Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

Vintage

A Humanist, DIY Wedding in London: Emi & Adam

Kat

September 21, 2011

I'm officially dying over this wedding. Overly dramatic maybe but oh Lordy how beautiful is everything? Emi sure has that ethereal look down. Her Baby Ceylon gown (found on eBay) and vintage veil combo is just perfect...and don't even get me started on her short evening dress by Jones + Jones and Jeffrey Campbell American Flag boots. Seriously... The DIY wedding was held at Blo Norton Hall in London (its hard to believe this place is in the city!) The humanist ceremony took place 5 years to they day that the couple met. After the touching ceremony, the speeches were held outside in the beautiful grounds. The informal wedding breakfast was also held outside.
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A Vintage Themed South African Wedding ‘With a Twist’: Zigi & Warren

Kat

September 19, 2011

Oh South Africa you do have some beautiful light...and how lucky are Zigi & Warren to have had Shanna Jones Photography to capture it so magically? "We wanted a different wedding that represented our style," Zigi told me. "Something that was unique to us as a couple. Warren is into Cars/Bikes & Fashion. I am into Food/Art/design…and unfortunately cars too. We decided to do a Road trip to our destination (this is something we do often & is actually part of our lives). The plan was to do it over 4 days & 3 nights to ensure we really don’t miss anything, but also get the time to spend with the various groups of people. The plan was that the entire group would get to know each other by being in the same town for 3 nights. This would mean on the wedding night we can just hang!! Quite a few of our friends are muscle car collectors – so about 10 cars drove up (where others brought their off-road bikes to go into the mountains)."
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A Reclaimed, Relaxed & Fun London Wedding: Caroline & Lewis

Kat

September 14, 2011

Caroline & Lewis wanted a relaxed and fun London wedding which would reflect their loves and inspirations - reclaimed items, Caroline's love of fashion and vintage and quirky DIY elements all played a massive part in their wedding. "The whole day felt so perfect, not in the sense that everything went to plan, but it felt good that all our hard work was finally coming to fruition," Caroline told me. "Amazingly we didn’t feel nervous at all, we just felt excited. It gave me a huge sense of achievement knowing that I made my own wedding dress, made the bouquets, the cake, the invitations and all the decorations. I’m not saying that I did a better job than the professionals, but it was fun to have a go and it keeps costs down. You don’t need a massive budget to have a London wedding. There are lots of pubs, bars and restaurants that would jump at the chance to host a wedding and don’t charge a hire fee."
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Under the Spotlight – Kjrsten Madsen Photography

Kat

September 12, 2011

Today I'd like to introduce you to the photography of Kjrsten Madsen. Over the past few months I've been rediscovering my love of film photography and so it really is an honour to share these images with you all. Our wedding photos were shot on film, and although this wasn't really a concious decision at the time, looking back there really is a huge amount of joy that I get from knowing that these images were imprinted on a physical roll of film and developed by hand in a darkroom.
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Acceptable in the 80’s: Shelby & Stephen’s 80’s Wedding

Kat

September 6, 2011

The 1980's isn't as theme you see often in weddings...but after seeing these images of Shelby & Stephen's wedding I think that that is quite frankly a crime. As a child of the 80's I'm instantly taken back to my youth with the ammmazing 80's memorabilia boutonnieres, the cassette tape escort cards, the ghetto blaster flowergirl's basket, the computer game accessories and even the food! All in all this is one damn cool wedding. Hell, they even got thriller-inspired zombies in there!
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Vivienne Westwood, DIY Décor & Pink Plastic Flamingos: Mads & Nick

Kat

September 2, 2011

Mads & Nick are one seriously cool couple and I'm so thrilled to share their wedding with you today. I just know you're going to love it! "Our wedding was a hot mess of all-things-wedding and us," Mads explained. "I don’t think we did anything revolutionary, all the traditional parts of the wedding were there; we just made sure we took the time to think everything through and make sure it was right – for us. From the pre-ceremony music being a collection of our favourite film scores (How to Tame your Dragon anybody? Ahh just me and Nick then), to the inadvertently weepiest of readings; eight dreamy looking bridesmaids and nine hot groomsmen and our tables being named after ‘Our favourite things’ (inc Midsomer Murders and Arnold ‘The best activities for your health are humping and pumping’ Schwarzenegger – we had no shame!). We had our friend on guitar after dinner, photos in front of an abandoned concrete barn instead of the lake, pink flamingos, a Lulu Guiness corsage bridal 'bouquet (instead of a traditional bouquet)', funk and films on in the evening – who doesn’t want to watch Predator in a deckchair under a blanket with a Pimms on the go? Then at the end of the night we stole a taxi, ate cake and I got to take my spanx off. Rock n Roll!"
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A Relaxed, Boho Wedding: Laura & Graeme

Kat

August 26, 2011

Laura & Graeme were married at Marle Place, Brenchley which perfectly suited their laid-back boho wedding. "It is a peaceful, privately owned Wealden garden, ten acres of formal planting and many more acres of woodland and orchard," Laura explained. "None of our guests had ever heard of or been to Marle Place, before and neither had we. I didn't find it on my original wedding venue searches, eventually I found it by searching for something like 'secret garden'. It has been described as a hidden gem and I totally agree."
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A Handmade Campsite Wedding: Maria & Chris

Kat

August 8, 2011

A campsite in Wales played host to Maria & Chris' fabulous wedding. With the help of their friends & family the couple pulled a lot of the wedding together themselves. The flowers played a huge part in the styling of their day as Maria explained, "For the flowers I wanted it to look as though we had picked them all from the fields that morning and used whatever we had lying around to put them in. We had been collecting vintage china for some time and used the various jugs, bowls and cups & saucers for the flowers on the tables. The campsite also had some rustic enamel jugs that we used too. Some of these Flowers I had ordered from the florist (Peonies, Cornflower, Lavender, Margharites etc) but the rest my Mum, her neighbour and my Auntie's had brought with them from their gardens! The Tipi was decorated with ribbon and Ivy from my Parent's garden too."
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A Gypsy Rocking Dancing Celebration of Love: Cole & Mike

Kat

August 5, 2011

Cole & Mike were married at The Mercury Cafe in Denver which is is actually they first met. When I asked the couple how they'd describe their wedding they replied, "A gypsy rocking vintage dancing celebration of love!" "I don't know if we could ever NOT do things differently, but with our wedding, this was especially important," Cole continued. "The venue itself created a unique atmosphere. It's this gorgeous ballroom above a local-healthy-organic-delicious cafe, and they have dancing there almost every night of the week. The place is strung with lights all over, and the walls are painted with gorgeous murals. The whole place is a bit bohemian and romantic, and in a lot of ways it dictated the style we went with-a very eclectic and romantic theme. The only thing that was really consistent throughout was. . . peacocks."
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A Hippy, Eco & Vintage Styled Shoot

Kat

August 3, 2011

This beautiful shoot with an eco hippy vibe tugs at my heart strings. Isn't it just beautiful!? I die over the summery details - the coloured glass, the cute props (owls for the win!), the yummy confectionery and the stunning florals. Photographer Nikita Gross used digital, Holga and Polaroid photography to capture the whimsical and retro vibe of these shoot...and I'd say she's done that perfectly! "We used tons of yellows and greens to keep with the natural vibe," she explains. "All of the decor was found at local thrift stores. Earlier this year myself and Jen Pritchard of Your Wedding by Jen created Cincinnati's first Alternative wedding Expo, Love+Bash. This is one of the table concepts from the show."
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A Recycled Wedding Fashion Shoot at Paramount Ranch

Kat

August 3, 2011

"The concept of this photo shoot was 'eco friendly + recycled wedding fashion for modern brides'," photographer Yuna Leonard writes. " Both of the dresses and the boots in this set were found at American Vintage store on Melrose, Los Angeles. I love that store!! I was in love with the ideas of recycling and reusing wedding fashion from days gone by - maybe from brides who were in your Mother's or Grandmother's generations. The dresses I bought were also very inexpensive { from $70 - $ 100. The boots were $50.} We fused this style with an idea for outdoor / backyard styled reception fashion as well. The mixed style of vintage + bohemian + western totally got me this time! Hope you enjoy it!"
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A Simple Country Vintage Wedding for a Tattooed Bride: Dave & Clare

Kat

August 1, 2011

Dave & Clare were married at East Riddlesden Hall in West Yorkshire. The bride wore a Tara Keely dress and Irregular Choice shoes. "The theme I was going for was simple country vintage," Clare told me. "Throughout the whole wedding process from getting engaged to the honeymoon (which was only 5 months!) we just stayed true to ourselves, we invited who we wanted (no relatives we haven't seen for 10 years) no kids, only the people who mattered."
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