Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

Vintage

A Vintage Nautical Wedding: Liz & Tom

Kat

December 8, 2011

Liz & Tom injected a subtle nautical theme into their October wedding. "In our first few years as a couple I used to call Tom the one-armed fish man," Liz laughed. "Our venue was The Bull Hotel in Bridport, a harbour market town, and we both want a scrimshaw anchor tattoo (haven't done it yet but the plan is to have one for Christmas). So we flooded our wedding with vintage nautical touches and plenty of rum. Rock n Roll Bride was the only wedding blog that I read as I planned my wedding. It was from reading what other Rock n Roll Brides had done for their big day that we had the confidence to go our own way."
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A Rustic-Glam French Wedding: Daniel & Caroline

Kat

December 7, 2011

Daniel & Caroline were married in Chateau Puits es Pratx in Ginestas, in the south-west of France. The gorgeous surroundings provided the perfect backdrop to their rustic wedding. "The Chateau is only a few miles from Dan's dad's house in a nearby town, so it is an area of France we have visited often and know well," the bride told me. "We knew from the off that we wanted our friends to help us celebrate our wedding in this beautiful place and the Chateau fitted our requirements perfectly - cottages on site, and a self-contained venue for a long weekend of fun! We wanted the weekend to feel like a party in a stunning venue, with good company, great food and endless wine. Simple!"
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A Vintage Festival Wedding…in the Rain!: Natasha & Charlie

Kat

December 5, 2011

Natasha & Charlie are the kind of couple that wedding photographers dream of - creative, unique in their inspiration and totally in love. The bride told me all about their vintage festival wedding. It may have rained for their outdoor ceremony, but it certainly didn't damper their spirits! "Even though I had prayed for months for sun on our wedding day, it still rained! I thought that this would ruin the day as everything we had planned involved being outside – including the ceremony. Just before we were due to go down, the wedding organiser at Maunsel House said that it was raining and tried to convince me to move everything inside. But I couldn’t bare the thought of not getting married under the beautiful bandstand as this had been my dream from the start – so I made everyone stand outside with umbrellas! It actually turned out really well and everybody loved it – the pictures of everyone with umbrellas looked great as well!"
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A Rolling Stones Rock n Roll Circus: Nicola & David

Kat

December 1, 2011

Nicola & David were married on Halloween weekend in The Hospitium in York (England's most haunted city apparently!) The venue is in the middle of the Museum Gardens and in the shadow of the ruins of St. Mary’s Abbey. The unusual setting was the perfect backdrop for their Rolling Stone Circus wedding. Nicola explained, "We’re both massive Rolling Stones fans so we wanted to have the same type of feel as The Rolling Stones Rock n Roll Circus. Slightly carnival like with a serious nod to music. We drew the line at stilt walkers, jugglers and such, though I did very much want a peacock and an elephant. Surprisingly there are no ‘hire a peacock’ websites. Even less chance with the elephant."
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A Pretty Vintage Islington Wedding: Cecilia & Robert

Kat

December 1, 2011

Cecilia & Robert's pretty London wedding took place at Union Chapel and Union Hall, Islington. "At first we had to decide where to have our wedding as I'm from Italy and Robert London," Cecilia wrote to me. "We soon realised that London was the perfect place, as it’s where we've chosen to live and where we definitely wanted to start our life as a family. We started looking at a few venues, but they all looked a bit impersonal and soulless to us, we definitely wanted somewhere that would have a meaning for us and our relationship. And so that’s how we “stumbled” upon the Union Chapel. Rob had been there several times to see gigs, and we had been together to see a very special acoustic performance by Editors. Many people think it’s not an actual church, but it actually is – and it made perfect sense to us to get married there!" "We were also delighted to find out that – apart from the main auditorium - they have several spaces for hire that can be used for all sorts of events. The Upper Hall fitted the bill perfectly, as it’s a completely blank canvas that we would be able to personalize according to our own taste."
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Under the Spotlight – Vintage Feather Wedding Accessoires by Britten

Kat

November 29, 2011

Britten is an independent bag and accessory company based in Bath. Owner and designer Sarah specialises in creating unique and one-of-a-kind pieces for her clients, many of which are perfect for weddings. Her new feather fan range is a fantastically unique idea for a bride who doesn't want to carry a traditional bouquet, and as well as that the feather fans are something you can keep forever.
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A Gothic Masked Ball: Debs & Sean

Kat

November 22, 2011

Sean & Deb's masked ball wedding took place at the beginning on November at Brownsover Hall Hotel, Brownsover, Rugby. "We stumbled on the venue by accident after previously reserving two other venues", the bride told me. "We were on our way up to my parents for christmas and made a detour to see the hall - it was amazing! Gothic, yet romantic. We fell in love with it as soon as we saw the giant Elk's skull in the entrance hall!" The venue fitted their wedding theme perfectly - slightly gothic and masqueradey (I'm pretty sure I just made up that word) with a 1920's/30's vibe.
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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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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 Handmade South African Wedding: Megan & Peiter

Kat

November 10, 2011

South African weddings are blowing me away at the moment. I've been featuring so many beauties from this fabulous country recently, I feel very lucky indeed! Well my luck was very much in when Megan & Peiter's beautiful wedding landed on my lap last week. The wedding was held outdoors at Kleinkaap Pretoria, a boutique hotel in Centurion, Gauteng. "I wanted to do everything!" Megan laughed, "and everything had to have a significant meaning so all my vendors were our families. Everything from the bunting to the match-books we handmade and actually (sorry for the cliché) made with thought, consideration and love. To me the fun part wasn’t only the actual wedding it was getting together with friends, family and a great bottle of wine to stick match-books together."
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A Vintage-Inspired Mountaintop Wedding: Roxanne & Braxton + WIN Her Twigs & Honey Veil

Kat

November 9, 2011

Roxanne & Braxton's beautiful mountain view wedding took place at Meditation Mount, Ojai, CA. Photographer Lydia Hudgens was there to capture the day. "We wrote the ceremony ourselves and our friend John was our officiant," Roxanne told me. "We had some friends perform readings from favorite writers of ours - Emily Dickinson, Virginia Woolf, Paul Eluard, etc. Another friend, Rob, provided the processional & recessional music on guitar, accompanied by Braxton's cousins Kati and Madi. We walked down the aisle to Joanna Newsom's 'Bridges and Balloons' and finished with Michael Jackson's 'The Way You Make Me Feel.' It was so lovely and just what we wanted; Meditation Mount was an amazing place for a ceremony--the view of the surrounding valley is epic, sublime."
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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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A Footloose Meets Vintage Romance Wedding: Jessie & Mark

Kat

November 2, 2011

You might mistakenly think that Jessie & Mark's wedding is a little on the pretty and elegant side for me, but you'd be wrong. On the odd occasion (in between all the tattooed chicks and badassery) I do like to swoon over a genuinely beautiful wedding like this one. The outdoor ceremony wedding and rustic barn reception were held at Fischer Hall, Texas. The bride wore a Priscilla of Boston gown which she found on preownedweddingdresses.com and real flowers in her hair.
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A DIY London Wedding & A Barefoot Bride: Hannah & Olly

Kat

November 1, 2011

Hannah & Olly were engaged at Bestival in the inflatable church, "Olly proposed to me at Bestival in the inflatable church following our annual Bestival wedding in front of all our friends dressed as unicorns, Mario, Luigi, Alien babies… " Hannah wrote to me. "It was chucking it down as we strolled back to the main stage (engaged!) and The Wailers were playing. All of a sudden the sun came out and like from nowhere Olly handed me a Pina Colada in a pineapple! We spent the afternoon dancing to Chic and chinking our pineapples." From this unconventional proposal, it was clear that this couple were to have anything but a traditional wedding. As the groom explains, "We’re both very creative people and from the start of organising our wedding we wanted it to be different. Throughout it we used blogs, including Rock n Roll Bride, and we did it together. Myself and Hannah contributed equally and both did a lot of homework on details. The motto from the beginning was that it was to be a party, not a ceremony. With that in mind we kept thinking of the things that we loved from parties we have been to."
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