Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

British Brides

Amanda & Stu’s Multi-Coloured Balloon, Sphynx Cat-Loving, South-Bank Graffiti, Charlie Chaplin Look-a-Like Engagement

Kat

December 21, 2010

Amanda & Stu's gorgeous engagement session is special for two reasons. Not only did the couple find their photographer Shell de Mar on Rock n Roll Bride, but it's the groom that is the big Rock n Roll Bride fan. I love that I have (a few, carefully selected and super special) male readers who can see past all the pink and glitter and enjoy the wedding fabulousness. So it was Stu who excitedly told me all about their shoot with Shell. "We first came across Shell via an engagement shoot featured on Rock n Roll Bride. We loved the way she managed to capture colours, fun and love (all the important things in life!). After we got in contact with her, she asked us to provide a bit of info about us and, looking back at the emails I got verbal diarrhoea and listed of a whole heap of stuff. I mentioned our love of bright colours in everything (clothes, art, movies, music and animals. I mentioned our Sphynx cat (Uzume aka Zoomy – named after the Japanese goddess of joy and happiness) who we obviously wanted included in the photos as she’s part of the family! I mentioned that we got engaged in Venice; that Amanda makes colourful glass jewellery; that we ski… and the list carried on. Thankfully this didn’t scare Shell off and she seemed as enthusiastic as
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Farley & Niko’s Hippy-tastic Rainbow Wedding

Kat

December 17, 2010

The thing I love about all you Rock n Roll Bride's is the diversity of all your weddings. Every morning my inbox is flooded with so many different wedding visions that it my days are never dull! Farley & Niko's wedding was planned in only 8 weeks. They explained, "We decided to go for it when Farley's Dad was diagnosed with pancreas and liver cancer. We therefore hadn't saved for it and had to cut corners where ever we could. We did have some very generous donations form family members which made it possible. I think we did it all within £4000 (that's 120 guests all fed)."
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Polly & Stuart’s Wartime Wedding

Kat

December 10, 2010

Polly & Stuart's wartime inspired wedding was held in a marquee in Polly's parent's back garden. "We love vintage style from the 1930's-1960's. We wanted to incorporate our love of 1950's Rock n Roll into our wedding and combine it with the aesthetic of a wartime garden party," explained the bride. "We furnished our marquee and gentleman's smoking room with pieces of furniture, decor and paintings from our home. I can safely say that I don't think that anyone else has ever had a 1940's waxworks dummy in their wedding marquee! We also wrote our own 'hymn' for our wedding service. We put sticks of rock on all the tables.We combined stylistic references and it worked- We backed the stage with 1950's style working men's club red curtains and had Victorian birdcages stuffed with ivy and pearls suspended from the ceiling. We turned my parents' summer house into the 'gentlemen's smoking room' complete with pipes, silk smoking jackets and a drinks cabinet. We had our dog Enid Mouse as our whippet of honour. Our magnificent nautical cake complete with Marzipan octopus tentacles was by Annie at Yummy Nice. The cake was topped by a sculpture of us in a boat made by my husband Stuart. We didn't want to be constrained with any particular rules!"
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Ted & Nina’s Purple-Themed, Internet-Sourced, Gothic Wedding

Kat

December 9, 2010

Ted & Nina's wedding was put together by the power of the internet - that is, they saved money as best they could by buying everything online! Nina's dress was bought from Dark Angel and really set the tone for the whole day. The striking purple & white theme was everywhere they looked, from the bride's gorgeous coat from eBay and her fabulous hat from The Black Cat Boutique to the flowers, the groom's outfit and even the bride's hair!
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Leslie & Ben’s Rowing Club Wedding

Kat

December 8, 2010

Leslie & Ben's rowing club wedding shows perfectly why I adore my readers! Such utter gorgeousness without conforming to anybody else's idea of what makes a wedding...plus the whole thing was DIY. I approve! "We called in a lot of favours to make the day; partially because we had a limited budget, but also because by using friends the day would be more special. Luckily we have a lot of talented friends who include a graphic designer (who did our invitations), a chef (catering), a musician (band), ex-florist and so forth. The favours, peanut butter fudge, I made myself 4 days before. It was all gone before the main course at the sit down dinner, so I'm guessing no one minded it was made by the bride!"
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Laura & Andy’s Classy, Rockabilly, Back to the Future Inspired, DIY Wedding

Kat

December 7, 2010

Laura & Andy's rockabilly wedding is pure class. Shot by the wonderful Chloe Browne of Caught the Light, the day exudes 1950's elegance and styling...with a big fat Rock n Roll twist! "We did things differently by really letting our personalities and our interests shine through our wedding preparations," began the bride. "Both ourselves and our friends are immersed in the music dancing and lifestyle of the 40s and 50s Swing and Rockabilly scene. It was inherent that I would wear a 50s style dress rather than a traditional wedding dress, that the details of our wedding would be centered around our love of vintage music, pin-up fashion, jive and jitterbug dancing, traditional tattoos, classic Chevy pickups!"
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Helen & Dan’s Good Old-Fashioned Coronation Street, 1940’s Tea Party Wedding

Kat

December 7, 2010

Cute, quirky, British weddings are my utter favourites to feature. There's so much originality and such fabulous ideas floating around this industry of ours, and it really really excites me! I was lucky enough to meet Heather, the photographer who captured this beautiful wedding, at the Unveiled Photography Conference that I spoke at in July so I'm so excited to see that she's put what she learnt in to practice with this killer wedding. Helen & Dan were married in September in Rye. Their theme was "a good old-fashioned Coronation Street party/1940s tea party feel". Originally the couple had planned to have an Alice in Wonderland theme, however after the film came out, and the whole world went Alice mad, they decided to do something different and more unique. "My mum is a magpie for nice bits and set about scouring the length and breadth of Lancashire's charity shops for table decorations, the cups and saucers, the teapots and the candelabras" began the bride. "Dan's nan volunteers in a charity shop, so she managed to pick up some lovely pieces too."
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Faux Fur in Leopard Print – Gorgeous Glaswegian Vintage Engagement

Kat

December 1, 2010

It's the 1st of Decemeber, and what better way to start of this freezing month than a chilly but beautiful British engagement session? Everyone knows I am Emma Case's biggest fan, and engagement sessions like Debs & Richie's are the reason why. Quite apart from the trademark Emma Case gorgeousness, this couple are just too cool for words. Faux fur in leopard print, denim turn ups and helium balloons all make me smile.
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Charlie & Jo’s Unconventional Music Gig Wedding

Kat

November 26, 2010

Charlie & Jo's reception took place the day before their ceremony and that's not the only thing about this awesome wedding that was unconventional. "We decided to get married and the Registry Office had a date free in two months time so we had a short amount of time in which to plan and make everything happen," the couple explained. "We already had many things that we wanted to have at our wedding, incorporating lots of themes that we love. Many of these themes were not obviously related and not directly relevant to a wedding but we were more interested in these than having a traditional wedding. It all came together perfectly in the end. The less we worried about what we ‘should’ be doing, the more time we had to be creative and make our ideas possible in the time we had."
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Becci & Chris’ Funky, Retro, London Wedding

Kat

November 19, 2010

The slinky, sparkly vintage-inspired Topshop (yes really!) dress was what grabbed my attention when I first laid eyes on Becci & Chris' retro styled London wedding. However when I saw the rest of their day I was utterly smitten. The pair, who never wanted a traditional wedding, were set on creating something within budget and to suit their funky London lifestyle. I spoke to Becci about their wedding and I'm so thrilled to share their amazing wedding and all their quirky details with you today.
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Shalma & Leo’s 1950’s Inspired Candy Anthony Wedding

Kat

November 18, 2010

Shalma & Leo are what I like to call friends of the blog. Not only did they find photographer David McNeil though a feature on Rock n Roll Bride, but I featured their gorgous A Bout de Souffle engagement session over the summer ANDmyself and the bride have exchanged regular emails ever since they got engaged about all things wedding! So when David asked if I wanted to feature them ...well he didn't have to ask twice!
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Mel & Mark’s Rule Britannia Rock n Roll Wedding

Kat

November 17, 2010

I've got another authentic Rock n Roll couple for you today...and by authentic I mean actual readers of Rock n Roll Bride. My favourite weddings to feature are those of couples who actually read and loved Rock n Roll Bride throughout their wedding planning. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside! Melanie & Nick, who were lucky enough to find their photographer's McKinley-Rodgers Photography via a feature on this here blog, got married Burgh House followed by a rule britannia style reception at The Britannia Pub in London. Mel's dress was a really family heirloom made by her Great Great Aunt a couple of years before WWII and also worn by her Great Aunt and Grandmother at their own weddings. With this vintage classic gown she accessorised with Mark's Grandmother's engagement ring, earrings from Tatty Devine and a "yes" necklace from Zoe and Morgan.
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Sarah & Pete’s Classy Vintage-Inspired Wedding

Kat

November 17, 2010

Sarah & Pete's classy, vintage-inspired wedding took place at Stoke Newington Town Hall and The Tab Centre, Shoreditch. The bride, who originally didn't even want a wedding dress wore a gorgeous Temperley number that she found in Bicester Village outlet mall just outside of Oxford. "I don't really like wedding dresses!" she told me. "I was nearly going to buy a nice party dress in a bright colour after trying on quite a few wedding dresses which were just 'ok'. I then spotted this one in Bicester. It is quite vintagey in style but still flattering (and not tiny weeny sizes like a lot of original vintage dresses!)" With this she wore a hair piece by Jenny Packham and vintage Gina shoes from Urban Outfitters.
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Sammy & Ian’s Modern Romantic London Wedding

Kat

November 16, 2010

Sammy & Ian went for a quirky, modern and London theme for their Soho wedding. Being a costume designer, the bride made her own dress based on the late 50's early 60's silhouette of tight and knee length, with a bit of Vivienne Westwood influence. "It was made from red silk Dupion, and the corset was white duchess satin with red silk ribbon stripes sewn on top," she explained. Sammy also designed Ian's unusual and fabulous suit which was made out of venetian wool and was based on a 1960's design.
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Lauren & Tim’s DIY, Budget-Friendly Seaside Wedding

Kat

November 12, 2010

"We both decided that although we wanted our wedding to be amazing, we weren't going to spend a stupid amount of money on it," explained bride Lauren when I asked her about her big day. "We weren't prepared to pay more just because it was labelled as a "wedding product". Plus, most of the wedding-related stuff that's available isn't really "us". I bypassed the usual wedding dress shops and went straight to the high street, and found everything exactly as I wanted at a price I was willing to pay. Tim wore a suit he already had from Next because none of the hire places had slim fitting suits. We wanted invitations with skulls and studs and splattery writing but didn't want to pay a professional to design and make them for us, so I did it."
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Heather & Jonathan’s Arthouse Café Wedding

Kat

November 9, 2010

Heather & Jonathan got married at Southampton Civic Centre, followed by a reception at The Art House Gallery Café. They chose this venue as it's ethos ran true with them and the style of wedding they wanted. "The Art House Gallery Café is a volunteer run, multi-disciplinary arts venue and café in the heart of Southampton’s evolving cultural quarter. We are a welcoming, vibrant and quirky community space serving delicious, organic food and drink in inspiring surroundings" they say. They also only served vegetarian food which suited the couple perfectly.
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Danielle & Carl’s Incredibly Gorgeous Red & White Vintage Wedding

Kat

November 8, 2010

I am a little bit over excited about featuring Danielle & Carl's vintage wedding today. As soon as I laid eyes on her amazing dress I knew this wedding was going to be incredible... and you know what? I was right! The couple, who met at school, got married in June at St Peter's Church in Doddington, Lincolnshire. A 1950's vintage theme was really important to the couple as it really reflected their everyday style. "Having been to a few 'traditional' weddings, as soon as we started to plan our wedding, we knew that we wanted to do things differently," Danielle told me. "We wanted every part of our wedding to be personal to us, and be able to show our personalities. We didn't just want to do something because it was the way people usually do things at weddings, we wanted to put our stamp on it. We both love all things vintage, particularly the era of the 50's and 60's, after all, our first car was a 1969 Volkswagen Beetle. For this reason, having a vintage rock 'n' roll 50's style wedding just seemed to come naturally to us. Our inspiration came out of our love not only for the 50's fashion, but the music and the whole lifestyle. Having a dancing vicar was not something we planned but that was an added bonus!"
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A 1970’s Woodstock Inspired Shoot

Kat

November 8, 2010

This 1970's Woodstock inspired shoot took place on Hampstead Heath, London. The shoot was set up by wedding planner & stylist, Mary Herrington of Forever & Ever Events. She and photographer Caro Hutchings wanted to create a shoot to show how you can easily create a beautiful look with vintage and reclaimed items that won't break the bank. "Finding inspiration in the ‘70s doesn’t mean that you have to stick with the original dress form the ‘70s or be literal about it; rather, you can take a vintage dress or theme and modernize it," Mary told me. "For example, the most amazing part of the dress was the tiered back – we took away the billowy elbows and the high neck, which really allowed you to highlight the back of the dress as the focal point."
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