Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

British Brides

An Eclectic London Wedding: Kate & Jon

Kat

April 17, 2012

Kate & Jon were married in March in London. After a ceremony in Battersea Arts Centre they headed to Balham Bowls Club for their eclectically decorated reception. "The most important thing for us when planning the wedding was that it should consist of things that we normally like to do - reception in the sort of pub we would normally drink in, the style of dresses both I and the bridesmaids would normally wear (although a bit nicer of course!), the sort of food we would normally eat," Kate told me. "This was also reflected in the ceremony, with a reading from Captain Corellis Mandolin (one of my favourite books) and everyone singing along to 'Sunshine of my life' by Stevie Wonder rather than a more traditional song. Also, our first dance was 'You never can tell' from Pulp Fiction - a favourite film of Jon's. It was important to us that it was in London, which is where we and the vast majority of our friends and family live. Like most of the couples on Rock n Roll Bride, we didn't concern ourselves with what was expected of us traditionally and instead thought of it more like we were just planning a big party!"
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A DIY Church Hall Wedding: Zoe & Richard

Kat

April 11, 2012

Sometimes I see a wedding and I literally can't wait to learn more about it and (hopefully if the photographer and couple agree) write it up to share it with you lot too. Luckily for me, in this instance both parties were more than thrilled to share this wedding with us today, particularly because newlyweds Zoe & Richard found wedding photographer Joanna Millington on this very wedding blog. Hurrah! Their DIY, family-central wedding was held at Christ Church in St Albans. "When we were first engaged I asked Richard if he knew where he wanted to get married," Zoe explained. "He said he didn’t want to get married anywhere but Christ Church St Albans. It was my childhood church on the estate where I grew up and where Richard and I went to school. We knew it wasn’t exactly the idyllic wedding venue – a flat-roofed, slightly tired and drab looking carpeted church with very green curtains – but it was home. We had our reception in the same place. Luckily they had just built a shiny new hall attached to the old church building, which was very handy. No one (apart from us) had to venture out into the rain!"
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The Secret Glamour of Hollywood: A Styled Shoot for Alexandra King’s 2012 Bridal Collection

Kat

April 11, 2012

Secret Hollywood glamour was the inspiration for this shoot, set up to promote the new range of wedding dresses from British designer Alexandra King. "The shoot was originally based on the morning after the Oscars, a hazy, sun kissed feel with the soft prettiness of the dresses against the cold concrete and run down beach," Alexandra told me. "As if an Oscar/wedding party traveled down to the beach in Lost Boys and here was the morning after. The shoot then developed to two more locations. To shoot the look book, we found a village hall which had the perfect school play feel to it with a velvet curtained stage and lighting that gave the models the appearance of being a puppet show.The abandoned 1960s caravan images gave a trashy contrast against the dresses again and I love the way some of the images have a romantic gypsy feel to them."
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A Barbie & Breakfast at Tiffany’s Inspired Wedding: Anna-Marie & Paul

Kat

April 6, 2012

Anna-Marie & Paul had a simple, down-to-earth and beautiful wedding. Barbie pink accents sat perfectly with their eclectic styling ideas and Breakfast at Tiffany inspiration. The reception was held at The Grand Café in Oxford, as the bride explained, "We went for a high tea affair in a beautiful 1920s style café. It is a special place for us as we started our dating years visiting Oxford and The Grand Café. In fact Paul proposed in Oxford too. We were aiming for a relaxed and informal atmosphere. No cutting of the cake, no first dance - just tea, cake and friends. We created a playlist of all our favorite songs and put it on shuffle throughout the night. It isn’t a wedding venue, partly why we picked it, we didn’t want anything typically wedding style. We aren’t crazy party animals so we only hired it for 4 hours, (5pm – 9pm). We wanted maximum impact, and minimal drunk people (the latter bit didn’t work out, It seems people cram more in a short space of time!!) All in all, it was the perfect choice for our wedding reception."
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A Low Key, Family-Centric Wedding with a Bowling After Party: Daniel & Zara

Kat

April 5, 2012

Daniel & Zara wanted a really low key wedding that focussed on family, friends, celebration and laughter. The ceremony was held at Camden Town Hall (where the bride's parents were married 35 years earlier). The reception kicked off with drinks at The Gilbert Scott or Cider Tap (the guests went to either or both!) and finally Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes. "Over several bottles of wine on holiday last summer we drew up lists of things we did and didn't want as part of the day," Zara told me "Over-formality was a big no-no and fun was a big yes! We fell in love with the Kingpin Suite at Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes as soon as we saw it so that became our after party venue. It was as close as we could get to running off to Vegas without sacrificing having our friends and families there. Dan and I are both terrible at bowling, but he did propose outside a bowling alley (with a ring in a packet of hula hoops) just before we went in for a game - so it all seemed to fit into place. We managed to keep the reception venue a secret from guests until they turned up. No-one had a clue and it was brilliant for Dan and I to greet people with massive surprised smiles on their faces."
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A Dusky Pink Wedding with a Touch of Vintage: Louise & Paul

Kat

April 4, 2012

Louise & Paul were married in London on 11th February, just a few days after their 12 year anniversary. "Our 12 year anniversary was the Thursday before our wedding!" Louise told me. "This is the reason why we chose this date. We got engaged two year’s previously on our 10 year anniversary! We were lucky enough to find our photographer Annamarie Stepney through a wedding blog and we just fell in love with her pictures. They are so romantic and unconventional. Her photos just tell a story of the day - people who were there can re-live every fab moment and fill in the gaps on the moments they couldn't remember or missed. And those who weren't there, get transported to the day. I've been blown away by all the amazing comments on them!"
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A ‘US Meets UK’ Rock n Roll Wedding: Aaron & Melanie

Kat

April 3, 2012

This is unadulterated Rock n Roll Bride gold and I'm thrilled to share it with you today. The couple, who met in San Francisco while Melanie was there on holiday, were married at the end of January at Old Marylebone Town Hall, London. "We met whilst out dancing at a rockabilly club called the Jay n Bee, and whilst there was instant attraction, I was only on a two week holiday so nothing really happened," Melanie told me. "However, I returned to the USA a few months later for Las Vegas and a three month stay in San Francisco, and that's when we started dating. We continued travelling between San Francisco and London, and got engaged on our 8 month anniversary (which was also Christmas Eve) whilst out dancing at the Southbank Centre in London. We had originally planned to get married in SF, but one sunny day last October, we were laying in the garden here in London, and I said to Aaron 'We should get married in London...in January!' and so we planned our wedding in just over three and a half months!"
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A Country Vintage, Festival Inspired Wedding: Nichola & Jay

Kat

April 2, 2012

I'm loving the fact that the gorgeous country vintage/ festival-inspired wedding of Nichola & Jay is brightening up Monday morning on my blog! Talk about heading into a brand new week with some gusto! The August wedding was held at New House Organic Farm in Derbyshire. The farm is not a wedding venue (the couple were legally married at the resister office after their handfasting ceremony in the field) but they chose it to host their celebration here because it's a place that's very special to them. Their theme was chosen to not only compliment the farm setting, but because they love Glastonbury music festival - they met there and were engaged there (not in the same year!)
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A Casual London Wedding with a Bride in Yellow Tights: Annick & Robert

Kat

March 28, 2012

Any bride that rocks yellow tights and teal shoes on her wedding day is instantly awesome. Are we in agreement? When Annick & Robert's London wedding landed in my inbox from wedding photographer Marshal Gray, I literally couldn't wait to share it with you! The whole wedding was planning in just 6 weeks. The ceremony took place at Sutton House, and after an emotional service the couple walked to London Fields for a hotdog lunch and some portraits. "On the way we met a friend who was coming to the evening event," Annick told me. "It was a wonderful walk to really reflect on the day and our personal journey. We use to live near London Fields so the walk had real emotional significance to us."
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An Emotional East Meets West Wedding: Aneesha & Ed

Kat

March 26, 2012

Back in February 2011 I was at exhibiting at the first Designer Vintage Bridal Show, Birmingham. Luckily for me the organisers plonked my stand right next to one of my ultimate besties, wedding photographer Emma Case. On the second day of the show in walked bride-to-be Aneesha, who had decided she wanted Emma to capture her 2012 wedding. After chatting about wedding planning, blogging and photography Annesha went upstairs to try on wedding dresses. Always one to get excited about this part of wedding planning Emma & I followed to see what the bride-to-be would pick. Aneesha & Ed were having a traditional Indian ceremony in the morning, but for the evening reception they wanted to change into western wedding attire. As soon as Aneesha tried on the slinky Yevonde by Jenny Packham the tears started to fall and we all knew it was the dress for her! I'm honoured that I was allowed to witness this experience and I'm even more thrilled that today I get to share their full wedding story with you.
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Stripes, Pumpkins & Mean Looking Cars: Emma & Ross

Kat

March 9, 2012

Emma & Ross' black & white, vintage themed wedding was, above all, a day to celebrate their love with their friends and family. The couple wanted a relaxed atmosphere and one where their guests would really enjoy themselves. "We wanted our wedding to be personal to us, we didn't want guests to walk in and think they could be at just anybody's wedding," Emma told me. "We have been to a lot of weddings, which were lovely but we knew that traditional just wasn't for us. We just had our day, our way and it was brilliant! It was the best day of our lives so far, I just wish I could do it all again as it went so quickly!"
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An Indie Rock, Winter Wedding: Vicky & Martin

Kat

February 29, 2012

On December 10th, Vicky & Martin were married in a gallery space, which they made their own, in Hull. They didn't have the easiest wedding planning journey, with not one but two venue's cancelling their bookings, but at the end of the day the wedding was perfect. "We were not the luckiest of couples when it came to our wedding planning as we had two different venues cancel our booking!" Vicky told me. "We booked a local hotel's wedding package a year in advance and believed that everything from the food to the centerpieces was taken care of. With six months to go they called and cancelled our booking, leaving us panicked and miserable. After considerable research we booked our local youth hostel for a weekend festival in their beautiful medieval building - they cancelled our booking with less than four months to go!
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A Christmas Meets Halloween Wedding: Holly & Gareth

Kat

February 15, 2012

Holly & Gareth were married in late November and so had a kind of Christmas meets Halloween themed wedding. "Originally I quite liked the idea of a festival-y vibe wedding but Gareth's not very outdoorsy and I'm not keen on hot weather so a winter wedding it was!" Holly explained. "We were also on a budget so an out of season wedding also worked in our favour! My sister described our theme as, 'What do you get if you cross Christmas and Halloween?!'"
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A Colourful DIY Wedding: Rhian & Toan

Kat

February 8, 2012

My favourite wedding photographs are those with happy smiling faces in them. The ones that when I look at them, I hazard a guess that people's faces were aching at the end of the day from grinning so much. Now obviously most weddings are full of joy and smiles, but I think Rhian & Toan might win the 'most smiley' prize. Big cheesy grins all round! "We absolutely love our wedding photos, and genuinely couldn’t be happier with them," begin Rhian. "We had a very tight budget for everything, but photography was the one thing I wouldn't skimp on the quality. I love it so much in my day to day life I knew the value of getting good ones done for the big day. When I saw Shell de Mar’s portfolio I could see straight away that she has a beautiful eye for detail and lots of talent. We like to think that we found an excellent photographer who happened to do weddings, rather than a ‘wedding photographer’."
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A Help Yourself, Village Fete Wedding in Cornwall: Rosalie & Fergus

Kat

February 8, 2012

Rosalie & Fergus had a sweet homespun wedding in Cornwall. "The whole ethos was to get all our creative friends and family together for a two week holiday in Cornwall," the bride explained. "The deal was, that they spent the first week, sewing, making, cooking, baking and generally doing anything and everything - then we had a massive great wedding/party which continued for the rest of the week. I don't think they feel used, it was a great vibe and a really chilled way to organise a wedding."
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A ‘Make Do & Mend’ Wedding: Rosie & James

Kat

February 7, 2012

I actually saw Rosie & James' wedding in the archives of Adam, of Viva Wedding Photography's, own blog. I dropped him a line to say I was sure another wedding blogger must have featured it when he first published the photos, but just on the off-chance...and to my utter surprise he said they hadn't! I have to say, I was thrilled. This wedding has a serious amount of cuteness. The wedding may have taken place in 2009, but it's still hella inspirational!
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