Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

Wedding

“Up” Inspired Beach Wedding (With Holga!)

Kat

June 30, 2010

I'm so excited about featuring Janet & Jim's destination beach wedding. It took place at the beginning of June and was a truly personal, whimsical and joyous affair. "It started out as your basic sandcastle fairytale theme" Janet told me. "However, we have a 2-year-old son, Parker, who adores Pixar films, and one of our family favorites is" Up." I walked down the "aisle" to the theme music "Carl Goes Up." For anyone who's ever seen the first 20 minutes of that movie you know that the true fairy tale is in the adventure a couple has as they grow old together."
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It’s Our Wedding, Let’s P.A.R.T.Y Hard!

Kat

June 29, 2010

Wow wow wow. Kelly & Sean sure knew how to rock a wedding! From an emotional ceremony, to a family-orientated reception to a crazy-fun party, the whole day looks like an utter blast! "The one thing that we dislike about weddings is how they are all alike" they told me. "We understand its tradition and that's how its supposed to be done, but why? why is there a set pattern? We wanted our wedding to be personal to us. We wanted to start our own traditions and do things unique to our style. The theme of our wedding was basically "Things We Love" and it ended up being the perfect reflection of us. We did whatever we wanted and nixed things we disliked. we strived to make it intimate and personal. Our wedding was hands down the best day of our lives, we had everything we loved, surrounded by everyone we love and made sure to marry the heck outta the one we loved!"
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Elegant & Modern with Rockabilly Charm

Kat

June 25, 2010

Erinn & Brandon's Nashville wedding was an elegant and modern affair with a touch of rockabilly and country charm. The couple chose Aerial as the location for their wedding. They had their ceremony and reception on the rooftop, overlooking the city - a perfectly modern backdrop. "We chose Aerial not just because it was rooftop, but because it was above all of the honky tonks that make Nashville what it is" the couple to me. "We wanted it to be elegant, with a glimmer of rockabilly and country in the background. The glow of the city lights and neon from below was perfect!"
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Bunting, Cupcakes & Chickens – An English Village Fete Wedding

Kat

June 24, 2010

OK so I feature a lot of weddings photographed by Emma Case...but the thing is, all her weddings and all her couples are so RAD that as soon as I see the photographs I'm like "Emma Emma Emma send these to meeeee!" You get me right? The event I got so excited about this week was Kelly & John's wedding. Their inspiration came from the traditional English village fete, "where Nan brings an apple pie and auntie Brenda brings the coleslaw" Kelly explained. I love that!! The couple wanted a laid back, casual, relaxed and informal wedding which they pulled off on a budget. "We had two things in mind when we planned our wedding" Kelly told me. "We would not spend silly money and we would do it our way. We wanted a relaxed, informal ‘village fete’ wedding with no formalities and in general, a big knees up! Practically everything was done on a budget but I think it makes you more creative anyway! I think having a wedding with a difference in England is hard work – finding the right people to work with and in particular, sticking to your guns, but it really is soooo worth it. Our wedding couldn’t have been ‘more us’ and it went beyond both our expectations – and the comments we’ve had about the day have been very touching. I just wish we could do it all again!"
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Fabulous 50’s & Multi-Coloured Tulle

Kat

June 22, 2010

As soon as a saw Catherine & Kev's fabulous 50's style wedding, my attention was drawn to one thing - that amazing Stephanie James Couture dress! I have been a superfan of the designer ever since I found and fell in love with this amazing multi-coloured tulle creation and OMG Catherine's had a similar underskirt. She too fell in love with this dress when I featured in a while ago. "My maid of honour, Kirree, found a dress on Rock n Roll Bride made by Stephanie James Couture" Catherine explained. "It was the 'Lustful' or 'Tame Fifi' dress you featured a while back, as soon as she sent me a link to the pictures I knew that was the dress I needed to get married in! I quickly got in touch with Stephanie and asked if she could make me a similar version and she said yes!"
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A Non-Vanilla, Love-Filled, 1950’s Delight

Kat

June 21, 2010

An excitable email from a newly married reader always brightens my day and LeeAnn's may have been one of the most excitable I've received in a while! I just had to share the story behind her and husband David's gorgeous 1950's influenced wedding with you today. "After gorging my eyes on a ga-jillion bridal mags and internet images, I felt I was living a white-out groundhog day" LeeAnn began. "I quickly became downhearted about organising my own BIG DAY, the no-fun casting my eye over "traditional" gowns (this one? no, that one? no, repeat), the vanilla-ness of invites, pink-and-white themes to the power of 42,000! Where did the love go?"
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Quirky English Summer Festival Wedding

Kat

June 19, 2010

This quirky, laid back British wedding with a cool festival vibe was sent over to be last week and you guessed it, I couldn't wait to feature it. Rachel & Dan really did it their own way and I love the idea of a chilled out party in a tent to celebrate a wedding. The couple were officially married at a registry office but has an 'unoffical' church blessing at St Peter's Church, Weston, Suffolk. They didn't make a big deal about the registry office part as they didn't want this to feel like their actual wedding - in fact Rachel was still at work half an hour before their appointment! The reception was held at Marsh Farm which was just a holiday property when they found it. However since the couple got married there and Rachel published an article in The Guardian newspaper about the wedding, the owner decided to change it to a wedding venue.
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City Hall & The Seaport

Kat

June 17, 2010

Courtney & Jon got married at New York's City Hall in February with just their baby with them. Afterwards they headed to The Red Lion in Greenwich Village for a few drinks and some photographs. However this month they decided to have a big reception at Bridgewaters by the South Street Seaport to celebrate with all their friends and family. Courtney looks incredible in her modern ruffled dress - in fact so much so that someone stopped them in the street and asked if they were models or if they were actually getting married! The reception looks like it was a lot of fun - fake glasses, moustaches and lips never get tired!
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Music, Poetry, Green Balloons & Love

Kat

June 16, 2010

I always wonder, when a photographer gets married, how the hell do they decide who to shoot their own wedding? Well Laura & Dave of Blissed Photo had just this conundrum when they got married recently, but chose the amazing One Love Photo as they knew Heather & Jon would capture it perfectly. Being surrounded by all things wedding in their day to day lives, the couple had seen loads of brilliant ideas (and knew some to avoid!) in their own planning. However they still knew what was important to them, music and poetry, and wanted to make sure this was brought into their day. "Dave plays sax in a few bands, so a trio of his best friends played during cocktail hour, and we hired an amazing funk band, Emerald City Throwdown, that had everybody dancing" Laura told me. " We also wanted everyone to mingle, so we skipped the seating assignment and also had couches (from Bella Rugosa) to make the vibe more casual and open. I'm not really a poet, but I LOVE spoken word poetry, so I asked my 3 favorite poets if they would read at our reception. Everyone went nuts because these poets are some of the best in the world (truly- they constantly travel and compete internationally). I surprised Dave with a poem I wrote, and then he surprised me by having a good friend of his perform a new Pearl Jam song, Just Breathe, for our first dance. "
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A Laid Back Brighton Beach Wedding

Kat

June 15, 2010

Becky & Jon wanted to have a laid back wedding with all their closest friends and family at one of their favourite posh restaurants in Brighton, The Ginger Pig. Originally Becky didn't even want to wear a wedding dress but after falling in love with this gorgeous David Fielden number, she soon changed her mind. It even disguised her baby bump pretty well! She paired this with some vintage shoes that had belonged to her Mother. The ceremony was held at Brighton Town Hall which was followed by some quick portraits on the beach - complete with the iconic Brighton beach huts and champagne in plastic glasses!
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Retro Rockabilly & Heart Shaped Sunglasses

Kat

June 15, 2010

I've got yet another bit of retro rockabilly lovin' for you today, in the form of Nick & Jamie's Santa Barbara wedding. The ceremony and reception took place at The Rockwood Womens Club which proved to be the perfect backdrop to their day. Jamie looked stunning in her Maya dress by Michelle Roth, but it had a bit of a story behind it! ""Ohhhhh the dress....it was almost a nightmare! It was a Michelle Roth "Maya" that I bought used on Oncewed. I took it to a local alterations lady who cut it too short and messed up the top! Luckily I have a dear friend in the fashion industry, Denice Dir who saved the day by not only adding the black tulle underneath, sewing in a petticoat and took 45 minutes to carefully seam rip the top and fix what the other lady had messed up. She even made my dog's collar piece out of my dress trimmings and surprised me on the day of my wedding with the special stitching she did inside!"
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Tamanna & Tanveer’s Muslim Wedding Celebration

Kat

June 15, 2010

You don't see enough Asian weddings in blog land which surprises me really as they are so colourful and full of love that one would think they were perfect blogging material. Luckily for me, photographer Tapas Maiti, who specialises in these weddings, send me this gorgeous Muslim wedding last week. I have a couple of Indian friends and I am always intrigued to hear about their epic wedding celebrations and how different they are to the western wedding. They are all about colour, family and fun!
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“You and Me are Awesome” – A Kick Ass Independent Elopement

Kat

June 14, 2010

I loved Matt & Brandy as soon as I read their email to me last week. "We are f***ingrock n' roll because we had the balls to call off a wedding. We originally got engaged in April 2009 and shortly thereafter set the date for April2010. We wanted a simple affair which of course spiraled out of control. It became about every one else. We lost sight of what the day meant to us as a couple. The guest list kept getting longer...which meant more money...and more problems. In November it hit us...wtf are we doing???? We ended up calling off the wedding...and calling off our engagement. We became a bit disenchanted by the whole wedding planning and wondered if it was something we ever
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Ted & Tamara’s Budget-Conscious ‘Tree of Life’ Wedding

Kat

June 11, 2010

There ain't no one that 'did it their own way' as much as Ted & Tamara. "Our budget 'tree of life' themed day was filled with love" they began their email to me last week. "With a limited budget, I set out to make our special for us with simple tree stumps found along the Mississippi River. Our bridal party wore simple summer-loving attire that are so 're-usable'. My J Crew dream dress was found on ebay for $80. Orchids sang, yellow petals danced, willow branches waved all around us. Pure bliss." The couple only spend $2000 on their perfect wedding day. "When I started dreaming up my wedding," Tamara continued "we were going to be starting a new life together. I always think of trees as representing life and when Ted found the perfect pieces of driftwood from the Mississippi River for us to use we knew that was what sort of wedding we wanted. We wanted a ceremony to be sweet, meaningful with a fun casual atmosphere."
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Purple, Green & Everything in Between – Stunning Australian Wedding

Kat

June 8, 2010

OK so this was the Australian wedding that I'd planned on posting yesterday but me being a bit pink (as apposed to blond) I forgot about the crazy time difference between here and Oz so when I was emailing the photographers to get the info I needed, unsurprisingly they weren't replying because it was like 3 in the morning or something. Aaaanyway it matters not because NOW my babies I am able to share this fan-bloody-tastic wedding with you...and I'm so pumped to hear what you think. I literally wet myself with excitement when I saw Madeline's purple and green dress! Madeline & Nic decided very early on that they didn't want a traditional wedding - the bride's two sisters had both done the white wedding thing and although their days were beautiful and perfect for them, it wasn't quite right for this couple. "We are non-traditionalists (hence no white/ no flowers/ no favours/ no wedding cake/ no sit-down dinner) and we wanted a wedding that reflected our personalities and relationship. Bit crazy, lots of fun, different and unique" the pair told me.
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Incredible Victorian Steampunk, Corset Heavy & Generally Awesome Diy Wedding Day…with Masks!

Kat

June 7, 2010

Unfortunately I haven't been able to get the Australian wedding together on time to take us over to Oz for our final wedding of the day today (I want to make sur that when I put it up it will be perfect and have all the info you might want on the event so pweease forgive me!??)...however I have managed to secure a pretty damn shaaaweeet Steampunk wedding which took place in San Francisco to round today off nicely. I'm sure you won't be disappointed with this babyin fact I am so in love with this wedding that I appear to have titled this post will the longest, most over-excited, rambling header ever! Violet & Eric are certainly going to being some much needed spice to Rock n Roll Bride today. I had an amazing chat with the super creative bride (who also makes her own Steampunk inspired jewellery - you can see some of her designs here) where she told me all about their wedding.
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Fabulous Chicago Town, Quirky & Creative Wedding Fest!

Kat

June 7, 2010

Stop number two on our whirlwind tour takes us to the windy city - aka Chicago. I have always been a massive fan of photographer Jeremy Lawson so when I saw this latest wedding, in the same antique/salvage shop that we all fell in love with from his last wedding that I blogged, I couldn't wait to get him on board for another feature! Denise & Mark are both self-confessed quirky and creative types - she is an art director for a music and diy magazine and he runs his very own 'nerd blog' Wolf Gnards - so of course their wedding was going to be a super special one. "When it came to the wedding we wanted to create a fun, unique experience for our friends and family" the couple told me. "Our venue was an architectural salvage / loft space which ended up being the inspiration for the whole event-- everything from my dress to the centerpieces took on that unique, vintage, diy feel...Expect for the cake-- that was straight from the future! But it definitely was a crowd pleaser."
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