Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

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A Retro Americana Wedding: Ralph & Carly

Kat

August 22, 2012

Ralph & Carly love all things Americana and retro and so the theme for their wedding was easy to decide on. They wanted to incorporate the feeling of driving through America in an open top car - something they love to do in real life. Ralph had even proposed on a road trip through Arizona, one of their favourite places in the USA. "We love Americana and we feel that there is a big difference between what is retro and what is vintage", Carly explained. "We wanted our wedding to be all things that we love. We love nothing more than booking a flight and a car in the US and then exploring, although sometimes we end up in very peculiar places and cannot wait for daylight to arrive so that we can head out! For the most part though it's the way that we have discovered some of our favourite places. Each table was named after a hotel or motel that we have stayed in on our trips, there have been many others but these had the coolest signs."
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An Elopement-Style Ceremony with Friends & Family: Teresa & Russell

Kat

August 20, 2012

"Teresa & Russell’s wedding was like an elopement which included family and close friends", wrote wedding photographer Melina of Lucinda Photography. "They left their East Vancouver home with suitcases packed for their Montreal honeymoon for which they were leaving only a couple of hours after the ceremony! We did some whirlwind portraits in their neighbourhood before heading to Vanier Park to help friends set up some chairs and refreshments. Guests arrived, they were married, the mingled and they left. It was great."
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Red, Polka Dots & An Ice Cream Van – A Budget-Friendly DIY Wedding: Kelly & Matt

Kat

August 17, 2012

With a budget of just £8500, Kelly & Matt pulled of a wedding that perfectly encapsulated everything about them. From the cute red colour scheme, the DIY details and the relaxed photography, their wedding was one to remember. "We did absolutely everything ourselves for as little money as possible!," began the bride. "We wanted the day to represent us as a couple and to be really personal. We wanted to make it a really relaxed atmosphere and make sure all our guests and we had fun. The theme was slightly retro, with red as the main colour set around black and white polka dots and loads of red love hearts! Everything looked exactly as we had imagined and seeing it all for the first time was one of my favourite parts of the day. All the details looked amazing and we were glad we put so much time and effort into them."
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A Simple Bridal Shoot on the Barcelona Hills

Kat

August 15, 2012

April in Barcelona. Teresa and film photographer Miguel Varona headed away from the city and up the hills to Montseny natural park to shoot a set of simple bridal portraits. "It wasn't the perfect day", wrote Miquel. "The sun didn't shine, but the atmosphere we had was perfect to recreate the special moments for a bride on her wedding day." "Teresa wore a leather jacket a boots with her simple dress. 'Why not mix tradition and simplicity?' I thought. 'Why not show that tradition is compatible with personality?'"
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Buttons, Belles & Polaroids: Angela & Paul

Kat

August 13, 2012

Paul proposed to Angela on an idyllic deserted beach in Galicia, Spain. This set the tone for their wedding day. Firstly a map of Galicia became the backdrop of their seating plan. They also had a polaroid theme with the table names, place names, cake toppers and invitations. They used images of their favourite places in Galician on the polaroids including palaces, fortresses and monasteries, and used them throughout the wedding.
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A Rockabilly Las Vegas Wedding: John & Marnie

Kat

August 13, 2012

Australian John & Marnie spent six weeks travelling around the US for their honeymoon after their wedding in Las Vegas. They were in town for the Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Festival and they loved the idea of getting married there. The ceremony was held at Little Church of the West, a quaint little 'mini church' looking chapel, right at the south end of the strip and the after party was at Level 107 Cocktail lounge in the Stratosphere hotel - right at the north end!
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A Sweet Sussex Barn Wedding: Fiona & Ben

Kat

August 10, 2012

"We didn't want a run of the mill wedding", explained newlywed Fiona. "Ben's a bit of a control freak and likes things done his own way. We both love anything vintage so enjoyed lots of weekends trawling through flea markets and car boots collecting bits and bobs to decorate the barn. We really wanted a party atmosphere with all of our family and friends. We collected/ borrowed lots of hats, sunglasses and various other items of fancy dress for the evening and encouraged people to be a silly a possible – our guests fully embraced the dressing up and pretty much everyone was wearing some kind of fancy dress at the end of the night."
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A French Garden Wedding: Elodie & Alexis

Kat

August 9, 2012

Welcome to Elodie & Alexis' gorgeous French wedding. If you loved their engagement shoot this morning, then their nuptials are gonna blow your socks off! The wedding ceremony was held in the bride's parent's back garden which they decorated themselves. Alexis picked all the flowers and pulled together a bouquet of wheat for Elodie to carry down the aisle. As I said in this morning's post, the couple are both deaf and found their film-loving deaf photographer Ashton Jean-Pierre at World Deaf Art Festival in Reims, near Paris, last Summer.
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A Black, White & Red Wedding in a Windmill: Suzie & Andrew

Kat

August 3, 2012

Suzie & Andrew wanted a really unique venue for their unique wedding and so chose a Willesborough Windmill in Ashford, Kent. They had just 47 guests (including 13 bridesmaids!) and they really did things their own way. From the DIY catering, to the ice cream van dessert, and the chocolate favours to the lady bug bouncy castle, the day was planned around the things they love. "My main goal for our wedding was that I wanted a day that wasn't strictly structured," began newlywed Suzie. "I wanted a laid back afternoon and evening filled with fun, laughter, eating, drinking and general enjoyment for everyone. All my close family & friends wanted to help which was great and they are contributed so much to our day."
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A Black & Red, 50s Rock n Roll Wedding: Hannah & Lewiss

Kat

August 1, 2012

Hannah & Lewiss' small and sweet wedding was held at St Fagans Castle, the National History Museum of Wales. For their evening party they moved to the trendy Jolyons at No.10, a boutique hotel in the heart of Cardiff. The venue choices were important to this couple and they both wanted places that stood out. Hannah explained, "We both didn't believe in long engagements so we set a date for 9 months after we got engaged. Finding a unique venue was important to us, but this was harder than we imagined. Living in Cardiff, we wanted somewhere in South Wales but it seemed to be flooded with chain hotel venues or vast historic buildings which were too big for the small wedding we had dreamed of. After overlooking it a couple of times we went to visit St Fagans Castle. St Fagans is the National History Museum of Wales, an outdoor museum full of historical buildings from all around the country. The Castle is a Grade 1 listed Elizabethan Manor House set in the most fabulous gardens. Even though it wasn’t what we originally had in mind, we knew straight away it was perfect. Also it’s in the area where Lewiss grew up and his parents still live, so it being local meant a lot to him."
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Colourful Californian Ranch Wedding: Jamie & Chris

Kat

July 26, 2012

This colourful ranch wedding winged it's way to me all the way from sunny California. Held at The Holland Ranch, San Luis Obispo, with all the guests staying at the nearby Madonna Inn, the day was one of colour, fun and a rockin' good time! "Our inspiration was to make our wedding as fun as possible and as uniquely 'us'", Jamie, the bride, told me. "We knew we wanted to do it in San Luis Obispo because it's our favorite little town on the coast and would be a destination wedding for our families who live out of town and our friends who live in LA. The Madonna Inn is a special hotel for us and we stay there a few times a year. It's so fun and funky. And we love that every room was different, we knew it would be a fun part of the experience for our guests. As soon as we found the Holland Ranch and saw all the neon signs and taxidermy on the walls of the party barn, we knew it was our place. Plus, it had the gorgeous mountain-backdrop and cool archway for the ceremony. We loved the idea of having our big day all in one location. And the barn was the perfect back-drop for the party! More than anything, we wanted our guests to have fun and from what we've heard, they did!"
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A Red & Black Rock n Roll Wedding: Theron & Erin

Kat

July 16, 2012

Happy Monday everyone! I thought I'd start this week with a bang, some much needed sunshine and the gorgeous May wedding of Theron & Erin. The couple were married at Vizcaya Pavilion and Mansion in Sacremento and had a red & black themed celebration. "Our advice to future brides & grooms would be to stay organized and delegate tasks in order to stay sane", Erin told me. "Don't change anything in order to make other people happy... stay true to who you are and what you like. We knew that people were going to want to rock out and mingle, so we didn't force anyone to a sit down dinner... it was all about the open bar and heavy hors d'oeuvres!"
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A London Mod Wedding: Maddy & Victor

Kat

July 13, 2012

I seem to be featuring a lot of weddings with pub receptions at the moment but I love the idea and the fact that they are a cost effective venue option. However the thing I love about the particular pub weddings that I share is my readers. Even with similar venues the weddings couldn't be more different from each other! Take Mandy & Victor's mod-esque wedding for example... "Our reception was at Clissold Arms in North London", Mandy began. "The ceremony was at St Michael's Church in Highgate and Victor wanted a good exit from the church and journey to the pub. Whilst we discussed leaving in a Delorium and re-enacting a scene from Back to the Future, there just wasn't the budget! But Victor is a huge fan of scooters, and had the idea of leaving with an entourage of vespas following us was born. So we gave the local scooter club, New Originals North London Scooter Club, a call and they were more than happy to help!"
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A Shoreditch Shindig: Mike & Louise

Kat

July 13, 2012

Located in East London's trendy Shoreditch, Mike & Louise went for an urban vintage vibe for their wedding. "We met in 2009 in Sydney where Louise had just relocated to and where she was working for a charity with an old college friend of mine who set us up", Mike wrote. "It didn't take long to realise we had a similar outlook on life and after 1.5 years we decided to get married. Being from opposite sides of the world we faced the tough decision of where to get married as either location would see some of our family and friends unable to attend. In the end we opted to marry officially in London as Louise really wanted her Nan, a huge inspiration in her life, to be there on her special day." "We had travelled to London for one of Lou's friends weddings in September 2010 and had spent some time in Shoreditch. We felt quite strongly that we really wanted a non-traditional wedding for just our closest family and friends. We also knew from our time there previously that we would love to incorporate the local graffiti which so characterises the area."
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