding to have whimsical elements." The ceremony was held at St Stephen's Cathedral, Brisbane, and the couple rocked up in a blue Cadillac belonging to their friends. "Afterwards, 40 of our family and friends boarded a boat for a twilight cruise on the Brisbane river...it was magical! We chartered a 2 level boat; with an open top deck and enclosed area downstairs where we had a buffet dinner & desert. We walked around with no shoes on, mingled, ate, drank and had a good time! It was so nice & relaxing with just our family and closest friends."
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Darren & Naomi’s Vintage Circus Wedding

Kat

June 15, 2011

The theme for Darren & Naomi's romantic wedding was Vintage Circus. "We wanted a day packed full of fun, totally relaxed and whenever anyone thought back on it they would smile," the groom told me. "The theme was a total surprise for all 200+ that were invited, with the first clue being as we walked down the aisle together as man and wife, and Entry of the Gladiators (the traditional circus theme tune!) was played by the organist."
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Uri & Evelyn’s Intimate Islington Wedding

Kat

June 14, 2011

Uri & Evelyn's intimate wedding was held at Islington Town Hall with their reception at The Union Tavern and party afterwards at The Distillers Smithfield. The couple won their wedding photography with My Love Story though a feature they saw on Rock n Roll Bride which makes me totally biased to say I think I love them! Although I love detail-heavy weddings as much as the next wedding blogger, I'm also a huge fan of simplicity and genuine love in the weddings I feature...after all it's the people that matter and the fact that the bride and groom are committing their lives to each other that's the most important, not that the wedding is 'pretty.' Although that's not to say that Uri & Evelyn's wedding isn't pretty, I'm swooning over the bride's simple dress from Coast and the cute as hell wedding cake from Bea's of Bloomsbury!
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Peace & Love – Allie & Bo’s 1970’s Bohemian Wedding

Kat

June 13, 2011

There are some weddings I see that are just so adorably gorgeous that I squeal a little bit with delight when I'm allowed to share them with you...and this baby needs to be shared! I just know you're going to adore it as much as I do. Allie & Bo's wedding had a distinctive 1970's hippy vibe - an era that they live and love in their everyday lives. The bohemian, DIY details make this day simply perfect for them. As bride Allie explains, "I like to consider myself a modern day hippie with a bohemian bent. I wanted something sort of whimsical and vintage for my wedding. I grew up with stories from my grandmother of the passions of the hippie movement of the late 60’s and early 70’s. She encouraged me to be original and taught me an appreciation of nature and an independent sense of style. Bo and I love to hike and camp and we eat locally grown food, so it was important for us to plan an environmentally friendly wedding."
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Mark & Maryanne’s Summer Fete, Tea Party Wedding

Kat

June 13, 2011

Mark and Maryanne had their garden tea party wedding in Maryanne's parents house in West Chiltington.The vintage vibe of the day with carried throughout with DIY, classic vintage and country garden ideas. The bride's dress which was original vintage from The Vintage Wedding Dress Company. "I found a beautiful 1950's dress that I had customised" the bride explained. "It originally came with a lace cape, but my fab seamstress turned the cape into sleeves and added a bit of sparkle with some old glass buttons that I found from a little junk shop in Sussex." With this she wore Emmy Shoes, a customised vintage veil (made from a 1940's hat) jewellery made from original vintage piece and bag from the 1950's.
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Tory & Joel’s Two-Day Vintage & Rock n Roll Wedding

Kat

June 10, 2011

Tory & Joel's two-day wedding makes my heart sing. These two totally different days worked so brilliantly for the couple. Both had a vintage and Rock n Roll vibe and I'm utterly thrilled to share them both with you today. The couple were married at Marylebone Town Hall, London in an intimate ceremony on Friday 27th May. Tory wore a vintage dress by Armstrong Vintage and Joel wore a suit from Next . The couple chose not to have their reception directly after as they were dreaming of eloping, and having the ceremony separate to the reception party gave them this feeling without upsetting their family and friends! "Part of us wanted to run away together and have a romantic eloping story to re-tell but in reality we both wanted our parents and siblings there at the ceremony," the bride told me. "It turned out to be exactly what we wanted: incredibly romantic, very intimate and with our nearest and dearest there to squeeze our hands when things got a bit emotional." The reception was held on the 29th at West End Farm, Bedfordshire and certainly had the Rock n Roll vibe. The bride wore a second vintage dress from Love Miss Daisy and the event was a detail-perfect party for all their friends and family.
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Lori & Tom’s Casual n Cool Vegas Wedding

Kat

June 10, 2011

Lori & Tom were married in Las Vegas in a casual and laid back wedding. They kept their day simple and significant to them, as Lori explains, “We live in London and met at Coachella music festival in 2007. We wanted intimate (we were thinking 35 people, we ended up with 54!) and casual, a bit different and more of a party than a wedding. No ice sculptures, receiving lines, or head tables. We just wanted to have a big party with our family and close friends. My family live in Vancouver and Tom’s family in England, so we decided that if guests were going to travel, then why not make it a big holiday in Vegas? And to top it all off, in meant we could go to Coachella with our closest friends before the wedding — bringing everything full circle.”
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James & Charlie’s Intimate Registry Office Ceremony

Kat

June 6, 2011

You may have seen Andrew's own wedding around blog-land as it was photographed by the awesome Emma Case. Inspired by his own wedding experience, Andrew wanted to try his hand at wedding photography himself...and can I be so bold as to say, for a first attempt he pretty much nailed it! One to watch? I think so! He explained, "Meeting Emma had a huge impact on me. I've always felt quite a creative person and used to be able to channel that through music and film making. That just seemed to fizzle out through my mid twenties and left a massive void in my life. I never took time to fill it. When I met Emma she inspired me to pick up my camera and find a totally new passion. I've not looked back. I am so grateful to her and we still keep in regular contact. I find weddings and couples the most amazing thing to photograph as there is nothing but love and positivity in every frame. I am completely engulfed now and have taken the leap of faith to see if I can follow my own photography path."
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