Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

British Brides

Neo-Noir Postmodernist Wedding: Gemma & Delaney

Kat

Lashmar Creative

January 2, 2013

Are you ready to start the new year with a bang?! Oh boy am I! In actual fact I saved Gemma & Delaney's awesome wedding until today because of that very reason - I wanted to start 2013 as I mean to go on. Rock n Roll couples all the way baby! Gemma & Delaney were married in September at Rushton Hall in Northamptonshire. The elaborate backdrop worked so well as a contrast to their quintessential Rock n Roll and neo-postmodern 80s-inspired wedding. "We got engaged in Malibu in LA on holiday there a couple of years ago", began the bride. "It was a perfect sunset and totally spontaneous. Delaney had only brought the ring a few hours earlier from a gorgeous little antique shop in Santa Barbara. We were married a day after our 7 year anniversary."
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Colourful Manor House Wedding with just 34 Guests: Amy & Ray

Kat

December 19, 2012

I'm seeing a huge shift in a lot of the weddings that I'm being submitted of late. While large and lavish detail-heavy weddings were, and in many cases still are, wedding blog perfection, I am noticing that these days it's the smaller ones that a catching my eye. It seems that lot of my readers are completely swinging the other way and are planning small, intimate and personality-heavy nuptials. I know what it is though - my readers are rebels, just like me! You don't want to do what everyone else is doing - you want your weddings to be different and to be a perfect reflection of your love and your relationship. And that, dear readers, is why I friggin' love each and every one of you! I've known Amy for a while now. She is one third of Ava - a wedding styling company based in Birmingham, and we've actually worked together on many occasions. The biggest collaboration we've done has got to be my Rock n Riot shoot where she even commissioned a graffiti artist to paint me on a giant wall!
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Scare-Fest Wedding & Searching for ‘The One’: Sarah & Colin

Kat

December 19, 2012

For their October wedding at Whittington Castle and Wattlesborough Village Hall, Sarah & Colin wanted a scare-fest. Halloween, pumpkins, zombies & vintage circus horror were their inspirations. "When you first start to plan a wedding you are given strict instructions by every bride you know to research research research. You read magazines, you trawl through websites, you create a scrapbook of what you think your wedding should be", wrote newlywed Sarah. "I had 2 ½ years to plan my big day, and no matter what I saw I just didn't feel like it could be part of our day! Everything was so beautiful, classic, elegant... and so not us! I am mad about vintage but after heading to a vintage wedding fair I had started to lose hope. It was all too twee, too perfect. I am a rummage in the hay bales listing to The Coasters kinda vintage and it just wasn't there for me. Then after seeing a lady flying round the fair with pink hair, I was informed of Rock n Roll Bride by my friend Ffion and my world was changed! I saw couples who broke convention, who played their wedding their way and weren't afraid to let the world see their personalities through their big day!"
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Beach & Colourful Marquee Cornish Wedding: Sarah & Doug {Part Two}

Kat

December 14, 2012

Here we go then - part two of Sarah & Doug's Cornish wedding and things are about to get colourful! On Saturday 16th June the couple hosted a humanist ceremony and reception at Rosewastis Manor in St Columb Major. They had a quirky tent marquee from Ashley Events which they decorated themselves. In fact the couple and some of their guests actually rented the manor for the whole week before to set up and just enjoy spending some time together before the wedding. For this second part of the wedding, Sarah wore a Lisa Redman wedding gown which she found at a charity bridal sale in London. Her shoes were from Irregular Choice, her headpiece was made by her and a friend from vintage pieces and her ring was her Grandmothers.
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Beach & Colourful Marquee Cornish Wedding: Sarah & Doug {Part One}

Kat

December 14, 2012

It's unusual for me to split a wedding feature into two parts, but as Sarah & Doug had a two day wedding celebration with each event styled very differently, I felt it was quite appropriate. The first part of the wedding took place on Friday 15th June where they had their legal ceremony surrounded by just a few close family and friends on the beautiful Lusty Glaze Beach in Newquay. Lusty Glaze is a gorgeous secluded horseshoe cove surrounded by 135 foot cliffs - perfect for their intimate ceremony.
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A Homemade Star Wars & Lego Wedding for Geeks: Jennie & Jon

Kat

December 10, 2012

With just £5000 to spend, Jennie & Jon we're able to pull of their homemade and geeky wedding with a little bit of imagination and a lot of elbow grease! The ceremony took place at Emmanuel's Church in Sidlow and the reception was hosted at the bride's mother's house. "We knew that when we decided to get married we would have to do it our own way and make it very individual", explained the bride. "We are both complete geeks and children at heart with a love for Star Wars and Lego, so how could it not be fun? We definitely didn't want a wedding that could have been anybody else's. All our friends live so far away and we only get together once or twice a year so we also wanted it to be very relaxed that we could just spend time with each other. We wanted to do as much as we could ourselves and scoured eBay and car boot sales for cheaper items."
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Tattoos & Toadstools: Toni & Colin

Kat

December 7, 2012

Tattoos, tears and a seriously cute couple. Toni & Colin's wedding is what my dreams are made of. These guys are THE perfect Rock n Roll couple and they're wedding slays me. Plus they had Sassy of Assassynation as their wedding photographer so they instantly go way up in the cool stakes with me! The wedding was held at The Quay, Musselburgh, on 10th November. "Colin and I met online what feels like a life time ago but wasn't all that long ago in the grand scheme of things", Toni began. "We spoke for a month or so online and then he made plans to come over from Northern Ireland to visit me in Edinburgh. 'I'll come for the weekend,' he said. Well, he arrived and he's yet to leave! We've lived together from day one and, including the night before the wedding, we are yet to spend one single night apart. It's a good job he makes me laugh as much as he does!"
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Ethical Wedding at Home: Feng & David

Kat

December 6, 2012

Simple weddings are often the best, and for Feng & David, doing something low-key and ethical was important. So they had a super tiny civil ceremony with only their closest friends and family in attendance, and hosted the reception at their own house! Yes, Feng put on an apron and served all the food herself! "Our wedding budget was £1500, but we went over this with our photographer and our rings", began the bride. "Our rings were pretty expensive as they were custom made using fair-trade gold, recycled gold & conflict-free gems by Amanda Li Hope. We were married at Oxford Registry Office and our reception was in our tiny house in East Oxford."
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Retro 1960s Wedding with a Moroccan Vibe: Jo & Aki

Kat

December 5, 2012

Jo, a taxidermist, & Aki, a web designer, were married at Byzantium, a quirky bar and restaurant in Bristol. The Moroccan decor added an interesting touch to the celebration. The room was decorated with Moroccan lanterns, pipe cleaner animal and personalised cocktail stirrers. Some friends made them a guest list tree surrounded by candles and glass beads, flowers and fairy lights. Jo made some taxidermy through her company Death & Glory Taxidermy. "I'm lucky enough to be surrounded by a lot of very talented people", explained the bride. "It’s very easy to get caught up with the idea of doing everything yourself but if you've got people around you that can (and want to) help, then let them! In the end our photographer (Noel was already a professional wedding photographer - handy!), invitation designer, guestbook tree makers, band, 'priest' and florist were all friends. It made the whole day much more personal and special and really helped us get the most out of our budget."
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Americana Kitsch in London’s East End: Anna Lee & Paul

Kat

November 28, 2012

Anna Lee & Paul were married in London in September. Their ceremony was held at Saint Etheldreda’s Church, and their reception - in two parts - took place at The Modern Pantry in Clerkenwell and All Star Lanes in Brick Lane. "We dined on a mouthwatering fusion menu for dinner, and mini burgers, hot dogs and classic American cocktails at the after-party", wrote the bride. Anna Lee looked stunning in her gold gown by by Roland Mouret. Called 'Wallis' and inspired by Wallis Simpson, the opulent diamond-embossed design looked amazing on her. Clearly Anna Lee wasn't going for a traditional bridal look. She wore Beatrix Ong shoes and instead of a veil or any jewellery, she had pearls glued down the nape of her neck. I just LOVE this idea. "I didn't wear jewellery or a veil", she explained, "but wanted pearls in my cropped hairstyle. So Angela, my hairdresser, had the idea to fix pearls down the back of my neck using super-strength wig glue! They held fast all, and were a real talking point."
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Purple, Dinosaurs & Peacocks: Lauren & Matt

Kat

November 27, 2012

Purple. Dinosaurs. Peacocks... These were the things that inspired Lauren & Matt's October wedding. Although the theme wasn't really intentional, by incorporating the things they just really liked it totally worked! "Our ethos for our wedding was that we were going to what we wanted and not what people expected", wrote Lauren. "We picked and chose aspects of tradition that we liked and binned those we didn't. We had a humanist ceremony which isn't like a registry wedding - it's a lot more personal. We tied a Celtic knot which we practiced loads before hand! My friend did the reading of 'A Lovely Love Story' by Edward Monkton, which is about dinosaurs and dinosaurs are awesome! One of our other close friends gave us the book as an engagement present and we thought it was apt as a reading. We also had a dinosaur cake topper!"
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Comic Book & Superhero Wedding: Holly & Anthony

Kat

November 26, 2012

Happy Monday you lovely little critters - have I got a wedding to start this week off with a bang or what!? Unusually I was actually submitted this wedding by the groom and via twitter because his gorgeous bride, Holly, was nervous about doing so. Er, girl, are you KIDDING me?! I'm dying over your wedding. The comic book, superhero and geek chic radness is just too good. This is one of those weddings that I genuinely wish I'd been invited to!
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A 1940s & Vegan Wedding in Canada: Sarah & Carol

Kat

November 22, 2012

Sarah & Carol had a destination wedding in Canada. With Sarah originally from Canada the pair, who now live in Brighton, wanted to fly back for the wedding. "We decided to be married in Sarnia because Carol is incredibly attached to her hometown and the beaches and water of Lake Huron (can you blame her?)", wrote newlywed Carol. "At the time we booked the venue we thought we would both be living in Canada, so it seemed a natural choice. We chose Sarnia Riding Club as our venue so we could be right next to the water. We knew that whatever continent we decided to do the wedding on, a lot of people who wouldn't be able to attend, we're so pleased that so many people made it – and we've promised to dance with those who didn't make it very soon."
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A Very Mod Wedding: Paula & Mark

Kat

November 14, 2012

London. The 1960s. Mod. These were the inspirations for Paula & Mark's big day. The couple met at a rhythm, blues & soul night run by Mark in a bar in Bethnal Green, so the theme was very 'them'. "We bonded over our love of vintage fashion and music", wrote Paula, "I couldn't believe my luck when we were introduced, we hit it off immediately. The bar has changed owners since, but we always smile when we go past it. It holds happy memories of parties and beautiful friends in immaculate vintage fashions dancing to great music and having fun."
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Flamingos & Fun: Charlotte & Luke

Kat

November 12, 2012

"I got married in August", said pink haired Blogcademy attendee Charlotte after the workshop was over. "Your blog was a huge help so thank you." "Amazing, I responded - make sure you send me your photographs!" And she did, and oh boy am I glad. What a wedding! "Our wedding theme was decided on a drunken weekend in Palm Springs in May when we were on a work trip", Charlotte told me. "We ordered 50 pink plastic lawn flamingos to be delivered to the Ace Hotel… then panicked when they arrived and we had to buy four huge holdalls to take them back on the plane! I was convinced customs would think we were smuggling drugs and cut them all open but they really made our wedding!"
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Tattoo Britannia Wedding: Lisa & Paul

Kat

November 6, 2012

"Being the Jubilee year as well as the Olympics, a red, white & blue themed wedding seemed fitting", began newlywed Lisa who married Paul this Summer. "I sat with my bridesmaids and mum the night before the wedding watching the opening ceremony with great pride. The bright colour options coupled with my love of rockabilly styling and 1940s glamour added such vibrancy and fun to the day. Paul and I also both love tattoos so we wanted to bring this into our day. The swallows on the wedding cake, invitations, table decorations and gifts were all tied together with tattoo images."
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