Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

Wedding

“Joyfest 2011” A Weekend-Long Festival Wedding: Jen & Rob

Kat

January 18, 2012

"A weekend of celebration" was how Jen & Rob described their festival wedding to me, and that couldn't have been a more perfect description. Stokes Barn, specialising in self-catering group accommodation, in the Shropshire hills played host. "We knew we wanted something different," explained the bride. "We wanted to celebrate with the special people who enrich our lives and who share and understand our values and beliefs. We had the idea of a festival type celebration where we could create a magical, memorable and warm weekend (whatever the weather!) of celebration, relaxation, much merriment, Peace and Love!"
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A DIY Carnival Wedding at Home: Bethany & Eric

Kat

January 18, 2012

Bethany & Eric's carnival-themed wedding was held at their home, Antebellum Farmhouse in Granville, Ohio. "The inspiration for our wedding really started with our pre-civil war home", Bethany told me. "When Eric and I first saw our house with our realtor we both stood on the front porch with tears in our eyes. We had not even walked through the front door but we knew this was our home. Eric looked at me and said 'we could be married here.' He then carried me across the threshold. Sounds like a fairy tale.... But so real." The theme may have started with their home but over time 'a day and night at the fair' became their manifesto. Royal Steamline provided the perfect stationery to fit the idea. "We wanted to create a vintage carnival feeling for all ages of guests to enjoy," the bride continued. "I have an antique and interior design business named after our home, so I incorporated many antique and vintage items, furniture and props to create the scene. I searched auctions and estate sales for real vintage goblets, punch cups and plates for our guests to enjoy. I used vintage furniture outside to create a living room area that was a fabulous photo booth for all of our guests as well as the bridal party."
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A Mendhi Ceremony & A Beautiful DIY Wedding: Jenni & Alex

Kat

January 18, 2012

Jenni & Alex's wedding celebration began with a Mendhi ceremony held at the groom's parents house a few days before the wedding. Their photographers Madlove Photography were there to capture this intimate event as well as their actual wedding, which was held at Rancho Guajome Adobe in Vista, CA in November. "They were such a sweet and fun couple!"explained photographers Mike & Nickie. "Their day was filled with so many beautiful details, many of which were handmade by Jenni. She DIY’ed the boutonnières, table settings, wedding favors and so many of the cute decorations. They were really able to achieve a beautiful, vintage aesthetic for the whole day."
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A Heritage & Handmade Australian Wedding: Janelle & Liam

Kat

January 17, 2012

For their December wedding, Janelle & Liam wanted an aspect of heritage and an element of the handmade. They chose Eryldene Historic House and Garden in Gordon (Sydney, Australia) as the place to host their celebration. "Most of our wedding was handmade - assembled and painted by bridal party," the couple explained. "We made our own vintage fabric bunting and table cloths as well as hand made fabric napkins. We sourced over 100 vintage plates from op shops and collected jam jars from family and friends. For favours we had home made seed pouches and home made orange flavoured lolly pops. The seating chart was a window from an old home in Epping and some fence posts. We wrote on the window panes so people knew where to sit."
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A Back to the Future, Harry Potter & Star Wars Themed Nerdy Wedding: Jaclyn & Steven

Kat

January 17, 2012

"My husband and I are such nerds," began Jaclyn's email. "Our inspiration for your wedding came from the things we love which included: Harry Potter, Back to the Future, Star Wars, Disney, a literary theme, a music theme, etc." I loved her instantly! "We had lightsabers, owl and Weasley crown cookies, records everywhere, and my shoes caused people to call me a 'hooker Minnie Mouse' several times," she continued. "We picked the things that were important to us and did them, the rest like having a first dance, a cake cutting, a bouquet toss and garter toss were totally left out because it had no meaning to us. We had no DJ and there wasn’t even a dance floor at our venue. So many people were shocked that there would be no dancing, but at the end of the night not one person complained about it. Everyone was having such a good time they didn’t even notice that so many traditional things were missing. We just wanted to hang out and have fun, and it’s exactly what we did."
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A Quirky East London Pub Wedding with a Nod to the 1940s: Becca & Dan

Kat

January 16, 2012

For Becca & Dan, a formal wedding was never on the cards. "We wanted the day to be about our guests not all the attention on us," the bride wrote. "There were no formalities, just tea & cakes followed by pie & mash then a good all knees up in an east London pub with Billie Holiday playing & a free bar all night!" Becca got ready at Zetter Townhouse, a really stylish house with quirky vintage decor & stuffed animals. It proved to be the perfect place for some pre-ceremony snaps with her bridesmaids and really set the tone for the rest of the wedding day.
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“Less is More & Keep it Simple”: Michelle & Kyle

Kat

January 13, 2012

Michelle & Kyle we're married in Savannah, GA. The outdoor ceremony was held in a public park, Oglethorpe Square, and their reception was at the amazingly named (and coloured!) The Olde Pink House Restaurant. "If you allow yourself to get pulled into today’s wedding etiquette, you can really drive yourself crazy," Michelle began, when I asked her if she had any advice for the newly-engaged. "We ignored all the rules and threw caution to the wind, and just chose what we liked and what represented us well. We both love vintage things - ideas from the 1930s or 1940s or just something that is banged up and broken in, 'well loved' as we like to call it. We also played on our love for tattoos and nature. We both have been getting tattooed for years and wanted to incorporate our art into the day in a natural way. It’s part of who we are."
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A Vintage Tepee Wedding: Gemma & Giuseppe

Kat

January 12, 2012

There's quite a story behind Gemma & Giuseppe's gorgeous wedding, and one that I hope might ease any of you stressing about your wedding venue (I know Roo had a bit of a similar drama last month, she'll be writing about it for you soon). "Our reception took place in tepees, at Oatlands Park Hotel, Weybridge (who, p.s. were AMAZING)" Gemma explained. "We had always wanted a tepee party, but our original venue to pitch them fell through with just 8 days to go! Oatlands Park Hotel came to our rescue and then some. They turned everything around so brilliantly - nothing was a problem, and they accommodated everything from the tepees to my 100 vintage teacups for the arrival champagne. After it all went bottoms up, major panic ensued for approximately half a day before I gave myself a stern talking to and set to work! I have to say that despite all of the last minute worry, the day went like a dream, and it just goes to show that even the biggest disasters don't mean that your special day is ruined!"
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A Retro, Kitsch & Cherry-Themed Southend-on-Sea Wedding: Heidi & Jim

Kat

January 11, 2012

You can't help but fall in love with Heidi & Jim's Southend on Sea wedding. The cherry theme is just so cute and perfect for a retro, quirky and kitsch seaside wedding. "Our inspiration was most definately ourselves, our loved ones and where we live, sunny Southend on Sea!" Heidi explained. "We wanted a wedding that was totally personal to us, that involved everyone close to us as much as we could and that was totally full of fun and unstuffy. We knew we wanted good food and a venue that was ours, where we could do what we wanted, decorate it how we wanted, drink the drinks we wanted and eat the food we wanted!"
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Edgar Allen Poe & A Day Filled with Love: Joann & Jacqueline

Kat

January 11, 2012

A quote by Edgar Allen Poe was the starting point for Joann & Jacqueline's wedding plans. 'We loved with a love that was more than love' made them realise that really, their love was at that mattered. Luckily for these two beautiful women, they were surrounded by the stuff on their big day. "No matter how much planning that went into that day, we were both blown away by the amount of love we received from our family and friends," they explained. "We can’t fully explain or describe how it felt, but hopefully the love and laughter in the atmosphere of our wedding day had everyone just as thrilled and excited as we were. Our wedding was held at Penn Park, in Whittier, CA. The greenery was vivid and lovely just the way fairytales usually are, except this time there were two princesses."
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A Bohemian Wedding with the World’s Coolest Centrepieces

Kat

January 10, 2012

Describing your wedding to me as 'vintage tech' automatically gets my attention. But when I actually laid eyes on the Star Wars figurines and helmets, the 80's VHS', the tennis rackets, the splashes of neon paint and the 80's cassette players...all nestled nicely into the bohemian chic setting...well I might have let out a little squeal of joy. The two juxtaposing ideas shouldn't work, but they do - perfectly.
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A Black Prada Dress, A Neon Sign and a Very Unconventional Wedding: Katie & Patrick

Kat

January 10, 2012

Katie & Patrick wanted a local wedding, one that reflected how they live their lives. They love Stoke Newington and so wanted to use local suppliers and to keep the wedding as close to home as possible. After proposing on Waterloo Bridge, Patrick presented Katie with a beautiful piece of costume jewellery from Kat and Bee. Katie always said she didn't really want a wedding ring, as she explains, "I'm not keen on having a ring that I have to wear every day for the rest of my life, I wasn't sure about the whole wedding ring thing. I did say though, that I would absolutely love a suffragette ring and, whilst I might not wear it everyday, I would definitely only want a wedding ring if it was one of those. They are about as rare as hen's teeth. But Patrick has a reputation for resilience! And he managed to find one..well, actually, he managed to find two! So I am now the proud owner of two suffragette rings, one of which is sort of my wedding ring."
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A Locally Sourced & Relaxed Wedding: Kelly & James

Kat

January 9, 2012

"Love, laughter, friends & family" said Kelly when I asked her about her wedding theme. "Through all the help and support we had leading up to the day, we knew this would be our 'theme'. It was important to us to make sure everyone enjoyed themselves. For us, it wasn’t about having a particular style or colour running through the flowers – it was just about being true to us as a couple and a family." Kelly & James were married at Braziers Park School in Oxfordshire, "I guess the inspiration for the day was making it about us and the things that are important to us which is basically family, friends and good food," Kelly continued. "I am a big believer in things happening for a reason and so many things leading up to our wedding seemed like they were meant to be and felt so right!"
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Hearts, Love & DIY Heaven: Sarah & Gray

Kat

January 9, 2012

When Sarah saw the work of Sassy of Assassynation on Rock n Roll Bride, she knew she was the only wedding photographer for her. "All of the photos I loved the most on the Rock n Roll Bride wedding blog seemed to have been taken by Sassy so I took the plunge and sent an email," Sarah explained. "We had an engagement shoot in September and instantly knew we had made the right choice (you can see it on Sarah's own blog here). Sassy suggested bringing Frank along too to film our wedding and it couldn't have been more perfect. The two of them were a dream to work with and felt more like guests." Sarah married Gray in November at Crockwell Farm. The bride wore a custom made Stella Lilliana gown and customised Vivienne Westwood Lady Dragon Heart shoes (she wanted the red hearted version that are no longer available so bought a pair of fakes from eBay and replaced the orignally peach hearts on her genuine Viv's - genius!)
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A Handmade & Simple Wedding: Genevieve & Andy

Kat

January 5, 2012

Genevieve & Andy were married at Smokey Glen Farm, Washington. A simply styled day, the couple put a lot of importance on their friends and family being involved and having a good time. "Early on, we decided which things were most important to us. We wanted it to be a fun party, to be simple, and to be uniquely us - everything else we tried not to sweat too much. As a result, we simplified our approach and only spent a lot of time and attention on a few key things. The venue supplied great BBQ, beautiful scenery, and a lot of fun games for our guests. And we rented a ping pong table. That was key."
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A Vintage Rock n Roll Italian Wedding: Alice & Matteo

Kat

January 4, 2012

Oh baby I'm literally dying over Alice & Matteo's Italian wedding. Everything is so beautiful and the photographs by Martino Vincenzi leave me weak at the knees. "Since my husband proposed me last year, I knew that my wedding would have been not a classical italian wedding," Alice wrote to me. "So, when I found your wedding blog, it was like a mirage in the desert! You have been my bible, THANK YOU!!" "During the planning I gently forced all my best friends to help me to make everything! It has been so tough, but worthwhile. We made all the cupcakes two days before the wedding, and the morning of the celebration we were still preparing and fixing stuff!"
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A Party-Hard Utah Mountain Wedding with the Bride in a Romper Suit!: Elizabeth & Brendan

Kat

January 4, 2012

When newlywed Elizabeth emailed me to share her wedding and told me she wore the Princess Lasertron VuVu romper for the evening reception, well I just knew I had to feature them. A bride in a romper suit? hell yes! "Our theme was supposed to be 'Farm Fancy'," Elizabeth explained. "People wore their interpretation of farm fancy attire, and some people really went all out - boots, denim, sparkly fire engine red onsie with white fringe! The theme quickly became 'Wind-Blown Princess Lasertronerific Farm Fancy Booze Fueled Costume Pop Dance Extravaganza'. Awesome."
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A Swedish Vintage Circus Wedding: Frida & Richard

Kat

January 4, 2012

Frida & Richard were married at Hagaparken, a nature reserve just north of Stockholm, Sweden. The beautiful ceremony took place under a carefully selected tree and the reception was in The Copper Tent, also in Hagaparken, which was originally built by one of the Swedish Kings to house his horses, but which looks a little like a circus tent. The couple based their celebration around this tent, creating a vintage circus theme. The bride designed her own dress and the couple DIY'ed as much of the day as possible including the flowers, the stationery and all the reception decor and props.
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Hearts, Clouds and a Massive Party: Brandon & Tiffany

Kat

January 2, 2012

"A friend of mine described our wedding by saying it was 'kind of like the Hangover, only without the tiger'." newlywed Tiiffany explained. "Brandon and I planned the wedding purposely during our favorite holiday - Halloween. Our wedding venue was in the middle of downtown Orlando, which has a HUGE Halloween street party the weekend of Halloween. It’s loads of fun, and I knew that everyone would want to party on the streets after the wedding. Well, my maid of honor partied a little too hard, and we ended up in the emergency room the night of our wedding. Haha. I love her!" Brandon & Tiffany were married the day before Halloween at Sak Comedy Lab. As you can see, they wanted a real party atmosphere for their wedding and so threw the rule book out the window when it came to deciding what they wanted.
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An Urban & Eclectic Community Wedding: Stevie & Nick

Kat

December 28, 2011

Stevie & Nick's eclectic city wedding took place in Mile End, East London. The bride described the day to me as "eclectic retro community chic," with so many of their friends and family pitching in to help. "So many people said ‘that’s how weddings used to be’ and ‘this is how it should be, family and friends mucking in’. It meant a lot to us that this was how we did it – it wouldn’t have happened without all of the support we received." The wedding day started with the ceremony at Bromley Public Hall and concluded with a rockin' party reception at The Victoria Pub, "Old man pub heaven" as the bride described it! "They’d never hosted a wedding before, but we were there for a jumble sale and afternoon pint and fell in love with the place," she explained. "We started chatting to Jo and Martin, the amazing couple who own the pub with their son Alfie and couldn’t believe how genuinely excited they were by it. It made me realise that experience of weddings only gets you so far – real passion and enthusiasm was a lot more important in the end. When we wanted to bring in our own flowers, cakes and decorations – including nailing things to the wall – they were all for it!"
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