British Brides

A Sweet Sussex Barn Wedding: Fiona & Ben

Kat

August 10, 2012

"We didn't want a run of the mill wedding", explained newlywed Fiona. "Ben's a bit of a control freak and likes things done his own way. We both love anything vintage so enjoyed lots of weekends trawling through flea markets and car boots collecting bits and bobs to decorate the barn. We really wanted a party atmosphere with all of our family and friends. We collected/ borrowed lots of hats, sunglasses and various other items of fancy dress for the evening and encouraged people to be a silly a possible – our guests fully embraced the dressing up and pretty much everyone was wearing some kind of fancy dress at the end of the night."

A Modern Art Themed Wedding & a Bride with Dreadlocks: Chris & Angela

Kat

August 7, 2012

"Arty & creative" replied Chris & Angela when I asked them to describe their wedding theme. "Lots of people on the day used words like 'informal' and 'relaxed' as well which was nice as it was what we kind of wanted. We were glad they picked up on it." The June wedding was held at Underley Grange Cottage in the Lake District. The couple homemade as much as possible, including all the reception decor. "Where do I begin with explaining the DIY?" laughed Angela. "Pretty much everything in the reception room was homemade. One of our favourite things was decorating parasols in the style of modern artists and hanging them from the ceiling. We made our own invitations - including hand making the actual paper! It turned out to be quite a saga; that and folding a hundred paper cranes for the RSVPs was quite a lot of work! On the plus side, as a milliner, the wedding was a great excuse to make lots of fun hats and fascinators for everyone."

“Glastombecci” – A Music Festival Wedding: Becci & Tom

Kat

August 6, 2012

When the Summer rolls round what's the first thing many of us get excited about? Festivals! So it's hardly surprising that so many Rock n Roll Brides (and grooms!) are taking wedding inspiration from their favourite past time. Warm beer, dodgy food, mud & sleeping in a tent... What's not to love!? Haha joking! Becci & Tom favour the UK's biggest rock festival, Glastonbury, and so started here with their ideas including their wedding cake that was inspired by the Ribbon Tower and the song lyric centerpieces. This wedding was pure music festival gold. Tom even proposed to Becci while at a gig in Oxford!

A Black, White & Red Wedding in a Windmill: Suzie & Andrew

Kat

August 3, 2012

Suzie & Andrew wanted a really unique venue for their unique wedding and so chose a Willesborough Windmill in Ashford, Kent. They had just 47 guests (including 13 bridesmaids!) and they really did things their own way. From the DIY catering, to the ice cream van dessert, and the chocolate favours to the lady bug bouncy castle, the day was planned around the things they love. "My main goal for our wedding was that I wanted a day that wasn't strictly structured," began newlywed Suzie. "I wanted a laid back afternoon and evening filled with fun, laughter, eating, drinking and general enjoyment for everyone. All my close family & friends wanted to help which was great and they are contributed so much to our day."

A Black & Red, 50s Rock n Roll Wedding: Hannah & Lewiss

Kat

August 1, 2012

Hannah & Lewiss' small and sweet wedding was held at St Fagans Castle, the National History Museum of Wales. For their evening party they moved to the trendy Jolyons at No.10, a boutique hotel in the heart of Cardiff. The venue choices were important to this couple and they both wanted places that stood out. Hannah explained, "We both didn't believe in long engagements so we set a date for 9 months after we got engaged. Finding a unique venue was important to us, but this was harder than we imagined. Living in Cardiff, we wanted somewhere in South Wales but it seemed to be flooded with chain hotel venues or vast historic buildings which were too big for the small wedding we had dreamed of. After overlooking it a couple of times we went to visit St Fagans Castle. St Fagans is the National History Museum of Wales, an outdoor museum full of historical buildings from all around the country. The Castle is a Grade 1 listed Elizabethan Manor House set in the most fabulous gardens. Even though it wasn’t what we originally had in mind, we knew straight away it was perfect. Also it’s in the area where Lewiss grew up and his parents still live, so it being local meant a lot to him."

A Backyard Pool Party Wedding: Kate & Doug

Kat

July 31, 2012

Kate & Doug's backyard wedding took place in Kent in June. Kate designed her own dress, hand-crafted the decor and played in a band with her husband at the reception! She told me all about their magical day. "We have been together for 10 years so we really wanted to have a proper big wedding to cement our relationship and have a blast with our friends and family. I really wanted to get married in the garden of England, Kent, where I grew up and have a proper English country wedding. So we started looking at venues and found Ratsbury Barn, a beautiful 17th century Kentish barn in Tenterden for the ceremony. Then, my Mother's boyfriend who lives down the road very kindly offered to let us use his amazing place for the reception! We got a marquee and extended his pool house area, it was perfect."

A DIY Farm Wedding with the Ceremony on a Dam: Bobby & Gitte

Kat

July 31, 2012

There are certain weddings that literally made me smile from ear to ear... OK well yes, all of the weddings I feature are flippin' awesome but there are some that just have that extra something. I think in this case it's the bride & groom themselves. I want to be BFFs with Bobby & Gitte please! For their May wedding the couple knew they wanted to do something different - something low key and fun. They spent just £2500 pulling off the event. The ceremony was held on Claerwen Reservoir Dam in Rhayadar, Wales. Although not the most practical of choices, they wanted it there for sentimental reasons. The reception was on a friend's farm in Ballingham, Hereford. "It took us a few days to get the venue together, as there were literally cows and horses – and their muck - in it prior," wrote Gitte. "But once we saw it we had our heart set on it, and didn’t stop until our hands were dirty and we were happy."

A Fancy Dress Glastonbury Festival Wedding: Alice & Matt

Kat

July 27, 2012

After dating for four and a half years, Matt proposed to Alice on the long drive home from Glastonbury Festival in 2011. So needless to say, the couple decided they wanted a festival themed wedding... or more specifically a homage to their favourite festival. "It had been an amazing weekend of music, love and cider-fuelled reveling," began the bride. "It was pretty much an unspoken agreement from the off that our wedding would be an homage to Glastonbury. The festival has played a massive part in both our lives and running around in the mud, dressed like loons, dancing until dawn is high on our favourite things to do list. As soon as we'd verbalised the words 'festival', 'camping' and 'fancy dress' the thought occurred that it might be worth a punt asking the Eavis family (who own the land Glastonbury Festival is held on) if they would consider letting us use Worthy Farm. The family are great friends of my parents and scrumptious people. Amazingly they were really excited about the idea and more than happy to help (although they have since decided they don't want to host further weddings - we might have put them off for life...eek!! - that's not their bag). Glastonbury was having a year off so we chose to wed on Saturday 23rd June, a date which anyone who knows anything about Glastonbury will know understand to be highly significant!"

A Rustic French Countryside Wedding: Natalie & Oliver

Kat

July 26, 2012

Natalie & Oliver were married in France, at Oliver's parents home in L’Isle En Dodon. The British couple live in The States but made the trip to France to marry surrounded by their friends and family. "The French countryside and beautiful barn were our main inspiration and did a lot of the hard work for us!" explained the pair. "The family setting and DIY approach gave the wedding a really personal touch, which we would never have been able to achieve in a more traditional venue, and gave the wedding an incredibly unique feel. So many people contributed to making the wedding as amazing as it was – it really was a family affair and those invites, certainly a labour of love!"

A Great Gatsby & Peacock Themed Wedding at Nonsuch Mansion: Chloe & Michael

Kat

July 25, 2012

The first thing Chloe & Michael decided upon for their wedding was the venue. They picked Nonsuch Mansion, in the heart of Nonsuch Park, as it held great sentimental meaning to them. They'd spent a lot of time there thoughout their relationship and so having the wedding there made total sense. "The mansion is built on the site of Henry VIII’s long gone Nonsuch Palace and is located in the middle of a huge park that we live within a few minutes walk of," Chloe explained. "The park is very important to us and we spend lots of time in there, running, walking, picking berries, lazing in the sun with a beer etc when the seasons are right! In fact, it was lazing in the shade of a tree just by the mansion on a sunny afternoon when we first said 'I love you' - so it’s a pretty special place. Choosing the venue really was a no-brainer for us!"

A Pink & Leopard Print Themed DIY Wedding: Ele & Raph

Kat

July 23, 2012

As soon as I saw the sneak peek of Ele & Raph's wedding on their wedding photographer's facebook page, I knew I wanted to feature them... it's not really that difficult to see why is it? Could these guys be any more Rock n Roll if they tried?! The couple booked Rock n Roll Bride favourite Assassynation to capture their amazing day. "What a great pleasure it was to have Sassy do the photography on our special day! I felt at ease as soon as I met her", began the bride. "Upon speaking to my (camera shy!) husband afterwards, he said exactly the same about Sassy, that she jumped at every opportunity to get that perfect shot and with simple instructions made him feel comfortable and contented. Ecstatic with the sneak peeks that Sassy had uploaded within less than 24 hours (wow!) onto her Facebook page, we both knew that Sassy is one Rock n Roll photographer and it would not have been the same without her!"

A Seaside Themed Wedding in St Ives: Suzy & Christian

Kat

July 20, 2012

When the deputy editor of Cosmopolitan Magazine gets married, you just know it's going to be awesome right? Well Suzy & her fiance Christian didn't disappoint when planning their summer wedding. Choosing St Ives, Cornwall as the location, what could be more apt than a seaside themed wedding?! "We met at journalism school in London in 1999 and were friends for five years before we eventually got together," began Suzy. "Even though we live in London (and I'm from Oxford), we never discussed getting married anywhere but St Ives. It's the place my dad's been to on holiday ever year since he was a baby - so the place I've been to on holiday every year too. It's the most beautiful seaside town with gorgeous cobbled streets and the most spectacular beaches. It feels magical and we wanted to share it with all our friends."

A Technicoloured Wedding: Ren & Tim

Kat

July 19, 2012

Ren & Tim pulled off their amazing colourful and alternative wedding with a £9000 budget. They spent on the things they felt were important and saved by DIYing the elements they knew they could do themselves (reception decor, stationery, cake). Although these things didn't always go to plan, in the end it all turned out alright and the things that didn't work really didn't matter on the day! I particularly love this wedding because it took place in Reading (where I live!). In fact the bride moved to this little town of ours from London to be with her boy. Awww!

A Woodland Ceremony & A Pirate Themed Party: Jenny & Gary

Kat

July 18, 2012

I love love love Shell de Mar's wedding photography. Every single image is bright and fun and vibrant. They just make me feel so happy. I don't know what it is... It's probably a little to do with the amazing way she captures colour but more likely than not it's a lot to do with the firecracker behind the lens. Shell is a cute as hell force to be reckoned with. She's also one of my best friends and so it's always an honour to share her work on my blog. Today's installment of sunshine comes in the form of Jenny & Gary's woodland ceremony, hillside portraits and pirate themed reception. "Our ceremony was held at Wittenham Clumps (i.e. up a hill!), just next to the reception venue", Jenny told me. "When we came to see the barn as a potential reception venue we fell in love with the view, the fresh air, abundance of wild flowers and birdsong (sounds cheesy but it truly was idyllic) and just had to have the wedding there. Amazingly the sun shone on the day, although it had been raining for weeks before and after. We were bloody lucky! The only down side was there was no license so we had to have a small civil ceremony the week before (no great burden really – having an intimate day was also wonderful)."

A DIY ‘Glamping’ Wedding & a Bride with Pink Hair: Josie & Nick

Kat

July 18, 2012

I ain't gonna lie... I harbor a certain level favoritism for pink haired brides... hum, I wonder why!? So when I saw Josie & Nick's camping themed wedding I was very excited indeed. The couple didn't spend a bomb on the day, utlising things they already owned (hello, look at Jodie's awesome Antaina boots!), by having the reception in Nick's parent's back garden and by making as much of it as they could themselves. "We DIY’ed everything", Jodie told me. "It can be really easy to bite off more than you can chew though so my advice would be to decide on a cohesive theme early on. Select projects you know you can complete both skill wise and in the time you have. And start early! Anything you can do well in advance is great."

A Contemporary Minimalist Wedding: Hayley & Matthew

Kat

July 17, 2012

"Matthew is an architect & loves modernist architecture and things that are minimalist, well designed & have clean lines so we decided we'd like our wedding to reflect this", newlywed Hayley wrote. "The venue really set the scene with it's amazing art deco features but funky modern interior so we chose not to detract from this keeping decorations & flowers to an absolute minimum & only in white. We wanted the guests & bridesmaids to add the pop of colour which they did!"

A Retro Red Wedding at The Picturedrome: Jo & Lal

Kat

July 14, 2012

Jo & Lal worked together but only realised they both liked each other when at a 1940s themed work party at The Picturedrome, Northampton. When they were engaged 6 months later they decided that having their wedding at this same venue would be pretty cool. There wedding theme also happened to suit the surroundings perfectly.

A London Mod Wedding: Maddy & Victor

Kat

July 13, 2012

I seem to be featuring a lot of weddings with pub receptions at the moment but I love the idea and the fact that they are a cost effective venue option. However the thing I love about the particular pub weddings that I share is my readers. Even with similar venues the weddings couldn't be more different from each other! Take Mandy & Victor's mod-esque wedding for example... "Our reception was at Clissold Arms in North London", Mandy began. "The ceremony was at St Michael's Church in Highgate and Victor wanted a good exit from the church and journey to the pub. Whilst we discussed leaving in a Delorium and re-enacting a scene from Back to the Future, there just wasn't the budget! But Victor is a huge fan of scooters, and had the idea of leaving with an entourage of vespas following us was born. So we gave the local scooter club, New Originals North London Scooter Club, a call and they were more than happy to help!"

A Shoreditch Shindig: Mike & Louise

Kat

July 13, 2012

Located in East London's trendy Shoreditch, Mike & Louise went for an urban vintage vibe for their wedding. "We met in 2009 in Sydney where Louise had just relocated to and where she was working for a charity with an old college friend of mine who set us up", Mike wrote. "It didn't take long to realise we had a similar outlook on life and after 1.5 years we decided to get married. Being from opposite sides of the world we faced the tough decision of where to get married as either location would see some of our family and friends unable to attend. In the end we opted to marry officially in London as Louise really wanted her Nan, a huge inspiration in her life, to be there on her special day." "We had travelled to London for one of Lou's friends weddings in September 2010 and had spent some time in Shoreditch. We felt quite strongly that we really wanted a non-traditional wedding for just our closest family and friends. We also knew from our time there previously that we would love to incorporate the local graffiti which so characterises the area."

A Quirky & Vintage Manchester Pub Wedding: Mike & Geraldine

Kat

July 12, 2012

Retro board games on the tables, a laid back pub location, a gorgeous heirloom vintage dress & yellow Vivienne Westwood shoes. What's not to love about Mike & Geraldine's Manchester wedding? Answer: Nothing. The wedding was held at Manchester town hall and Odder Bar. The couple picked the pub location for it's quirky decor, laid back vibe and the ability to do anything they wanted with the space. "I am one of those kind of girls that most people, especially organised list-making people, want to give a good shake to," Geraldine began with a giggle. "So just to bug people more I went and fell madly in love with Mr Practically Horizontal himself... Not being a planner means I jump out of bed, sling a few things together and then give people a mystified kind of look of gratitude when they compliment the finished look… And this is exactly what happened with our wedding as well."

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