A 1920s Speakeasy Carnival Themed Wedding: Emily & Jesse

Kat

May 24, 2012

Vintage themes aren't always my bag, but throw a 1920s carnival idea at me and I go weak at the knees! A strong theme like this, done really really well, gets me very excited indeed. Emily & Jesse were married at The Voorhies Mansion at Edenvale Winery. It provided the perfect canvas for their creative ideas! "I would encourage anyone planning a wedding to use wedding tradition as a springboard and focus on the experience you want your guests taking away from your event," newlywed Emily told me.

A Homespun Beach Wedding: Elissa & Chris

Kat

May 23, 2012

Weddings like Elissa & Chris' make me all giddy inside. A relatively simple affair done well is probably my current favourite kind of wedding style. No fuss, no stress, just effortlessly cool. One day I'll be as awesome as these guys!

Fish n Chips in London’s East End: Claire & Martin

Kat

May 21, 2012

What could be more British than fish n chips? It's one of my favourite things and an absolute must when visiting a seaside town or hanging around London's east end! Claire & Martin's shoot took place at Poppies of Spitalfields. "The idea behind this shoot was a vintage, very structured and posed shoot," photographer Georgina told me. "I wanted them to resemble the old commercials that were made in the 40s & 50s, which would feature a nuclear family or a young happy couple enjoying the product advertised."

A Vintage Tea Party Wedding: Chloe & Emma

Kat

May 18, 2012

After a New Year's Eve proposal ("not at midnight, we're not that cheesy!") Chloe & Emma set to planning their tea party wedding for the end of March. Being two girls, they knew their wedding would stand out and they wanted that as well as to put their own stamp on their day. As Chloe explained "Obviously as two girls getting married our wedding was always going to be a bit different. People kept on asking which one of us was going to wear the suit but we were both determined to be complete princesses on the day. We knew we wanted a vintage tea party wedding and we looked at lots of different ways to achieve it as we had a tight budget. In the end my mum who found Jam and Tea, who provided the tea & cake catering, online (she is an expert Googler) and the rest of the wedding fell into place from there."

A Secret Garden Shoot for Henry Nicholls Antiques

Kat

May 17, 2012

With Summer just around the corner, what could be a better shoot to share with you than this gorgeous secret garden shoot? Using antique and vintage piece from Henry Nicholls Antiques in Worthing, the styling had a timeless but quirky feel. Photographer Jayne Sacco told me all about their inspiration, "Anna owns Henry Nicholls Antiques alongside her husband Henry, and her style is all about being individual. She sources a mixture of vintage and retro goods for the store, as well as carefully selected costume jewellery like the Ritzy Crystal jewellery featured in the shoot. Henry has appeared in a number of Antique TV shows from Trash to Cash, Secret Dealers and is a regular antique dealer on ITV Dickson's Real Deal."

A Carousel Wedding: Lucy & Mini

Kat

May 16, 2012

When you set your wedding around a vintage carousel it's pretty much guaranteed to be a fun-filled and awesome day right? That's exactly what Lucy & Mini had when they found Preston Court in Kent, and even the rain couldn't stop them having the time of their lives! "Lucy & Mini chose an outdoor wedding and were married under a pretty little gazebo on Juliana's Island which their guests sat across a little stream to watch," wedding photographer Jennifer West told me. "All was well until there was a huge downpour which soaked all the guests. Luckily everyone saw the funny side. Lucy & Mini walked down the aisle (well, the path) as husband and wife to 'Lucy in the sky with diamonds'. The torrential rain lasted most of the day until the end when the sun came out and lots of fun photos were taken on the carousel while the sun was setting."

A 1960s Inspired Easter Wedding: Kate & Daniel

Kat

May 9, 2012

The Yorkshire wedding of Kate & Daniel took place in April at Victoria Hall, Saltaire. The bride's look was undeniably 60s with a bespoke mod style wedding dress made for her by one of her bridesmaids, and genuine vintage shoes, jewellery and a veil sourced from the shop her bridesmaid owns, Glory Days Vintage.

A Handmade Florida Wedding : Mike & Melissa

Kat

May 1, 2012

Working in the music industry it was important to Mike & Melissa that their wedding suited their lifestyle and sensibilities and 1903 Hontoon, a vacation property in Deland Florida, turned out to be the perfect place. "Mike is a local musician and recently I have decided to leave my job and become his manager!" began the bride. "We have been together for almost 4 years now and over the next two we will be setting up our lives to hit the road indefinitely until we find the best place to live! We are too hot here in Florida and always long to be in the mountains. We changed our wedding date 3 times just so that we could have it at this venue, because as far as Florida goes it was pretty hard to find a place that really spoke of who we are. We chose 1903 Hontoon, a vacation property that used to be an old boat & motor repair shot. It has an awesome feel to it. Our wedding is hardcore DIY & hand made - from 1,000 paper cranes to the tablecloths to the bridesmaid dresses and jewelry. I'm extremely crafty so I have been a non-stop force of productivity in creating everything I possibly can for this day. With that being said it is REALLY important to us to have our wedding captured because every detail is so dear to our hearts! The two of us never imagined that we would get married but, love eventually finds you and before we left for our travels it was important to us to share this bond and experience with our families."

A Colour Pop Bridal Shoot

Kat

April 24, 2012

"Waking up to a dark sky and torrential rain, the day started with two long suffering, bare foot models scampering through puddles and sheltering under crochet blankets", photographer Becky Mitchell wrote. Luckily for all involved the shoot was to be held indoors, in an old school building. The inspiration for this shoot came from wanting to create something simple but delicate, pretty and soft - pastels juxtaposed with a bold and bright and neon edge.

A DIY Beach Wedding: Jaq & Patto

Kat

April 23, 2012

A Private Residence Wedding: Ruby & Emmanuel

Kat

April 20, 2012

Ruby & Emmanuel's sweet wedding took place on a private residence in Adelaide. The bride wore a 1930s vintage wedding gown with a vintage headpiece. Even her bridesmaids wore vintage dresses. The couple locally sourced things where they could including the food their served and the flowers the used to decorate the marquee. The bride's sister made all their stationery and paper goods. The wedding was a really personal and intimate affair. "Our focus was really just on our family," the bride explained. "We handcrafted our wedding with, of course, some true vintage touches."

A Rustic Australian Vineyard Wedding: Richard & Eleanor

Kat

April 18, 2012

When Richard & Eleanor's wedding landed in my inbox I was sure there was some sort of mistake. Photographer Lakshal Perera must have meant to send this to one of the more glamorous wedding blogs surely? But before he could realise his mistake I'd replied with a 'oh hell yes I wanna feature this' and he was trapped with Rock n Roll Bride.

A Vintage-Inspired Walled Garden Wedding: Carina & Chris

Kat

April 18, 2012

Carina & Chris chose The Walled Garden at Cowdray, West Sussex as the venue to host their March wedding. "It was a fantastic venue where we were really able to personalise for our day," the bride told me. "They were very relaxed and the venue's informal spaces were perfect for us and our guests." "We spent the last year since getting engaged planning all of the details of the day", she continued. "We spent our weekends rummaging in charity shops collecting china and glassware. We spent a long time making all of the bunting, menus, paper flags and lots of other items ourselves and needed someone to make it all look pretty on the day so that I could relax and enjoy getting ready! For this we worked with Lucy at Love Lane Vintage. We met her at the venue and she worked closely with our plans and our items, as well as my many sketches to style the venue! We also hired her vintage china teacups and cake stands to style the table and serve our mini afternoon tea – in place of canapés – for the drinks reception! The macaroons and mini scones looked stunning, as did the piles of teacups and teapots for guests to use!"

Desperate Housewife: A Personal Project by Joanna Brown

Kat

April 16, 2012

I love wedding photographer Joanna Brown. LOVE. I'm always blown away by the weddings she submits to me, and I'm thrilled to feature her work on these pages whenever I can. So imagine by unadulterated joy when she asked me if I'd be willing to model for a personal project she was working on.

The Secret Glamour of Hollywood: A Styled Shoot for Alexandra King’s 2012 Bridal Collection

Kat

April 11, 2012

Secret Hollywood glamour was the inspiration for this shoot, set up to promote the new range of wedding dresses from British designer Alexandra King. "The shoot was originally based on the morning after the Oscars, a hazy, sun kissed feel with the soft prettiness of the dresses against the cold concrete and run down beach," Alexandra told me. "As if an Oscar/wedding party traveled down to the beach in Lost Boys and here was the morning after. The shoot then developed to two more locations. To shoot the look book, we found a village hall which had the perfect school play feel to it with a velvet curtained stage and lighting that gave the models the appearance of being a puppet show.The abandoned 1960s caravan images gave a trashy contrast against the dresses again and I love the way some of the images have a romantic gypsy feel to them."

An Alabama Cave Wedding: Melissa & Greg

Kat

April 10, 2012

Yes you did read that correctly - Melissa & Greg got married in a cave (and instantly went into my 'coolest ever wedding venue' mental checklist). "Greg and I picked up the love of spelunking (caving) during our 4 ½ year relationship and wanted to show our families what we found so beautiful about underground," Melissa explained when I asked them about their unusual choice. "The ceremony felt very romantic; low lighting, candles everywhere, glowing stalactites and the silhouettes of the people who love us the most. My stepfather Mark became ordained and performed our ceremony. It was very special to have him be such a huge part of my wedding since my father refused to attend for his own personal reasons. One of the more emotional moments of the day was when I danced with my stepfather. I hate crying but there was no holding back my ugly crying face! Greg walked me down the aisle, which was a perfect way to begin our marriage. I was much less nervous than I would have been otherwise. We broke a few traditions that I used to think were important, but now I understand exactly what a wedding is all about; it’s about man and wife and everything else is too insignificant to worry about."

A Dusky Pink Wedding with a Touch of Vintage: Louise & Paul

Kat

April 4, 2012

Louise & Paul were married in London on 11th February, just a few days after their 12 year anniversary. "Our 12 year anniversary was the Thursday before our wedding!" Louise told me. "This is the reason why we chose this date. We got engaged two year’s previously on our 10 year anniversary! We were lucky enough to find our photographer Annamarie Stepney through a wedding blog and we just fell in love with her pictures. They are so romantic and unconventional. Her photos just tell a story of the day - people who were there can re-live every fab moment and fill in the gaps on the moments they couldn't remember or missed. And those who weren't there, get transported to the day. I've been blown away by all the amazing comments on them!"

A ‘US Meets UK’ Rock n Roll Wedding: Aaron & Melanie

Kat

April 3, 2012

This is unadulterated Rock n Roll Bride gold and I'm thrilled to share it with you today. The couple, who met in San Francisco while Melanie was there on holiday, were married at the end of January at Old Marylebone Town Hall, London. "We met whilst out dancing at a rockabilly club called the Jay n Bee, and whilst there was instant attraction, I was only on a two week holiday so nothing really happened," Melanie told me. "However, I returned to the USA a few months later for Las Vegas and a three month stay in San Francisco, and that's when we started dating. We continued travelling between San Francisco and London, and got engaged on our 8 month anniversary (which was also Christmas Eve) whilst out dancing at the Southbank Centre in London. We had originally planned to get married in SF, but one sunny day last October, we were laying in the garden here in London, and I said to Aaron 'We should get married in London...in January!' and so we planned our wedding in just over three and a half months!"

A Country Vintage, Festival Inspired Wedding: Nichola & Jay

Kat

April 2, 2012

I'm loving the fact that the gorgeous country vintage/ festival-inspired wedding of Nichola & Jay is brightening up Monday morning on my blog! Talk about heading into a brand new week with some gusto! The August wedding was held at New House Organic Farm in Derbyshire. The farm is not a wedding venue (the couple were legally married at the resister office after their handfasting ceremony in the field) but they chose it to host their celebration here because it's a place that's very special to them. Their theme was chosen to not only compliment the farm setting, but because they love Glastonbury music festival - they met there and were engaged there (not in the same year!)

An Emotional East Meets West Wedding: Aneesha & Ed

Kat

March 26, 2012

Back in February 2011 I was at exhibiting at the first Designer Vintage Bridal Show, Birmingham. Luckily for me the organisers plonked my stand right next to one of my ultimate besties, wedding photographer Emma Case. On the second day of the show in walked bride-to-be Aneesha, who had decided she wanted Emma to capture her 2012 wedding. After chatting about wedding planning, blogging and photography Annesha went upstairs to try on wedding dresses. Always one to get excited about this part of wedding planning Emma & I followed to see what the bride-to-be would pick. Aneesha & Ed were having a traditional Indian ceremony in the morning, but for the evening reception they wanted to change into western wedding attire. As soon as Aneesha tried on the slinky Yevonde by Jenny Packham the tears started to fall and we all knew it was the dress for her! I'm honoured that I was allowed to witness this experience and I'm even more thrilled that today I get to share their full wedding story with you.