Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

Vintage

A British Beach-Inspired, DIY Wedding: Emma & Matt

Kat

August 1, 2011

I teased a photo of Emma in her amazing short short wedding dress on twitter as soon as photographer David McNeil sent over this wedding to me. Whoaaa, I literally had to share it with someone (well 12,000 someone's) right away! I. Die. "We got married in Bardsea (on the bay of Morecambe)" Emma told me. "It's my parent's village which is just such a gorgeous place near the moors and the beach. Even though we live in Camden and love it - we're both down to earth and love being outdoors and away from the city, so it was a natural choice. We got married at Eden Lodge, on the outskirts of the village, which has recently been converted from a Edwardian home to a small, minimalist hotel in some AMAZING grounds. We got married in the hotel itself and then the reception was in a marquee in the grounds. It was the hotel's first wedding and they were AMAZING. We can't sing their praises enough. The staff were EXCEPTIONAL and really went above and beyond to make our day perfect."
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An Eclectic Nightclub Wedding: Ant & Lou

Kat

July 27, 2011

Ant & Lou were married in Chianti, Italy but had a massive reception party at The Kazimier nightclub in Liverpool on their return. "We wanted to get married abroad and bring with us all of the people we love dearly," Lou told me. " It was important to both of us to have our friends and family there, but to also have a very personal wedding, something that was exactly us. We found a beautiful castle in Chianti, Italy and started our wedding process from there. Everyone came on different flights at different times on different days and even though there was an ash cloud, an unexploded WW2 bomb found in Pisa airport and severe winds causing planes to be diverted, everyone got there eventually. One group of friends were travelling for 26 hours just to get from Liverpool to Tuscany! but they made it and their positivity was beautiful."
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A Vintage Gas Station Anniversary Shoot: Kelly & Charly

Kat

July 27, 2011

Some of the more eagle-eyed of you might recognise Kelly & Charly from their awesome vintage and Rock n Roll-inspired wedding that I featured back in February or Kelly's beautiful bridal shoot which went up back in November. Well they are back and just as beautiful as ever! For their anniversary the couple wanted to mark the occasion with another photo shoot with their wedding photographer Juliane Berry. The shoot was held in Rancho Park and The Original Farmers Market in Los Angeles and had a super stylish and vintage vibe. They had two vintage cars (a 1927 Ford Model T and a 1932 Ford Phaeton) as well as various props and loveliness including sugar skulls that the couple had bought in Mexico.
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‘Til Death Do Us Party Wedding Shoot: Angelo & Rin

Kat

July 22, 2011

"Angelo and I were super lucky to have design/photography duo Everywhere We Shoot on board to do our prenup photography," bride-to-be Rin writes. "These guys are friends who frequent the same gigs, art spaces, and thrift shops that we go to. Their philosophy has always been to keep doing and creating, not for money, but just because they love what they do. And knowing that we were on a budget-DIY-wedding, they agreed to do a pro bono engagement shoot for us in a heartbeat. I was also blessed to have a former schoolmate slash band groupie of mine, Kitty Caragay, do my make-up."
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A Crafty & Fish-Themed Wedding on the Banks of Loch Fyne: Claire & Doug

Kat

July 21, 2011

Unlike in England, in Scotland you can legally be married in an outside ceremony. The photos of this part of Claire & Doug's day in particular made me fall in love with this wedding. The celebrations were held at Inver Cottage Restaurant on the banks of Loch Fyne. Claire explains, "We went on our first family holiday to Strachur last year and when we stumbled upon Inver Cottage Restaurant on the banks of Loch Fyne we fell in love with it. We love all things seafood. It was during this holiday with our 9 month old daughter, Maggie, that Doug proposed. Directly across from Inver Cottage at the ruins of the old castle Lauchlan. The only place for our wedding ceremony was at Inver Cottage. We both hated the idea of a formal wedding but wanted to share the day with close family and friends and do it in a personal and well thought out way."
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A 1940’s Military Themed Wedding: Sierra & Jake

Kat

July 21, 2011

Sierra & Jake met while in the music store where Jake worked, "I shopped at the music store he worked at for a long time," laughed the bride. "I had the biggest crush but was way too shy to talk to him much. I always thought, "I want to end up with a guy just like him!" but certainly this one was out of my league. One day I was pretending to be interested in harmonicas, of all things, to get his "assistance" and he told me casually that he was joining the Marine corps. I panicked! I was running out of time to scoop up my dream man so I had to act fast. A few days later I finally got the nerve to ask him out. I decided for sure on that first date that he was the one for me. Two weeks later we started talking about marriage... crazy, I know! But here we are and he's the best thing that ever happened to me."
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A Crafty Vintage Wedding: Heather & Wil

Kat

July 20, 2011

Heather & Wil's crafty wedding was held at a friend's house, which just happened to be an ex-church and was big enough to house all their guests as well as looking quite impressive. They kept things simple, didn't have a bridal party and kept everyone fed and happy with a good old fashioned BBQ! "We did everything just how we wanted it," explained the bride. "We walked down the aisle together, didn't have a bridal party, only invited 35 people and were very happy with the results. The most important thing that happened that day was that I married the man that I have loved for almost 10 years, it wasn't about impressing or out-doing, it was about love and I think finding true love is pretty damn Rock n Roll!"
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Swings, Balloons & A First Dance to Weezer: Joie & Cody

Kat

July 20, 2011

When the recently married Joie emailed me to share her awesome first dance video, I knew instantly I wanted to share it! Anyone that dances to Weezer is bad ass in my book! I was surprised though that Joie didn't send me her full wedding as she said wasn't sure that it wasn't 'Rock n Roll' enough for the blog. Erm...no way lady! As soon as I saw the beautiful Meschantes Couture corset dress and the portraits on the swing I was smitten!
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A Mad Men Inspired Vintage Wedding: Rowan & Neil

Kat

July 18, 2011

Rowan & Neil were married at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church, Renfrew followed by a Mad Men inspired reception at 29 Private Members Club in Glasgow. "The wedding ceremony was particularly special to us," Rowan explained. "My Dad is an Episcopal minister and it was a great honour to have him conduct the service in his own church. My Mum walked me up the aisle - it was lovely to have them both involved in the duties of 'giving the bride away'."
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Film Wedding Photography – Sophie & Robert’s Quirky Vintage Countryside Wedding

Kat

July 13, 2011

There's something about film photography. Something magical. Our wedding was shot on film in fact, and while at the time this wasn't even a conscious decision (digital wedding photography wasn't as popular then - wow I sound like we got married in the dark ages!) it's a choice I'm pretty happy we made. There's just a certain quality with this format, that no matter how hard it tries, digital images simply can't compete with. So when photographer Ashton Jean-Pierre sent me Sophie & Robert's wedding last week, shot 100% with film, I jumped at the chance to share it with you.
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Tess & Ray’s Dream-Like Backyard Wedding

Kat

July 12, 2011

Tess & Ray's backyard wedding is pretty much what my dreams look like. Tess told me all about it and I swooned over every detail, "From the very beginning Ray and I knew that we wanted our wedding to be relaxed and FUN, but most importantly something we could be proud of. We wanted to stay true to ourselves and not worry about any kind of fuss or frill. We wanted to make our dream a reality without breaking our backs trying to pay for it."
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Jo & Oli’s East End Knees Up!

Kat

July 11, 2011

When I asked Jo & Oli to descrive their wedding, they simply called it an "East End knees up!" I love that and think the description cetainly matches the party vibe of their wedding photographs from Rosie Parsons. "We knew that we didn't want a hotel reception (we couldn't have afforded one anyway!) because we wanted to put our stamp on our day: we wanted it to be really about what we like: tea and cake; Rock n Roll; dancing and cocktails!" Jo explained. "I dragged my Mum around every hall in the East End of London before deciding on St Peters in Bethnal Green. It had so much character whilst being a blank canvas at the same time. It was really important to me to get married in the East End as I grew up in Stepney and we now live in Bow. The hall was within walking distance of the hall and traffic was quite bad along Valance Road that day so Oli and I got to ride to the hall in our Morris Minor and chat to our guests as they walked along!"
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Steve & Shelley’s Post-War Britain, DIY Wedding

Kat

July 11, 2011

Steve & Shelley's Isle of Wight wedding had a post-war vintage and DIY theme. The couple were keen not to spend a fortune on their day and the theme really evolved quite naturally and organically from this idea. "We were conscious we did not want to spend a fortune on our wedding and the theme of 'Post-War Britain' fitted in nicely with our DIY wedding," the bride told me. "Everything was done on a budget, a lot sourced from eBay, friends and family helped to make bunting and paper chain hearts for decorating the reception venue. Our favours were Thorntons chocolates wrapped in brown wrapping paper with blue butchers twine (eBay again) and a parcel tag attached with the guests name as a place card. I handmade the invitations which were a shimmery Union Jack postcard style with the invitation wording as a telegram, on the invitation we requested that guests attend in their interpretation of post-war Britain dress, and gladly the majority of guests did so!"
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April & Christian’s Colourful Dance-Party Rooftop Wedding

Kat

July 8, 2011

April & Christian's rooftop wedding was held at Aerial in Nashville and from the sounds of things it was a fun-packed wedding from start to finish. "The ceremony was on the rooftop in downtown Nashville right beside all the honkey tonks," photographer Alex Bee told me. "The bridal party DANCED down the aisle to live music played by the bride & groom's brothers. They really got into it! The bride's entrance had the most tension/energy/anticipation that I have ever experienced at a wedding. The bride entered the ceremony to rising beginning guitar solo of "She's the One" by Bruce Springsteen. Did I mention that they passed out tambourines & eggshakers & encouraged the guests to play along? It was really amazing! The reception was an epic rooftop dance party + karaoke."
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Marcus & Simone’s Laid Back, Country Vintage Wedding

Kat

July 7, 2011

Marcus & Simone used some of my favourite wedding suppliers for their barn wedding in Gloucestershire, including Joanna Brown for photography, Fur Coat No Knickers for the dress and Severin of The Hepburn Collection for the bride's hair. I love this! "I got a little frustrated at how little choice there is when it comes to creating an individual wedding, especially as I didn't have that long to plan it (5 months)," the bride told me. "I found it easier to not refer to magazines and traditional wedding websites and preferred to take inspiration from Etsy.com, blogs such as Rock n Roll Bride and to go with my own ideas. I think it's easy to get sucked into the wedding machine and things can become too fussy. My ethos was to try and keep it classic, stylish and simple."
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Stephanie & Aaron’s Budget ‘Peacock Vintage’ Wedding

Kat

July 7, 2011

"The whole wedding was sort of 'peacock vintage' themed," newlywed Stephanie told me. "We really managed to keep the wedding cost pretty low and spent less than $12,000! We was able to do this by making our own centerpieces, boutineers, corsages, invitations, and headpieces. We also used an older, less popular florist because I knew exactly what kind of flowers I wanted, and I provided the ribbon and feathers to her, leaving no room for error."
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Lou & Chris’ Simple & Family-Central Vintage Wedding

Kat

July 6, 2011

What's this? Another awesome wedding from my photographer buddy Assassynation? Yep that's right people, Sassy (aka Assassynation) really does get some of the very best wedding around...and the most awesome thing is many of them are Rock n Roll Bride readers so I get to then share them with you all afterwards. Yeey. Lou & Chris had a simple wedding in London...and by simple I mean no fuss, no drama - just an awesome and super stylist day! They were married at Stoke Newington Town Hall, London which they followed up with a reception at The Londesborough pub, also in Stoke Newington.
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Pyucin & Dylan’s Sustainable, Eco-Vintage Wedding

Kat

July 6, 2011

Pyucin & Dylan were married at Shelldance Orchid Gardens, Pacifica, CA. It was important to them to pick a venue that they didn't have to decorate themselves too much, as Pyucin explained, "When picking a venue, our goal was to keep it sustainable. We didn't want to purchase a bunch of decor that would be thrown away the next day, and we wanted to make sure that the site represented who we are. Thus, we went in search of a unique site that was within our budget, and we were so happy when we discovered this little green house. The Shelldance Gardens is a non-profit organization so we were happy to contribute to a good cause, and, on top of that, the site is so beautiful that it barely required any extra decoration. It is so green and earthy - it really reflected our love for nature and the outdoors."
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