Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

Wedding

An Alabama Cave Wedding: Melissa & Greg

Kat

April 10, 2012

Yes you did read that correctly - Melissa & Greg got married in a cave (and instantly went into my 'coolest ever wedding venue' mental checklist). "Greg and I picked up the love of spelunking (caving) during our 4 ½ year relationship and wanted to show our families what we found so beautiful about underground," Melissa explained when I asked them about their unusual choice. "The ceremony felt very romantic; low lighting, candles everywhere, glowing stalactites and the silhouettes of the people who love us the most. My stepfather Mark became ordained and performed our ceremony. It was very special to have him be such a huge part of my wedding since my father refused to attend for his own personal reasons. One of the more emotional moments of the day was when I danced with my stepfather. I hate crying but there was no holding back my ugly crying face! Greg walked me down the aisle, which was a perfect way to begin our marriage. I was much less nervous than I would have been otherwise. We broke a few traditions that I used to think were important, but now I understand exactly what a wedding is all about; it’s about man and wife and everything else is too insignificant to worry about."
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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 Dramatic Alpine Wedding: Brie & Leonard

Kat

April 5, 2012

With a penchant for the dramatic, is it any wonder that I went a little gaga over Brie & Leonard alpine wedding? The black wedding dress, the intimate ceremony, the epic mountain top photographs...I love it all! The bride even had a rams skull (yes really!) instead of a bouquet. "Basically our story goes like this," the bride began, "Leonard and I are not really conventional people and despite a few failed ideas to do things more traditionally we quickly discovered that your wedding is not the time to be what you are not. So we followed our hearts to our dream wedding in New Zealand. Leonard proposed to me on the top of a New Zealand mountain in the snow, which was just magical, so we decided that a snowy mountain would make the perfect place for our wedding. We had no guests so we decided to use a helicopter to travel to a completely isolated place with no road access."
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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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An Alice Wedding in Australia: Stew & Ali

Kat

April 2, 2012

The Australian wedding of Stew & Ali was held at Leaning Church Vineyard in Tasmania. "We knew even before we were engaged that we wanted to be married in a vineyard," Ali told me. "We love to visit the amazing vineyards in our area of Tasmania, which is famous for its Pinot Noir. We’re known for our somewhat overzealous love of said Pinot Noir….So a vineyard screamed Stew and Ali. We chose Leaning Church because of its rustic charm, hills full of vines, a quaint little lake, long yellow grass and absolutely fabulous wedding coordinator!"
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A Leap Day Wedding Planned in Just 10 Days: Jennifer & Michael

Kat

April 2, 2012

Jennifer & Michael were married in The Candy Factory, a warehouse in Lancaster PA, on February 29th this year. They picked the venue as Jennifer loves the space (she's a model and has shot there a few times). They also planned their wedding in...wait for it...TEN DAYS! Jennifer told me all about it, "Our wedding was planned in under 10 days. I went to my seamstress with a 7 day window, and the desire for a 50s style, tea length wedding dress and she pulled through. The venue is one of my favorite shooting spots as I am very fond of putting pretty things in old, ugly places. This spot just matched us so well. Even though there was no lighting or heat, my husband fixed all that with his all-knowing sensibility. We picked a very rainy day, so the roof leaked horribly and we had buckets everywhere, but I guarantee no one will forget this wedding!"
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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 Barcelona Garden Wedding: Natalia & Edgar

Kat

March 29, 2012

The Spanish wedding of Natalia & Edgar took place in September at the Sol I Vida Garden Terrace in Barcelona. The bride wore an amazing corset by Barcelonian fashion designer Bibian Blue with a skirt hand made by her Mother and her Aunt. "Natalia & Edgar wanted everybody to have fun," their wedding photographer Javi of F2 Photo Studio told me. "That was the main idea for the wedding so they prepared it in a way that everybody would feel comfortable and enjoy the day. The venue was beautiful and perfect for what they wanted. It was really relaxed and private, surrounded by nature but only 15 minutes drive from Barcelona. Edgar prepared the venue with lanterns, flowers and the stage for the bands on the morning of the wedding with the help of his friends."
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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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A Pirate Wedding & A Rock Gig Reception: Lou & Jürgen

Kat

March 27, 2012

Is there anything cooler than a pirate wedding? I was pretty hard pushed to think of anything...that was until I saw Lou & Jürgen's pirate wedding with a rock gig themed after party! OH YES. The pirate themed ceremony was held on a beach in Malibu, CA. After the intimate ceremony in front of only their closet friends and relatives they headed to the HMS Surprise (from the movie 'Master and Commander') for portraits.
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An Alice in Wonderland Tea Party Wedding in Vegas: Tiffany & Ryan

Kat

March 27, 2012

After originally planning a massive wedding for nearly 300 guests, the stress all got too much for Tiffany & Ryan and they were forced to cancel the wedding. When it came to planning it for the second time, they decided to scale it all down and focus on what really mattered - them. "Three years ago I was planning a wedding inspired by what every magazine and television show told me it should be," Tiffany told me. "Like most couples, our guest list had exploded, tilting at nearly 300 people. The stress of pleasing everyone was becoming too much, we were way over budget and the fun was non-existent. My fiancé and I loved each other very much, but we both hated what getting married was doing to us. A few months prior to the wedding we suffered two personal tragedies back to back so we threw our hands up and called it quits. Less than three months prior to the big day we sent out cancellation notices to our guests. We lost nearly $25,000 in the process, and most of our sanity."
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A Modern Black, White & Green Wedding: Jessica & Ty

Kat

March 26, 2012

Jessica & Ty's wedding was all about having fun, throwing and great party and entertaining their guests. They didn't have a concrete theme per-say, they just included things they loved and thought people would get a kick out of! Jessica explains, "I'm the kind of person to go OVER THE TOP! On my son's birthday for example, I hired a bouncy house that took up the entire backyard! So basically that's what happened for our wedding. I had so many ideas but wanted to try and balance it all that it didnt end up looking to much like a circus or a mish mash of ideas all thrown together. I still wanted the event to be formal and still look like a wedding."
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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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A Multi-Coloured South African Wedding: Mark & Manilla

Kat

March 22, 2012

When Mark & Manilla's colourful wedding landed in my inbox I just about burst with excitement. There's nothing quite like a rainbow wedding in my opinion! The South African wedding was held at The View Boutique Hotel, a glamorous hotel in the heart of Johannesburg. "I felt that the ceremony should be the serious part of the day but I wanted the rest to be a very relaxed and festive carnival style celebration!" the bride told me.
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A Budget-Friendly Wedding Planned in just Four Months: Terry & Elle

Kat

March 22, 2012

For Terry & Elle their wedding wasn't about a big show or how much money they could spend. After a health scare in October 2011 they decided they wanted to get married quickly so planned the whole thing in just 4 months. They wanted a wedding that represented them and didn't cost a bomb. As the bride explains, "We held a wedding for 90 guests, including bridal party plus all bridal attire, wedding rings the works for under 15,000 AUD (that's about £10,000) - the average Australian wedding is $36,000 - do it all yourself and be resourceful and you can achieve wonders!"
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A Fun Fair & Carnival Themed Wedding: Julie & Jaques

Kat

March 21, 2012

I've known about Julie & Jaques' wedding for a long time because the bride's sister and maid of honour is one of my best friends, wedding photographer Shell de Mar! I've been hearing all the exciting details of the wedding plans for so long and now I'm thrilled to not only see the results but to share them with you guys too. The wedding took place in Melbourne. The ceremony was held on the rooftop of the Arcadia Hotel and the quirky and cute reception was at Garage Cafe, Carlton.
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