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."

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!"

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!)

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."

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!"

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."

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.

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.

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!"

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?

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."

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.

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."

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!"

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."

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."

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."

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."

Yoshi, Final Fantasy & A Bride with Green Hair: Esther & Andy

Kat

December 14, 2011

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."