Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

UK

A DIY Cornish Wedding: Angie & Jack

Kat

November 15, 2011

Angie & Jack's Cornish Wedding was a wedding of three parts - with the ceremony at Devoran Parish Church, drinks and afternoon snacks at Devoran Village Quay and finally the main reception, with dinner and dancing, at Devoran Village Hall. "We didn't stick to the standard 'wedding rules' and just wanted our wedding to be fun and to show our personalities," the bride told me. "We wanted everything to be as unique and as personal without spending a fortune."
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A Village Fete Meets Tattoo Parlour Wedding: Jess & David

Kat

November 14, 2011

Jess & David were married in All Saints Church in Kirby and they had their reception in the bride's parent's back garden. Jess wore a Candy Anthony Dress, Upper Street shoes (which she designed herself) and Vivienne Westwood jewellery. The lucky couple had Shell De Mar there to capture their day. "We met at school and had been together 12 years when David proposed at sunrise on the beach in Mexico," Jess told me. "Initially I’d been reluctant to get out of bed so early but something told me it might be worth it...and it was!"
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60’s Girl Bands & 50’s Rock n Roll – A Vintage North London Wedding: Laura & Daniel

Kat

November 10, 2011

Meeting through a love of 60's girl bands and 50's Rock n Roll, it was inevitable that the wedding of Laura & Daniel would be made for this little blog of mine. Combine this with a penchant for vintage clothing and you've just about created the perfect Rock n Roll Bride wedding. "It seemed natural for us to reflect the way we met in our wedding," Laura told me. "I'm an artist, designer and one half of 50's Rock n Roll DJ duo The Truckin' Laura's, and Daniel is guitarist in The Special Needs, so music was a big part of the wedding. I walked down the aisle to a piano version of 'Sea of Love' by Phil Phillips played by our friend Galia. Our friend Anna and her all singing all dancing Ronettes played a beautiful ukelele version of Phil Spector classic 'Be my Baby' at the end of our ceremony which set the tone for the day perfectly. Another really special moment was Daniel singing The Tempations 'My Girl' after his speech and all our guests joining in with the chorus. After our first dance to The Ramones 'Baby I Love You' our DJ friends took turns on the decks and kept the guests dancing all night!"
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A Magical & Ethereal Midsummer Night’s Dream: Daisy & Adam

Kat

November 8, 2011

A Midsummer Night's Dream was the inspiration for Daisy & Adam's September wedding. The wedding was held at Mountains Country House, Hildenborough, with the ceremony in the gazebo in the gardens. "As a child I remember being taken to watch A Midsummer Night’s Dream," Daisy wrote to me. "It was being performed in a London park, and with each scene the audience picked up their chairs and walked with the actors through the woods to get to the next setting. I remember being struck by the romance of it, the mystery of the faerie woodland was so magical, it was always how I’d imagined by wedding. Luckily, Adam loved the ideas too!"
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A Simple & Intimate Concert Hall Wedding: Valerie & Craig

Kat

November 8, 2011

"For us, we wanted our wedding ceremony to be kept simple - no flashiness and relaxed," newlywed Valerie told me, "which is just the way we are. We wanted intimacy and for it to be very personal which I think was reflected in our music, readings (the lyrics of the Adam Sandler tune from the Wedding Singer and an extract from the Irrational Season, Madeleine L'Engle) and having our little boy with us. However, we definitely wanted a big party afterwards to celebrate."
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‘Rock n Robin’: A1950’s Christmas Shoot for the BBC

Kat

November 7, 2011

I know what you're thinking...Christmas stuff already woman?! Well just hear me out would ya... I've known wedding photographer Ashton Jean-Pierre ever since we both went to Emma Case's wedding back in March. I don't think we managed to talk on the night, but after the event I saw some of his incredible photos (that he just took on his iPhone!) on facebook and so I got in contact to ask if I could share some of them on my blog. He said yes and we've chatted online ever since. Ashton is deaf which makes no differece at all when communicating online, but when he asked if Gareth & I would like to do a mini shoot with him I was a teeny tiny bit nervous on how we would get on it 'real life'. However I needn't have worried. Ashton is so expressive and animated that it's actually pretty easy to have a conversation, and although I didn't know any sign language before we met, we were easily able to chat by gesturing and using good old fashioned pen and paper to write things down.
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A Rock n Roll London Wedding with Rockaoke!: Chris & Natalie

Kat

November 2, 2011

When photographer Annamarie Stepney slipped Chris & Natalie's wedding my way, I just about squealed with joy. Not only was Natalie an avid Rock n Roll Bride reader throughout her wedding planning, but I could see a few little ideas that she'd gotten from my blog snuck in there - hello purple wedding dress and Butler & Wilson skull crown! "I fell absolutely head over heels for the Butler & Wilson skull crowns after seeing photos of Kat in one so I checked them out. It was great as no one realised it was made up of skulls until they got close. I also wore it for my 30th birthday a month later."
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A Quirky Afternoon Tea & Library Themed Wedding: Ney & Phil

Kat

October 20, 2011

Ney & Phil's DIY wedding was loosely based around the theme of a books and libraries. "We wanted a literary theme and thought using vintage books as invites would be a lovely idea," Ney told me. "We met at University studying English Literature and just love books, in particular old Penguin classics. We found some companies that can make them for you, but they’re expensive so we decided to do them ourselves."
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A Patriotic Red, White & Blue Wedding: Julia & James

Kat

October 20, 2011

Julia & James had a handmade and patriotic Great British theme for their September wedding - red, white & blue. "I knew from the moment we started to plan the wedding that I wanted it to be DIY," the bride told me, "and to be able to keep all the aspects to decorate our home. We had so many great comments on the day from the registrar and venue that they had never seen a wedding like ours before. I am a avid follower of Rock n Roll Bride, Ruffled blog & Green Wedding Shoes so I scrapbooked a lot of ideas from them all over the past 2 years!"
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WIN with the Zankyou £500 Cash Giveaway!

Kat

October 11, 2011

Alternative gift list specialists Zankyou have just launched a contest which I think you'll all want to know about - who wouldn't want to win some lovely cash to spend on themselves? You could put it towards your wedding, something for your marital nest (aww) or just that new pair of shoes you've been lusting after! To enter simply register with Zankyou between now and the 30th of October and you will be automatically entered into the draw for your chance to win one of five £100 cash prizes to spend as you wish!
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A British Wartime Wedding: Lisa & Ric

Kat

October 5, 2011

After a church ceremony at St Peter's & St Paul's Church in Hampshire, Lisa & Ric had a very British wartime themed wedding at Broad Half Penny Down Cricket Club, Hampshire - the world's oldest cricket club. "Life never goes the way you plan it," the bride wrote. "I always dreamt of finishing uni, finding love, getting married and starting a family. The conventional family - we are not! I am 12 years younger than Ric, and also about 12 inches taller! Ric is frequently away with work and moved me to the south of the country, away from all my friends and family. Oh and how could I forget our 2 year old son - Bear. This was definitely not what I had planned. When Ric finally proposed, I was on cloud 9 and I knew that our wedding day wasn't going to be a 'normal' one. For example - I couldn't decide what engagement ring I liked, so I have three! We also had a best woman instead of a best man, we 'high fived' at the altar instead of the kiss, and our son screamed through most of the ceremony then was racing his toy cars down the aisle with chocolate down his nice white shirt."
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A DIY Village Fete Wedding: Charlie & Jo

Kat

October 3, 2011

"Our inspiration came from our wish to have a wedding that was different to any we had been to and our main focus for the day was to try and make it as fun as possible for all the guests," newlywed Jo wrote. "We wanted to have an informal day that just felt like a party. We both like antique decorations and I have always wanted a vintage dress because I wanted something different and not something that you might see someone else wearing at another wedding. I also loved the idea of my dress having a history and making someone else day special before mine. In the same way as I love the fact that the diamond in my engagement ring belonged to Charlie’s Great-Grandmother."
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48 Couples Marry at Bestival in the Big Love Inflatable Church

Kat

September 28, 2011

Taking place on the Isle of Wight for the past 7 years, Bestival music festival has fast become sinimomous with crazy antics, fancy dress...oh and a big dollop of awesome music thrown in for good measure! Each year it also plays host to the Big Love Inflatable Church, where couples can go to tie the knot. This year wedding photographer Chris Cowley was there to catch all the action! He explains, "A grand total of 48 weddings took place over the 3 day festival, Reverend’s ‘Nickerless’ and ‘Randy Johnson’ preformed ceremonies with the help of dishevelled bridesmaids, a mother in-law and a maid of dishonour."
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A Quintessentially English Country Garden Wedding: Liz & Blake

Kat

September 26, 2011

Liz moved to America from the UK where she met Blake while he was singing in a bar. After dating for a while he proposed while on holiday in Rome. Although well-traveled, Liz wanted to have her wedding in her hometown of Brize Norton, in her parent's back garden. She had to rely on her parents, sister and bridesmaids a lot for help during the planning, "I arrived in the UK 3 days before the wedding and immediately had to go and meet our vicar, after that we had to fight the jet lag to start decorating the marquee," Liz told me. "I didn’t realise how much stuff I had collected over the year and when I saw it all piled up in my parent's dining room I felt really overwhelmed by it all. Luckily my sister and bridesmaid were on hand to keep everything on track we knuckled down and started hanging and arranging."
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Lip Tattoos, Graffiti & Ice Cream: An Anti-Wedding Bridal Shoot

Kat

September 26, 2011

"The inspiration for this shoot really came from a morning cuppa with me and Hayley from Vintage Scoops, who owns a vintage ice cream van," photographer Shaneen Rosewarne Cox writes. "We became friends via Twitter and discovered that we live very close by. I couldn't resist a look at her fab ice cream van 'Betty' so we met up a few times. One morning over tea and lemon drizzle cake we decided to put together a shoot. 'Betty' is such a soft, pretty and summery ice cream van so we wanted to create a shoot that contradicted everything wedding-y."
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