Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

Outdoors

Nick & Hannah’s Game Playing, Fancy Dress Celebration

Kat

July 20, 2010

Nick & Hannah had a 3 day wedding at Christian retreat and conference centre Lee Abbey. The celebrations started with a day of fun activities for all their guests including archery, mountain boarding and zip wiring through the forest. Not only that, but all their guests were invited to wear fancy dress. That sure made for lots of laughs and some awesome photographs. The couple made an extra special effort, coming as Robin Hood and Maid Marion. Hannah had even worn her Grandmother's own wedding dress in memory of her.
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“I Can Make That!” – Roni & Dave’s Awesome, Diy, Homespun Cute-Fest Wedding

Kat

July 16, 2010

OK I am EXCITED! Roni & Dave's reception is, like, totally the most awesome diy, homespun cute-fest ever and I've got the full scoop and all the juicy details for you. I featured their wedding day shoot not so long ago and as soon as I saw Roni's adorable and oh-so-awesome homemade vintage brooch bouquet I knew the rest of their wedding was going to be awe-inspiring but I'm telling you, nothing prepared me for this! The couple's reception was held in Roni's parent's house and backyard. For the flowers and centrepieces they bought all the blooms and the watering pots from Cosco and made them all themselves. "I didn't care what kind of flowers we had or where they came from. I just knew I wanted them to look like they were just hand picked out of a field" Roni told me. They ordered the yummy looking cakes from Liberty Market (Gilbert, AZ) and Roni & her Mum added the lace and brooches as well as an adorable home made cake topper.
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Ribbons, Pom Poms & Papel Picado – Roxana & John’s Amazing Fiesta Wedding

Kat

July 13, 2010

Roxana & John's incredible Mexican fiesta wedding was shot by the amazing Katherine O'Brien with a Holga, a Hasselblad and a Polaroid camera. The results are not only magical, but give a really unique and different perspective when looking back. In fact looking at these awesome images is almost like a crazy, exciting acid trip...in a good way of course! The bride, a costume designer, custom-modified her dress with dress with ribbons, rhinestones and a favorite brooch that was her Great Aunt's. Her groom wore a gold western belt buckle with the initial S for a bit of extra personality. The couple added lots of fantastic details to suit their papel-picado theme (a natural fit given their Texan roots) including tissue paper flowers lining the railings and tables, a custom card box in festive colours that looked like a wedding cake and grosgrain ribbons tied to the cedar arbor with fleur de lis topped markers. They also used Mexican loteria cards as escort cards which they clipped to a red ribbon hanging on an old wooden door. They then put matching cards on each table with a cowboy boot filled with wildflowers as the centrepieces. The wedding cake was topped with a Day of the Dead Bride and Groom.
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Stevie Wonder played at our Reception!

Kat

July 8, 2010

I don't often post weddings that aren't shot by a professional wedding photographer as I am so passionate about everyone having amazing wedding photography, however there are definitely some instances when I'm happy to make an exception. I am proud to make the 'wedding' of Stacey & Dave one of these exceptions. The pair were at Glastonbury music festival last weekend (actually I think it was the week before, man I am behind with my blog posts!) and got engaged, hurrah! Their friends suggested they get married then and there as Glastonbury is famous for people rocking up and getting married in wellies, surrounded by mud and music! This year however it was 30 degrees and although the 'wedding' isn't a legally binding one (silly UK wedding laws) this is certainly going to be an awesome memory for the couple.
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A Mountain Top Ceremony for a Modern Art Wedding

Kat

July 8, 2010

Sara & Andy's mountain top wedding took place at Sapphire Point in Breckenridge, Colorado. They kept it intimate with only 50 guests to the wedding and reception, which was held at the Museum of Contemporary art in Denver. As well as keeping their wedding small and personal, the skipped a lot of the traditional fluff - for example instead of a cake they opted for ice cream sandwiches with sprinkles! They also didn't want (or need) to add any extra decor to their ceremony location or their reception venue as the surrounding countryside and the museums art work spoke for itself and complemented their unfussy theme perfectly. "We utilized the beauty of the spaces from the natural mountain top to the contrast of the modern space of the contemporary art museum to make the couples wedding photographs uniquely theirs" photographer Anna told me. "It was nice working with the two seemingly contrasting spaces to create wedding photographs that were cohesive and representative of the couples day, personalities and love for each other." Finally, Sara & Andy chose not to have any bridesmaids or groomsmen.
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Anniversary Love – A Vintage, Park Picnic

Kat

June 30, 2010

Oh I love featuring anniversary shoots. I get excited and all mushy to see how in love you guys are even after a few years of marriage...and of course they mean that there is no end to the inspiration I can give you - so don't stop reading Rock n Roll Bride just because you're married you hear!? Sarah & Ben, have been married for 4 years and wanted to do a vintage rustic themed anniversary shoot in a park. They had a sweet lazy picnic going with apples and antique coca cola bottles where they could lie in the grass and enjoy the sun.
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Quirky English Summer Festival Wedding

Kat

June 19, 2010

This quirky, laid back British wedding with a cool festival vibe was sent over to be last week and you guessed it, I couldn't wait to feature it. Rachel & Dan really did it their own way and I love the idea of a chilled out party in a tent to celebrate a wedding. The couple were officially married at a registry office but has an 'unoffical' church blessing at St Peter's Church, Weston, Suffolk. They didn't make a big deal about the registry office part as they didn't want this to feel like their actual wedding - in fact Rachel was still at work half an hour before their appointment! The reception was held at Marsh Farm which was just a holiday property when they found it. However since the couple got married there and Rachel published an article in The Guardian newspaper about the wedding, the owner decided to change it to a wedding venue.
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Bibliophile

Kat

June 12, 2010

I usually only put one post up on a Saturday, but I have to admit that I wanted to share this engagement shoot as soon as I could...and plus, the submissions have been coming in at such a rate of knots since I posted my How to... Get Your Wedding Featured on a Blog post (which I'm not complaining about of course!) but I do feel like I have a lot to get through this week! Alister & Rachel are having a gothic & diy wedding on a mountain vineyard in a few weeks. The wedding is sure to be super detail-heavy and I can't wait to share it! However their engagement session was actual quite impromptu. "They wanted a Gothic yet bibliophile theme with a twist for the main part of the shoot, hence the books, vinyl and rug. Then for the rest of it, we simply found some killer locations and let them do their own thing; smiling, laughing, whatever went!" photographer Julian told me.
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Pom Poms, Succulents, Neon Cheesecakes & Californian Sun

Kat

June 9, 2010

This wicked shoot was put together by Bowman Nichols Event Consulting. They wanted to highlight the beauty of California’s Central Coast and the historic and rustic elegance of the Santa Margarita Ranch, but in a fun and fabulously colourful way. They put together a rustic feeling set up with the table in the field and the almost neon cake/flower table. "We were looking to craft a rustic feel pulling inspiration from the colour palate and style of the Carlisle linen pattern from BBJ Linen. The concept was to accentuate a blend of traditional and non-traditional elements for the bride and groom, while staying with the feel of the venue in its rural tradition" they explained. The couple they chose for the shoot was also very important to them as they wanted a pair that could pull of an alternative, edgy feel. "For the couple, we paired an edgy, big city, tattooed groom Josh, with a beautiful blonde, 1950’s inspired bride Natalie, for a Rock n Roll feel. Natalie wore a vintage inspired, short lace gown by Alfred Angelo and western style cowboy boots. To tie in the theme of color we chose large non-traditional jewellery embellished in turquoise with red and black accents to play up to her rockabilly groom. The bouquet was a beautiful unique arrangement adorned with billy balls, kangaroo paw, and succulents pulling in the bright contrasting colour."
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Rustic Retro with a Diy Charm

Kat

May 25, 2010

Fanni & Ben got married in April at Cripps Barn in Gloucestershire. Bored by the usual wedding stuff they found in magazines and at wedding shows, the pair turned to the internet for inspiration and luckily for them stumbled upon not only Rock n Roll Bride but a plethora of amazing ideas via some awesome American wedding blogs. "Back at the drawing board, I found myself scanning an array of American wedding blogs. All of which featured jaw-droppingly gorgeous weddings that looked amazing but had little or no information about weddings in the UK, and then I stumbled across your site!" Fanni told me "From that day on, Rock n Roll Bride truly was a breath of fresh air for me from everything else I had seen out there previously. Your site was reassuring that we didn't have to be confined to the norm or do things a certain way because it was tradition. Our wedding was our day, our way. We wanted our guests to have the best time and not be left thinking that they were just at....'another textbook wedding.' So, with much planning and evenings spent beavering away we managed to pull it all together."
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Retro Movie Themed Kansas City Wedding

Kat

May 15, 2010

You're going to love Erica & Ryan's homespun, diy wedding...and you're certainly going to love their story. I was over the moon to receive these gorgeous images from photographer Katie and even more chuffed when Erica got in touch with all the juicy details. "Ryan and I originally thought we would just have a courthouse wedding, and then have a big party. Of course, our parents were not so thrilled with the idea. We also did not want anyone else planning or making decisions for OUR wedding/party, because we did not want it to be the same old wedding and the same old reception that we've all attended twenty times before. Nothing against traditional weddings, we're just not traditional. We also were looking to keep it cheap simply because we think it's silly to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a few hours. All we really needed was the two of us looking snazzy and an amazing photographer."
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What a Beautiful Day!

Kat

May 11, 2010

After featuring Alissa & Rich's crazy-stylish engagement last May, I couldn't wait to see their wedding and they certainly haven't disappointed! Alissa told me all about their 'vintage, rustic, chic' wedding. "After an extensive search for a photographer, we found Laura Grier at Beautiful Day Photography. We fell in love with her laid back photo-journalistic style and her infectious positive energy. Through Laura, we ended up finding our wedding location, Figueroa Mountain Farmhouse in Los Olivos, California, based on the photos from one of the gorgeous weddings she shot there."
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