Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

Wedding

A Fashion Forward London Wedding: Courtney & Charles

Kat

December 27, 2011

Courtney & Charles were married at Marylebone Town Hall followed by a reception at The Union Club in Soho, London. The fashion forward bride wore a short wedding dress by David Fielden and incredible gold shoes by Charlotte Olympia. Not only do I love that she had a bridesman as well as bridesmaids, but I'm going gaga over his shirt and bow tie combo, made in the same Laura Ashley fabric as the girls. Doesn't it look fabulously chic?
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A Casual Wedding At Home: Ann & Tim

Kat

December 22, 2011

Ann & Tim had just the kind of wedding I'd love to have had if a) the UK marriage laws weren't so damn strict and b) if I lived in a blue house. With the ceremony being held on their driveway and the reception in their back garden, this is the perfect casual backyard wedding. The couple actually met at their house, at the house party of a mutual friend who owned it before them. Having the wedding here really brought their story full circle. The matchmaker, even spoke at the wedding. "They wanted the whole thing to feel like people were at home", wedding photographers Sarah & Adam of InTandem explained. "The home was built in 1940 and the original owners of the house who sold it to them also had their wedding reception there. Back then it was just a big white farm house, but Ann & Tim repainted, re-leveled, re-landscaped, and even built the flower boxes themselves. It was DIY to the extreme, and their love for authentic vintage came through in their decor."
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A DIY Wedding with a Mountaintop View: Larry & Chelsea

Kat

December 21, 2011

Have you ever seen anything as beautiful as Larry & Chelsea's mountaintop wedding? Just look at that view! The lucky couple we're married at the bride's parents home (OK I'm now officially jealous) and although it doesn't look like it, they had a small budget to work with. "Although we had financial limits, hand making everything not only saved us money, but it made everything much more personal and special," Chelsea told me. "I will cherish every hilarious moment I spent crafting and to finally see all our hard work come together was awesome. I never thought I could pull it off and I got it all done in time and I am damn proud of myself!! The essential item to a DIY wedding? Get a dang glue gun girl...Oh and start early!!!" The bride wore two dresses, the first, from David's Bridal for the ceremony, and the second, a one of a kind custom made dress by Deborah Lindquist.
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A Movie, CMYK & Zombie Themed Wedding: Elizabeth & Steve

Kat

December 21, 2011

choose, especially when they realised they could have their ceremony at the amazing Tropic Cinema in Key West, Florida. "When we got engaged, we knew we wanted the whole day to be a big fun celebration, and our first thought for a venue was Tropic Cinema," Elizabeth explained. "It's an amazing volunteer run theater in Old Town Key West, and we are huge movie buffs. We even had our 2nd date there. When we contacted them, they were ecstatic to be a part of our big day as they had never hosted a wedding there before."
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An Eclectic & Colourful DIY Wedding: Amy & Andy

Kat

December 20, 2011

As a regular Rock n Roll Bride reader, Amy booked some of my ultimate favourite wedding suppliers for her October wedding to Andy. Annamarie Stepney photographed the day and the bride wore a Candy Anthony wedding dress with the gorgeous 'cherry' Vivienne Westwood/Melissa shoes. She also dressed her lucky bridesmaids in Vivien of Holloway dresses. "We looked at lots of wedding blogs to find a photographer and saw lots of examples of some beautiful and really cool photos but when I saw some of Annamarie’s work on Rock n Roll Bride we just loved them," Amy explained. "After meeting her knew she’d be great. She made the day go really smoothly too so it was a good choice!"
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A Autumnal Vintage Cinema Wedding: Holly & Robert

Kat

December 20, 2011

Holly & Robert were married at The Electric Cinema in Birmingham. After walking down the aisle to Billie Holiday 'It had to be you', the bride with her groom, headed to Kitchen Garden Cafe Kings Heath for a casual and DIY reception. "Rob asked me to marry him in NYC in October last year he got down on one knee in Central Park and gave me a beautiful 1920's pearl engagement ring," Holly wrote to me. "It was the happiest day of my life everywhere was just bursting with Autumn colour, strolling through the park was so romantic I wanted to capture the feeling of that day at our wedding."
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A Bohemian Garden Party Fairytale: Mark & Jolina

Kat

December 19, 2011

After seeing Mark & Jolina's incredible engagement shoot, there was no doubt in my mind that their wedding would be AMAZING. However in my wildest wedding dreams even I didn't imagine this. The theme for the day was similar to their engagement shoot - a bohemian/hippy chic, garden party fairytale. "Mark & I have been active in the Philippines entertainment industry for quite some time now," Jolina told me. "He plays drums and guitar for his band Rivermaya and they’ve been around for over 17 years. I’ve been a full-time actress, singer and recording artist for the past 22 years. Most of our lives have been spent on stage or in front of cameras, with the whole country watching and listening. Therefore we wanted our special day to be as relaxed as possible, no press, no TV cameras, no interviews, and all the 'formalities' were made as simple and meaningful as possible. We wanted to ignore tradition as much as possible to the day was 100% for us."
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Vintage Goth Meets Glam Heavy Metal…with a Pinch of Glitter: Amberly & Gabe

Kat

December 19, 2011

Amberly & Gabe's September wedding was held at the Bakersfield Museum of Art. A Rock n Roll wedding to the core, music played a huge part in their day. "We are music lovers and the cocktail hour music was a custom list of electric violin covers by Ms. Jennifer Spingola," the bride told me. "The music over dinner was provided by the Vitamin String quartet featuring our favorite songs. These included versions of Sweet Child of Mine, Stairway to Heaven, Rocking in the Free World, Purple Haze and November Rain. Our first dance was to an Adele’s cover of the Cure’s Love Song."
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A Rustic Wedding with Personal Touches: Emily & George

Kat

December 15, 2011

Emily & George's rustic autumnal wedding was sent to me by Carina and Nadine of Love Me Do Photography and I simply fell in love with all the personal touches. The bride wore two dresses, the first, her Mother's wedding dress from 1977, and the second, a vintage-inspired short number by Avioanni. She also wore vintage jewellery. "The necklace I wore in the church was the same one that my Mom wore on her wedding and it was my Great Grandmother's (my Mom's Grandmother)," the bride wrote. "The earrings I wore in the church were the ones my Grandmother (my Dad's Mom) wore on her wedding and were given to her by my Grandfather. That was an amazing discovery. The jewelry I wore at the reception was also my Grandmothers but a little more modern looking. My aunt, Kathy, was amazing and loaned me most of the jewelry and told me some great stories along the way."
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An Intimate Wedding of Just 16 Guests: Jasmine & Piers

Kat

December 14, 2011

Jasmine & Piers had only 16 guests for their intimate wedding which meant they were able to have a really relaxed and personal celebration. "We wanted it to be simple and pretty, and most of all...relaxed," the bride told me. "We didn't really have a theme, but if I had to pick a work to describe it, I say Love. Everything involved in the day are things (or people) we love. Piers had his Father as his best man, which was very sweet. One of my very dear friends, and her boyfriend, from NYC spent the morning with me, helping me get prepared. During the ceremony, our friends and family sat in a circle around us in the "Lady Chapel" of All Saints West Dulwich. It was exactly what we invisioned and felt so special. We all had so much fun. I don't think either of us have ever smiled that much in one day!! It was perfect."
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A Blue Burlesque Wedding with a £900 Budget: Sally & Mark

Kat

December 13, 2011

To say that I'm excited to be sharing Sally & Mark's wedding with you this afternoon would be an under-exaggeration of HUGE magnitude. Not only is their wedding freakin' awesome on so many levels, but they pulled the whole thing off for £900! Let me repeat myself to make sure you got that, because I didn't quite believe it when I read it on Sally's submission either - the whole wedding cost just £900!! "We had approx 6 weeks and a budget of around £900 for our wedding," Sally wrote. "Where we could we handmade items or got friends to help us out. We were lucky that our photographers, performers, DJ and cake makers were all friends so did us special deals. We were also able to get both our venues (the afternoon reception was held at William Steads Pub and the evening afterparty at the Tap and Spile Pub, Darlington) for free as we didn't hire them exclusively."
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A Farm & Festival Wedding: Roisin & Paul

Kat

December 12, 2011

Roisin & Paul's Somerset wedding makes me ache for those long Summer days again. The Apple Orchard at Brook Farm played host to their August nuptials - a celebration of love, life and all things good. The couple opted for a humanist ceremony led by Alison Orchard, "She was so crucial to the success of the ceremony, which was such an emotional and wonderful experience," the bride told me. "I think lots of people thought it might have a been a hippy-dippy, tree-hugging, fingers down-your-throat service, but instead found it was a lovely and romantic experience. We wrote our vows and kept them quite similar to the traditional ones. We sang, 'A little Help from My Freinds' by the Beatles and I cried all the way through it."
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A Very London Wedding: Naomi & Chris

Kat

December 12, 2011

I was hanging out at Fur Coat No Knickers a few weeks ago catching up on my vintage fashion/wedding industry-based gossip, when in breezed an excited girl who had just got married in one of their beautiful wedding dresses. Naomi had popped back in to show Laura & Emma some of her wedding photos and as soon as I heard the words 'wedding photos' I immediately jumped out from behind the dresses to have a nosy myself (Poor Naomi, I must have given her a heart attack...turns out she was a regular reader of this little wedding blog throughout her planning!) Anyway I loved the photos Naomi showed us on her phone, so when I received the submission from her photographer Sarah Lauren I was thrilled that I would be able to share them with you too!
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A Vintage Nautical Wedding: Liz & Tom

Kat

December 8, 2011

Liz & Tom injected a subtle nautical theme into their October wedding. "In our first few years as a couple I used to call Tom the one-armed fish man," Liz laughed. "Our venue was The Bull Hotel in Bridport, a harbour market town, and we both want a scrimshaw anchor tattoo (haven't done it yet but the plan is to have one for Christmas). So we flooded our wedding with vintage nautical touches and plenty of rum. Rock n Roll Bride was the only wedding blog that I read as I planned my wedding. It was from reading what other Rock n Roll Brides had done for their big day that we had the confidence to go our own way."
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A Rockabilly, Psychobilly Wedding: Claire & Lee

Kat

December 8, 2011

I love weddings like Claire & Lee's. Not just because the rockabilly theme is awesome, but because they put their heart and soul(s) into creating a wedding that reflects how they are in everyday life. "We’re both very much in to the whole rockabilly and psychobilly scenes and have been for quite some time, so it only seemed natural to extend this to our wedding day," Claire told me. "One thing we set out to do from the very beginning was to make our wedding day for us. It seems all too often that people try and tailor their wedding day around their family and other guests, where as for ourselves we tailored it around us and guests had to fit in; which they did wonderfully."
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A Psych-Folk-Horror Themed Wedding: Ali & Dan

Kat

December 7, 2011

Ali & Dan, who won free wedding photography with Laura Babb through a feature on this little wedding blog of mine, were married in November. With Dan being Scottish, they originally thought about having their wedding in the far North of the country (the area where he's from) but it turned out the logistics were impossible. However they luckily found their perfect venue in Folly Farm, Bristol. "We trawled around plenty of places with the help of the internet, and even booked another venue at one point - but when we found Folly Farm we knew it was the right spot," Ali told me. "We completely lucked out with the weather on the day, it was hard to believe it was November – but as we fell for Folly Farm’s vantage point and woodland walks on a dreich February morning, we knew it would be beautiful no matter what. We will shortly be leaving the UK to spend a few years working in Philadelphia, so the wedding also gave us a chance to say goodbye to our closest friends and family."
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A Rustic-Glam French Wedding: Daniel & Caroline

Kat

December 7, 2011

Daniel & Caroline were married in Chateau Puits es Pratx in Ginestas, in the south-west of France. The gorgeous surroundings provided the perfect backdrop to their rustic wedding. "The Chateau is only a few miles from Dan's dad's house in a nearby town, so it is an area of France we have visited often and know well," the bride told me. "We knew from the off that we wanted our friends to help us celebrate our wedding in this beautiful place and the Chateau fitted our requirements perfectly - cottages on site, and a self-contained venue for a long weekend of fun! We wanted the weekend to feel like a party in a stunning venue, with good company, great food and endless wine. Simple!"
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An Origami Wedding: Ceri & Terry

Kat

December 7, 2011

Ceri & Terry didn't really plan to have a theme for their November wedding, however once they started with the origami they found it hard to stop! Ceri told me all about their beautiful wedding, "When we first started planning the wedding, we were determined to do our best to be relaxed about the whole thing. We decided that, if we could find the right venue then even if everything else went wrong, we'd be ok - we could turn up in jeans and order pizza, if necessary, as long as we could get all our loved ones in the right place. After a couple of months of looking, we found it: Great Wilbraham Hall Barn. It was perfect - big enough for our guests, fairly isolated, licensed for weddings (we wanted everything in the same place), ideal for the winter months with lots of warmth and character, and within 30 minutes drive of Terry's grandparents."
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