Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

DIY

Jonathan & Zoe’s Wedding Festival

Kat

June 3, 2011

For their 'Wedstival' (wedding festival!), Jonathan & Zoe threw traditions completely out of the window and planned the wedding that they wanted. As the bride told me, "Having been together for a (very!) long time we really wanted to steer away from a traditional wedding and do something that completely reflected us as a couple – we love the outdoor life, our Airedale terriers, our family and music festivals. Thus we came up with the idea of our “Wedstival” – a weekend that saw pretty much all 150 guests camping at the farm (in a mix of tents, VW campers, caravans and even a 36 foot luxury RV!!). We took massive inspiration from our amazing venue, York Maze. It meant we could literally have everyone and their dog there! The kids enjoyed two adventure playgrounds, an animal farm, a jumping pillow and go kart track. All eleven dogs had their own special dog park and to top it all off we had a three table casino and the most amazing live band!"
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Laura & Rob’s Bowling Alley Wedding

Kat

June 2, 2011

Laura & Rob were married at The Bloomsbury Hotel, London and had their reception in The Kingpin Suite at Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes, London. The wedding was unintentionally a day of two halves, and the bride even wore two dresses for each event. She explains, "As soon as we started planning the wedding, I had already set an agenda - no white, no normal wedding dress. It just so happened that the dress that made me cry like a baby was in Berketex Brides and was ivory! Even though I didn't want to wear a 'normal' dress, I still bought wedding magazines and hoped that I would find something super in there. Out of about 15 magazines, I had dogeared the page of only one dress, but forgot about it. After trying on about 6 dresses, the lady said what about this one - I put it on and couldn't stop crying - it was the one from the magazine."
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Tina & Scott’s Travel Themed Crafty Wedding

Kat

June 1, 2011

Tina & Scott's travel and craft themed wedding took place at The Greenbranch, Texas. It was predominately a DIY wedding influenced by the couple's travels. "It was mostly a do-it-your self peacock inspired wedding with a splash of anything vintage was a blast," the couple told me. "Our invitations were an image of a vintage suitcase with travel stickers of places we have visited. This connected with our first date; a “geocaching date”. We not only wanted to share our journey as a couple with our guests but also encourage them to have an adventure of their own. The wedding favors for the evening were uniquely trackable geocaching coins designed by us."
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Peter & Alisha’s Whimsical Woodland Wedding

Kat

June 1, 2011

Peter & Alisha's Sydney wedding had a whimsical woodland vibe (complete with animal masks no less!)...with both modern and vintage twists. The bride explained, "I wanted to do something bright and whimsical with some traditional and vintage twists. I love colour so the blue of the bridesmaid's dresses knocked me over when I saw it ... its also one of my maids favourite colours. I wanted to surprise my friends and family with some little surprises , I hope we did. I love autumn colours and bright blue skies in May. Green goes well with these two palletes too and thats my favouite colour."
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Laura & Rich’s Eco-Friendly & DIY Two-Day Wedding Celebration

Kat

May 31, 2011

Laura & Rich's classic English themed wedding had some super quirky and personal touches. The couple werelegally married at Merton Register Office, London and a few days later had an outdoor blessing ceremony and their reception at Tilford Institute, Surrey. "People were confused as to why we had two days, but why not?" Laura told me. "I wore my dress twice. I was driven in a posh car twice. The first day with my dad, nervous; the second with my new husband, brimming with excitement at seeing my friends! I'd recommend spreading out the love to anyone."
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Candice & Dave’s Budget-Friendly, Parisian-Themed Wedding

Kat

May 30, 2011

I'm coming over all Français today, with not one but two real wedding features with a French flavour. The first, Candice & Dave's, took place in South Africa but had a distinctive Parisian infusion. Photographer Jacki Bruniquel explained, "They were on a tight budget and really made the best of what they had and made their wedding 'their own'. They had a Parisian theme running through the day as this is where they got engaged, but through in a bit of local flavour too. Friends pulled in to help and Candice made many of the details herself."
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Aimee & Ben’s Heavily Tattooed, Handfasting Vow Renewal

Kat

May 26, 2011

Bride Aimee and photographer Naomi Kenton connected through Rock n Roll Bride. They both got talking via facebook about some weddings they'd both seen and liked on the blog and so after getting to know each other well in this informal way, Naomi shot her vow renewal to Ben. Can we also just please stop for one minute and share some love for Aimee & Ben's ink?! Seriously...wow. "Tattoos are a big part of both our lives as Ben is a tattooist," explained Aimee, "and we are both really into all things rockabilly, hot rods and VW lovers so that's what we wanted for the day. We are just ourselves and we do things the way we want and are happy as a result."
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Katie & Tim’s Rustic English Garden Wedding

Kat

May 23, 2011

Katie & Tim were married in August 2010, after being together for nearly 12 years! "We got married in Batcombe Old School Hall, a tiny listed building nestled within the rolling countryside of Somerset," Katie told me. "I was getting overwhelmed by the size and price tag of large stately homes. The Old School was £120, at this price we were able to hire it for the day before to decorate it too!" For their reception they took over an old manor house in Wiltshire (which is no longer doing weddings unfortunately) for 4 whole days with all their friends. A few people even camped in the grounds. "We loved it because it had a barn attached so we didn’t need to spend extra on a marquee plus our guests paid us to stay there which bought the cost down considerably," the bride explained.
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A Woodland Bridal Shoot

Kat

May 23, 2011

This morning's shoot was set up by photographers We Heart Pictures to showcase the types of brides they want to shoot. "Hector and I fly to Jersey often for client meetings as we shoot weddings in the Channel Islands," photographer Charlie told me. "I took the opportunity to make the most of our trip and the stunning location and heckled people into getting up at 8am on Easter Sunday to join us in St Catherine’s Woods. We wanted it to be fun so packed a picnic, chandelier, flags, bunting, balloons, bubbles, masks, several meters of fabric and threw in a couple of wedding dresses as you do!"
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‘No Rules, Just Right’ – Amanda & Tyson’s Party Hard Weekend Wedding

Kat

May 19, 2011

Ut oh...new wedding obsession heading your way. Seriously, Amanda & Tyson's wedding is what dreams are made of and I'm so excited to share the full thing, in all it's colourful glory on these pages. Some of you might know Tyson. He is the genius behind this site, and a pin up artist (I actually found his site myself when I was searching for tattoo inspiration.) So needless to say, with such a creative groom, this wedding was always going to be bad ass. The wedding was held at Highland Falls in Blairsville, GA. Amanda's stunning green dress was by Teri Jon and she wore it with Jessica Simpson shoes which she added peacock clips from The Headband Shoppe on Etsy to tie in with the theme. She also used the decorative shoulder strap of the dress as her headpiece which gave her a really unique look.
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Isobel & Dave’s Vintage-Inspired Budget Wedding

Kat

May 18, 2011

Isobel & Dave's incredible vintage-inspired budget wedding gives me butterflies! I am so excited about sharing all the beautiful personal touches that they put into their day. The whole wedding is a testament to the fact that you don't need to spend a fortune to have your perfect wedding. "The two things we had in our heads from the start were; that we didn't have a very big budget and that we wanted our wedding to reflect us," Isobel told me. "We started by approaching it as a really big party where we’d just happen to get married. The important things for us were that our favourite people were there, our favourite music was playing, and everyone would have fun! We aren’t particularly conventional and there was never any question of following rules or doing things because we ‘should’. I didn't buy a single bridal magazine or visit any bridal shops during the whole process! Rock n Roll Bride and DIY Bride were my only ‘go to’ blogs for inspiration and ideas! We just did things because we wanted to (if we could afford it)! With the little touches – the badges, the teapots as vases, teacups full of sweets, the birdcage for cards and messages, the photo booth (definitely a Rock n Roll Bride idea-steal!), and the bunting – I think we created a wedding that was fun, unique, and best of all, exactly what we’d imagined."
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Caleb & Eliza’s Beautiful Handmade, Vintage Wedding

Kat

May 17, 2011

I have been loving the photography and videos of photographic team For You Love Me for a while now, so I'm super excited to finally share one of their weddings on Rock n Roll Bride...and believe me, it's a beaut. Caleb & Eliza beautiful hand-made, vintage wedding is what wedding dreams are made of. The ceremony took place at Wheatland Presbyterian Church, Lancaster PA, followed by a reception at The Iris Club. Eliza wore a genuine vintage wedding dress that had belonged to her Grandmother. She had worn it for her own wedding in 1952. Eliza even hand-made her headpiece from the fabric of the matching jacket that came with it. She added a brooch from Designed by Jane to complete he bridal look. Her bridesmaids also wore brooches from Designed by Jane. The bridesmaids were asked to choose their own dresses and shoes, and were just given the task of getting something that was 'greyish and knee length.'
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Jenni & Neil’s Eclectic DIY Wedding

Kat

May 17, 2011

"I read something on a wedding blog during my planning, which I clinged onto for my own sanity," bride Jenni wrote, "It said not to worry about decorations etc matching, if you like what you have, in the end it will all go together. This was my mantra for our wedding and it worked. We didn’t have a theme and I didn’t really have a plan or a colour scheme. I operated like a magpie, picking up inspiration where I found it and with the help of my husband and our friends it worked for us!"
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Arnold & Melissa’s Festive Old World Carnival Wedding

Kat

May 16, 2011

Hold onto your knickers ladies (and gents!) because Arnold & Melissa's South African wedding is gonna make you squeal with delight. "We wanted to keep the wedding personal, real and down to earth," the bride told me. "I am a wedding photographer myself, so I've been to so many weddings that the last thing I wanted was a traditional wedding. We love the outdoors and being out in nature, so we wanted the wedding to be outside, but also in a natural setting. We went to look at Beloftebos and immediately knew it was the right venue."
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Sarina & Wayne’s “Spectacular! Spectacular!” Rock n Roll meets Moulin Rouge Wedding

Kat

May 12, 2011

Sarina & Wayne were married on their own estate in Denmark, West Australia, where they farm large crayfish (lobster!) Their gardens made the perfect setting for their ceremony and Moulin Rouge inspired after party. Sarina wore a dress by Collensione which she rocked up herself by adding a vest by Dada & Co. The bride also designed and made the junior bridesmaid's dress from black satin. She also gave it a black bustle of tulle at the back to really give it a Rock n Roll edge. Her adult bridesmaid wore a dress by Wheels & Doll Baby.
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