Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

British Brides

Pastel Colours for a 1950s Inspired Wedding: Emily & James

Kat

June 14, 2012

As soon as I laid eyes on Emily's incredible silver embellished 1950s inspired wedding dress I was smitten. What an utterly gorgeous bride and a completely beautiful wedding. I couldn't wait to get it on these digital pages of mine! The couple were married at Edes House, Chichester and had their reception at the groom's father's house in Bosham. "We wanted our wedding day to completely reflect James and I", Emily told me. "This was something we kept in mind during the whole process, as I think it is easy to lose sight of what and who weddings are for, when you are surrounded by so many people in the wedding industry telling you that you absolutely need this and definitely need that. 
We both adore the 1950s and the pastel shades, and I really feel like these things were very present in the whole day. We also chose from the beginning which things would be the most important to us - these ended up being the food/drink for James and the flowers for me. We chose a catering company who were very local and produced the most delicious food. We hand picked each of the types of alcohol we chose, with Arundel Ales coming from Sussex and the cider coming from Appledram which is just around the corner from the reception."
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A Quintessentially British Wedding on the Queen’s Birthday: Jess & Dan

Kat

June 14, 2012

Jess & Dan's wedding was quintessentially British with the theme carrying through from the attire to the cake to the DIY reception decor. Why the theme you ask? Well the wedding was held on the weekend of the Queen's birthday! The couple were married at Edes House, Sussex and had two reception venues, both of which were within the grounds of Chichester Cathedral. Their afternoon wedding breakfast was held at Vicars Hall and the evening party was at George Bell House.
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Button Moon, Moomins, Rainbow Petticoats and a Wedding in a Cave: Caroline & Johnny

Kat

June 12, 2012

When wedding photographer Sassy of Assassynation told me she'd booked a wedding through a feature on my site last year I was super thrilled. However my excitement was pretty much quadrupled when she them told me the bride was wearing a short dress... with a rainbow petticoat... with glittery turquoise leopard print wedges and ankle socks... oh yes and that they were getting married in a cave. I think died and went to wedding heaven right about then. Caroline & Johnny were married on a Monday, on the 14th May this year. The ceremony was small - just the two of them, the celebrant and Sassy and her husband Ian, who not only photographed the event but acted as witnesses. The ceremony was at Carnglaze Caverns in Cornwall. "One fabulously weather proof venue!" the bride laughed. "Subterranean lake, 500 candles and really dangerous steps for the clumsiest bride. What could possibly go wrong?"
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Rock and Roll Americana & Kitsch: Jennifer & Ryan

Kat

June 12, 2012

On a warm day in March, Jennifer & Ryan married in an Americana inspired wedding. "We have always had a bit of an obsession with America," the bride told me. "It all started after we first visited New York together five years ago and fell hard-and-fast in love with the people, the shopping, the bars, and the food (hello blueberry pancake stacks!) We had originally planned to get married in New York, but when we found out that not all of our guests would be able to make it across the pond we decided to bring a slice of New York to the wedding!"
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A 3-day Wedding at a Rockstar’s Retreat: Holly & Karen

Kat

June 6, 2012

Ridge Farm, a working farm and ex-recording studio in Surrey, proved to be the perfect location for Holly & Karen's May wedding. "What made our wedding Rock n Roll? Definitely the venue!" Holly told me. "Aside from being a beautiful farm that we fell in love with instantly, Ridge Farm is also a recording studio where so many of our musical heroes have recorded albums and stayed - so our wedding guests were partying in the very same place that Queen, Whitesnake, Muse, Roxy, Rush and many more have partied! We hired the farm for the entire long weekend - Karen is Irish and it's Irish tradition to hold 3 day long weddings so we had a big meal on the Friday for family and friends then the wedding on the Saturday, followed by a pool party with live music and a hog roast for everyone on the Sunday. The farm sleeps 24 plus there is a camping field so all our hungover guests could just crawl out of bed on Sunday morning and stumble over to rejoin the party. By Sunday evening everyone was in the jacuzzi swigging prosecco from the bottle, even Karen's mum!"
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A Homemade Tipi Wedding in Wales: Nathan & Laura

Kat

May 25, 2012

When I get wedding submissions like Nathan & Laura's I'm literally bursting at the seams to get them published. So sometimes I sneakily share a picture or two on my facebook page. The shot I shared of Nathan's reaction when seeing his bride walking down the aisle totally encompassed this awesome wedding. And it would appear you guys loved it too - over 200 likes and I didn't even show you the stunning bride! Well the wait is over my friends, I'm sure you'll agree it was worth it and that his face was 100% justified. Just look at her!
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A Mythical Gothic Anniversary Shoot: Emma & Owen

Kat

May 23, 2012

After their wedding Emma & Owen decided they wanted to do a shoot that really showed off their personalities and personal style. They hadn't had any portraits taken at their wedding eight years ago, and so they contacted photographer Jess Petrie to ask if she'd like to shoot them. Owen told us all about their relationship and why they wanted to do this shoot. "I met Emma when I was fifteen and we’ve been together ever since. It really was love at first sight – that’s probably the only way it could have worked as I was too shy to speak to her at the time! As a teenager with a paper round, I had to save up for an engagement ring; I picked a ring at a jewellers and went there every week to add to the down-payment on a tiny gold ring with two small diamonds holding a larger third in the middle. I’d literally go there some weeks with 82 pence in copper coins to add to the pot, but I paid it off eventually and took it home! We went to sixth form and then University together, Emma to study Fine Art Painting and me to study Film & Video Production. Nowadays, Emma is a successful portrait painter and I run a film production company and am about to direct my first feature film."
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A Vintage Tea Party Wedding: Chloe & Emma

Kat

May 18, 2012

After a New Year's Eve proposal ("not at midnight, we're not that cheesy!") Chloe & Emma set to planning their tea party wedding for the end of March. Being two girls, they knew their wedding would stand out and they wanted that as well as to put their own stamp on their day. As Chloe explained "Obviously as two girls getting married our wedding was always going to be a bit different. People kept on asking which one of us was going to wear the suit but we were both determined to be complete princesses on the day. We knew we wanted a vintage tea party wedding and we looked at lots of different ways to achieve it as we had a tight budget. In the end my mum who found Jam and Tea, who provided the tea & cake catering, online (she is an expert Googler) and the rest of the wedding fell into place from there."
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A Carousel Wedding: Lucy & Mini

Kat

May 16, 2012

When you set your wedding around a vintage carousel it's pretty much guaranteed to be a fun-filled and awesome day right? That's exactly what Lucy & Mini had when they found Preston Court in Kent, and even the rain couldn't stop them having the time of their lives! "Lucy & Mini chose an outdoor wedding and were married under a pretty little gazebo on Juliana's Island which their guests sat across a little stream to watch," wedding photographer Jennifer West told me. "All was well until there was a huge downpour which soaked all the guests. Luckily everyone saw the funny side. Lucy & Mini walked down the aisle (well, the path) as husband and wife to 'Lucy in the sky with diamonds'. The torrential rain lasted most of the day until the end when the sun came out and lots of fun photos were taken on the carousel while the sun was setting."
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A Japanese Tea Shop Wedding: Adam & Klara

Kat

May 3, 2012

Adam & Klara had two weddings, the first in Osaka, Japan and the second in Brighton, UK. The Japanese ceremony was held in Kitahama and afterwards the couple and their select few guests headed to Tables in Shinsaibashi, Osaka for tea and cake! When back in the UK, the ceremony took place at Brighton register office and they recreated the tea & cake reception idea with a simple gathering at Metrodeco, a 1930s themed cafe that specialises in high tea.
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A Scottish Loch-Side Wedding: Wayne & Mac

Kat

April 27, 2012

Wayne & Mac were married at The Lodge at Loch Goil in Scotland. The beautiful venue and epic scenery really defined their gorgeous wedding. Newlywed Mac told me all about their fabulous day. "Rock n Roll Bride was a favourite blog for my when planning my weddings! It was a bit of a godsend actually as all the standard wedding websites and magazines made me feel a bit nauseas with twitterings on about favours and general frilly pinkness. Wayne and I are both fairly scruffy monkeys that don't do a lot of dressing up so we were keen to have a do that catered to us and our friends tastes. We wanted a fairly small wedding with close friends and family to have a chance of spending time with them rather than a quick 5 minutes that some mates had endured at their bigger do's. And we wanted to get some time together! The original plan was poking around a snow wedding in Norway or away snowboarding but the practicalities of shipping 20 plus people north or to mountains proved epic, and Wayne chipped in his 'must haves' of Scotland, bagpipes, and being able to keep his mutton chop sideys. We stumbled across The Lodge at Loch Goil during my many productive hours at work Googling and from our first visit adored it. Alice Gill, the head planner, and her assistant Kelly sorted out pretty much everything from their list of regular bookings - they do in-house catering (even with our veggie and gluten bothering mates), a resident florist and use local staff and suppliers for as much as possible including their own kitchen garden in the grounds."
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The Rainbow Wedding to End all Rainbow Weddings: Jen & Ben

Kat

April 26, 2012

I think most of you will be aware by now that I love love love a rainbow wedding...why pick one or two colours when you can pick twenty seven!? So as you can imagine I squealed like a small child on Christmas morning when Jen & Ben's wedding landed in my inbox. If I was less of a chatterbox I'd say that 'I had no words' when I saw these images...but in actual fact I had all the words in the world flying around my head as I made my selections for this blog post...
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A Picnic Wedding: Alex & Denise

Kat

April 23, 2012

The inspiration for Alex & Denise's Brighton wedding was for it to be "just like a big picnic". They used local suppliers (including the caterers who used local produce and supplied locally produced champagne) where possible and DIY'ed the rest! "Our inspiration was for it to be like a big picnic - although without having to sit on the floor!" Denise told me. "I found mini picnic baskets that were used as the centrepiece on each table. These were filled with chutney, pickles and breadsticks. We wanted the wedding to be really relaxed – I've always disliked formal situations. I also wanted there to be lots of colour. For the meal we had a blanket set up on the floor for any children that got bored of the adults. We also did a play area with a wigwam, dress up box and colouring books. Although on the day they mainly opted for running around the field like lunatics."
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A Vintage-Inspired Walled Garden Wedding: Carina & Chris

Kat

April 18, 2012

Carina & Chris chose The Walled Garden at Cowdray, West Sussex as the venue to host their March wedding. "It was a fantastic venue where we were really able to personalise for our day," the bride told me. "They were very relaxed and the venue's informal spaces were perfect for us and our guests." "We spent the last year since getting engaged planning all of the details of the day", she continued. "We spent our weekends rummaging in charity shops collecting china and glassware. We spent a long time making all of the bunting, menus, paper flags and lots of other items ourselves and needed someone to make it all look pretty on the day so that I could relax and enjoy getting ready! For this we worked with Lucy at Love Lane Vintage. We met her at the venue and she worked closely with our plans and our items, as well as my many sketches to style the venue! We also hired her vintage china teacups and cake stands to style the table and serve our mini afternoon tea – in place of canapés – for the drinks reception! The macaroons and mini scones looked stunning, as did the piles of teacups and teapots for guests to use!"
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