Credit: Via Ink it Up

I’ve said this over and over on Twitter, Facebook etc but I literally can’t get over how awesome the response has been to our Paris photo shoot. I am so chuffed that you all loved it…and we only did it for you lot. Blown away I am! Also a huge thanks must go to Annabel over at the Love my Dress blog for running a feature on the shoot – for some brand new and exclusive images be sure to head over and check out her post.

Also, thanks to everyone who entered to win a copy of the V3 issue of the beautiful Southern Weddings Magazine (featuring yours truly!) and I am pleased to announced that the randomly selected winner is…

Congratulations Lucy! Please email me your full name and shipping address and I’ll send the mag out to you asap.

Right…on with the treats. YUM!

♥ Reno, Nevada Handmade Wedding
♥ Christina + Paul’s Rainy Romantic Wedding
♥ Gorgeous dresses from Reem Acra
♥ Blogger Accountability 101
♥ This could be big
♥ Elopement: Danielle + Gregor
♥ Nadia and James – vintage swooning
♥ Follow your heart
♥ Whimsical Colorado Wedding 
♥ Pink paper dress! Amanda & Peter………Anniversary Session

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In the words of the lady herself, I am so titstastically excited to share Britt & Mike’s wedding with you today. I have literally been on the edge of my seat since July in eager anticipation of seeing their wedding photographs. Most of you will already know Britt, the kick ass, controversial and Rock n Roll heavy-weight behind the the Bowie Bride blog. Words really can’t express how awesome this chick is and how much I totally adore her and her killer blog.

As you can well imagine I nearly fell on the floor with excitement when Britt asked if I’d like to be the blog to share her wedding. Like she even had to ask!?

The couple were married at BOXeight Studios, a photography studio in downtown Los Angeles…and their got the subway there. Hell yes! No unnecessarily expensive wedding transport for these two! They were adamant that their wedding would be a reflection of them and would be filled with everything they love. Britt explained, “There was no way my husband and I were going to plan a one-day celebration for 365 days straight and spend 12.5K just to throw a wedding that didn’t exude “us.”  We wanted an urban/gritty/downtown/loft vibe. Something our guests could take the subway to. Something that promoted hardcore loving and hardcore boozing.”

“We wanted to showcase food that was unique to LA, so we chose Korean/Mexican fusion tacos that were served off a truck. (LA is famous for their food trucks).  Overall, we focused on traditions that made sense to us as a couple, and ignored the traditions that didn’t.  So once we got over the whole, “Do we really need to include this expensive and/or dated tradition that we could honestly care less about” aspect of it all, planning a wedding that exuded “us” became pretty easy. We reused a ton of materials for the DIY decor — most of which we found buried in our closets, or in our recycling bins… Like CD cases, corks, sheet music, bottles, vases, buttons, etc. You name it, we probably tried to reuse it for our wedding decor.”

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When it comes to looking for your perfect wedding dress, a lot of Rock n Roll Brides are now heading online to see if they can get their dream gown at a fraction of the price. My worry with this has always been that you might end up with a substandard ‘knock off’ dress that isn’t of the quality that you deserve for your big day. You know what they say, “pay cheap, pay twice…”

However I’m excited to say that I’ve found an exception to this rule! I was contacted by AriaDress a few weeks ago and I have not only been blown away but the quality of work and design that goes into every one of their bespoke gowns, but at prices significantly less than you’d expect! Can you believe you can get a dress as gorgeous as these for under $500!?

I got chatting to designer Tak Hau last week about his passion, his inspiration and his love of creating simply stunning gowns for brides and bridesmaids. I hope you enjoy reading all about it. He really is a wonderfully talented man and I’m so thrilled to be showcasing his brand new Spring 2011 collection on Rock n Roll Bride.

Who are you and what do you do?
I am Tak Hau, the designer and creative director of AriaDress, a company I started nine years ago to bring style and sophistication where it was really needed – in the bridesmaid dress category. Now, we also do wedding gowns. I started out designing cocktail dresses in the 1980s, under my own label and others, which were sold in boutiques and the top department stores in the USA.

What made you want to get into Bridal fashion?
Being a designer in the dress business for a long time, I began to think of a category that I could build into a new and viable business. I started to be more aware of bridal fashions, and noticed there was a lack of modern bridesmaid dresses that were affordable, or that didn’t look like the truly awful bridesmaid dress Melanie Griffith wore in the film, Working Girl. Remember that, with all the powder blue chiffon? It didn’t seem much had progressed since then.

Before I started AriaDress, you either had to pay a lot of money for bridesmaid dresses or they were that ugly! So I discovered this niche that needed modern, affordable, high quality dresses – there were none 10 years ago – and we took off almost as soon as we were on the web.

Someone who is asked to be a bridesmaid can dread the experience because of the dress. I decided to make AriaDress as close-to-custom as possible, so each bridesmaid could choose what fits her best and the dresses could be made all in one color. It’s really very easy to switch a bodice with a skirt, for all different sizes, and make a bridesmaid feel really great to appear in the dress.

That was my goal. We just introduced wedding gowns this year, for Spring 2010, and use the same concept of allowing our brides to choose any neckline to go with any skirt silhouette, using the same designs from the bridesmaid’s collection. In pure silk, fully lined, with the quality of made in the USA construction, a bride with more style than cash can have a really pretty gown for under $500 – and use the thousands of dollars that seem be the cost of a one-day wedding gown, towards a house, or a honeymoon, or sometimes, a baby.

I’m happy to make that possible!

What are your influences?
Audrey Hepburn is my muse – she’s a classic. I’ve never seen her in an outfit that looks bad or silly at any point in time. You can see her in the 70s, the 80s and she always looks right.

That’s what dresses from AriaDress are all about. I want my dresses to never look silly at any point in time.

I get a lot of ideas from watching old movies. Movies from the ‘20s and ‘30s give me many ideas, and put me in a world where I start conceptualizing a design. I was watching a movie about a woman that was a showgirl, and had this beautiful dress with a fishtail mermaid skirt, all ruffley, very girly and pretty. And it gave me the whole idea for my new designs for Spring.

Our dresses have been very structural, very linear – which was necessary to tone down the overdone styling in these kinds of dresses. But that movie, and the times, made me think of doing something more organic and more flowing for next season, Spring 2011.

For us, it’s new. I’m softening up the look to be more feminine, girly, and body conscious. I love using a single ruffle, never overdoing it, to jazz up the dress, and I’ve brought in a Short Trumpet skirt, which is very flirtatious and works beautifully at knee-length, or even a little longer.

Color, of course, is a big influence. I’m drawn to purples and blues, greens, and the cooler shades this season.

Whose work do you really admire?
Donna Karan. I like her aesthetics and point of view. She’s very modern. Her clothes are never trendy. I don’t like trendy things. She’s a true artist and her clothes reflect that – every piece of clothing she makes is a piece of art.

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A few weeks ago myself and the lovely Rock n Roll Bride intern, Alice, headed to The Designer Wedding show. I asked her if she’d like to write the report for me as I felt that her opinion on the show (as a bride-to-be) would be much more interesting for you..especially those of you who might be a little afraid of the whole ‘bridal show experience.

I’m not going to lie, the big shows can be hella scary – but this smaller and more intimate wedding show is actually very pleasant- there are no scary brides running around with clipboards (give me strength!) or manic and desperate suppliers trying to shove leaflets in your face. Think champagne reception, clean white stalls and super friendly and creative wedding suppliers.

Alice wrote about some of her favourites. Photos by us both (although we were a bit rubbish and didn’t take nearly enough…we were having too much fun to work!)

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So when Mrs Rock n Roll Bride asked me if I was going to the Designer Wedding Show, I was forced to face my biggest wedding fear; the bridal show.  To make matters even more complicated this was no ordinary bridal show-this was the designer version.  Sloany girls with their pushy mums immediately jumped into my head, along with the worry of disapproving looks from snobby vendors as a scruffy tattooed bride to be stopped by to have a look.  Needless to say, I was doubtful that I would fit in, and that in turn there would be nothing there to tempt to (or within my price range!)  However I bit the bullet and told Kat I’d be there.  I bought my ticket online, and booked the day off work.  The countdown was on until D-day; Designer Wedding madness day!

The day started smoothly with the complimentary shuttle bus picking me up from Sloane Street station.  I was pleasantly surprised by the other brides on the bus..aside from the odd exception decked out in their Joules finery, most of them seemed, well, normal. A very pleasant surprise!  The show was being held in Battersea Park, and so a quick journey across the river and we were there.  The first thing that hit me was the pleasant sound of an opera-singing pianist performing, well, I’m not quite sure what exactly what it was, but suffice to say it was along the lines of a jazzed-up Kaiser chiefs style number!  Ha, it was a brilliant start to the day!

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I loved Scott & Ashley’s wedding as soon as I saw it…and I loved it (and them!) even more once I got chatting to the bride and their photographer Jeremy Lawson about all the amazing little details of their day.

“Our inspiration came from our love of the vintage,” the bride began. “We listen to records at the house, shop for clothes at retro themed consignment stores, and stay glued to TCM. We sort of envisioned a party that looked like a party scene we saw years ago in the movie Mona Lisa Smile combined with the famous barefoot dancing scene from Big Fish in the town of Spectre. We wanted that easy, happy, homemade, and colorful party for our closest friends and family.”

Ashley wore two stunning dresses, the first a Goddess Gown by J Crew which she found for a steal on Ebay (seller paisleypetunia) and the second a GORGEOUS 1950’s vintage pink prom dress from landof100dresses on Etsy. Ashley chose the first dress for their first look and pre ceremony shoot as well and for dancing afterwards, “It was beautiful, simple, comfortable, and easy to dance in” she continued.

“We made the decision to see each other before the wedding to take pictures around our amazing city, but I still wanted the surprise element of the ceremony. My dress was a 1953 prom dress that came with the owner’s original filled out dance card from her senior prom. This dress made me giddy in a way I didn’t know was possible, as I’m almost strictly a jeans and T-Shirt kind of girl. My shoes were from Dillards, the jewellery served as my borrowed items from my sister (who wore them in her own wedding), and flower headband a combination of rosettes from Francesca’s and H&M.”

The couple got crafty and DIY’d their wedding completely. With a sister who runs a cake making business, it was a no -brainer to Ashley who would make their cakes, “I loved my cakes! I’m one of those lucky brides that has a sister with a cake business at home in Tennessee. She spent the week making six different flavored cakes, drove them up to Chicago, and finished the job in a tiny hotel kitchen the night before. She even made up a Tennessee Jack Daniels Chocolate Recipe to represent my home state and a Georgia Peach for Scott’s. She is amazing.”

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Brazilian born Juliana & Tiago met online and wed a year and a half later. They married at sunset in a small and intimate ceremony. The couple were keen to keep the day personal to them and not to succumb to the expectation of the large and lavish wedding that a customary in Brazil. “We got married in a small town, it was a mini wedding, during sunset, ” the bride told me. “We decided to not make everything big, like it’s usual here, and everything very romantic, but with a vintage touch. In the ceremony we played The Who, Beach Boys, Beatles and She & Him. The reception had the same spirit, a lot of songs to make everyone dance, from 60’s to 80’s.”

Juliana created all the flower arrangements herself from the bouquets to the centrepieces and her Aunt helped her create the flower arrangements for the place settings as well as the chocolate favours.

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A few months ago photographer David McNeil and I were sat in a Creperie in London. He turned to be and said, “Let’s do another photo shoot and let’s make it the best yet… Let’s go to Paris!” It’s hard to believe how far we’ve come since that first whimsical conversation and that we actually managed to pull it off – to hop over the channel and channel my inner Marie Antoinette!

Well, if I do say so myself, we not only pulled it off but we SMASHED it! I am actually so blown away by the whole experience (and the results) that I kind of don’t really know where to start..maybe the beginning would help?

The Photographers
Myself and David McNeil have been friends for years – before either of us got into this who wedding ‘thing’ so needless to say we know each other pretty well. I love the fact that we started our businesses around the same time and I often refer to him as my “wedding industry husband” (and a few people have actually thought he was my husband – however Gareth is a lot more beardy!) We’ve worked together on shoots before; he did Gareth and my engagement shoot, my (two!) bridal shoots (here & here) and my boudoir shoot, however this was our first with proper styling, hair & make up.

Working with David is a dream. He’s calm, he makes me comfortable and he’s so creative it’s unreal. In fact the first ever shoot we did together was my boudoir shoot which just goes to show how comfortable I am with him! David also asked our friend and Rock n Roll Bride favourite, Shell De Mar if she’s like to come along too. I think it took her all of about 3 seconds to agree after we told her we were going to Paris! Shell second shot with David and also shot some behind the scenes images and video – both of which will be featured on the blog next week.

The Stylist
With such an epic idea as a Marie Antoinette themed shoot in Paris, there was really only one lady I could ask to help is style it. Penny Merricks of Tigerlily Weddings is not only one of the most well connected planners I know but her vivacious personality and unique visual flair made her perfect for this project. She managed to get some amazing people to donate props for us to use and she pulled together an utterly incredible hair & make up team. She also persuaded Ian Stuart to lend us FOUR – yes FOUR – gowns to bring with us! Gift of the gab? Yes I think so!

I don’t quite know how she did it, but after she spoke to Mr Stuart himself (yes she spoke to him directly!) and told him of our plans, he immediately shipped four of his most extravagant dresses right out to us! I know. I still can’t believe it either. Amazing.

The Dresses
I am so pleased that we asked Penny to take creative control on the styling of this shoot because in all honestly I would never have chosen Ian Stuart as the dresses for the shoot if it was all up to me. Not only would I never dream that he’d agree to letting us borrow over £20,000 worth of stock to bring to Paris, but big dresses scare me a little…and these were BIG dresses! These were the kind of dresses that make an instant impact and yes, are ginormous and a little scary, but after getting my hair and make up done and rocking the look out of the streets of gay Parieee, they were, well…perfect. The lady was right!

All the gowns were from Ian Stuart’s brand new Revolution Rocks! range.

The Concept
The inital idea from David & I for this shoot was to do something really really different. That phase is thrown around a lot at the moment so we really did have to think outside the box, and even go out of our own comfort zone. DIY & quirky touches, tattoos, pink hair…are all very unique and Rock m Roll but we really wanted to make you all go WOW. We wanted to pull off a real statement of a shoot…something you’d literally never seen before and maybe wouldn’t even expect me to do.

Penny was able to bring this out of us, even more so than we envisaged ourselves. David & I may have said said “Paris, Marie Antoinette” but if we’d done everything ourselves I don’t think even we would have gone as far-out as we did.

I predict that over the next few years the trend of small and quirky DIY weddings might shift slightly towards couples wanting to create something a bit more opulent and ‘out-there’. I think that people will still be doing things on a budget and implementing DIY elements, but that the styling will become a lot more more glam, ostentatious and extravagant.  With this shoot we wanted to show you that more dramatic styles can still be pretty damn Rock n Roll and you don’t have to follow everybody else’s idea of what makes a Rock n Roll Bride to be fabulous!

Want a big dress instead of a short quirky number? Go for it!

Want mini wedding cakes instead of cupcakes? Do it!

Want to wear vintage pearls and a custom made crown? ROCK IT OUT!

…And what a way to showcase this idea that by channeling one of the most glamorous and opulent women in history, Marie Antoinette!?

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Oh yes! Hold on your your hats people because tomorrow, at 9am, I’ll be unleashing the final EPIC results of my latest and greatest photo shoot…in Paris baby, Paris!

You might want to prepare to be blown away…

Photography Credit: Shell de Mar Photography

I get loads of emails from you lot asking me advice on all manner of wedding planning related matters and while I’m easily able to reel off a long list of fantastic photographers I know or recommend some awesome dress companies, when it comes to wedding venues…well I’m as clueless as you are!

We had a massive drama with our wedding venue (they cancelled three months before our wedding day – but that’s a story for another time!) so needless to say finding the perfect venue for your Rock n Roll wedding is not my speciality! However luckily for me (and you!) I know someone who knows all about the very best and coolest venues in the country. I asked my good friend Mary Herrington of Forever & Ever Events if she’d be able to start up a feature for me, showcasing some of her favourite and most Rock n Roll wedding venues all over the country, First up London…

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I can’t tell you how cool I felt when Mrs. Rock n Roll herself approached me about guest blogging on the topic of Rock n Roll venues in London.  Seriously felt like I had gotten the official seal of cool approval.  My mind started racing through the mental rolodex, considering all the many amazing venues in my books, and I realized that I needed to stop and think about what makes something Rock n Roll. As you all know, a Rock n Roll Bride wedding can be punk rock, hip hop, down home, urban chic, tattooed, but at the same time, Rock n Roll Bride is also about beautiful weddings –every single featured wedding is full of jaw-dropping photography, romance, high style and just the pretty.  And that’s just it: what makes everybody stop and take note is the fact that every single one is different and unique.  So rather than assume that all of you want the same kind of venue that evokes rustic elements or architectural design or a space you can DIY, I knew the best way to approach this mammoth task was to think of unique qualities about each venue that stand out, that will get guests talking, that will be awesome for a rock band, or a jazz band, or a venue that will provide the outdoors indoors, or exude laid back cool, or that will give you a wicked setting rife with kick ass photo ops. It was clear I needed to give you a wide range in both style, size and economy, but all of which have something extra-ordinary.

Without further ado, here is a list of 10 wedding reception venues that should satisfy your different Rock n Roll sensibilities.

1.  Shoreditch Town Hall

You can’t get more Rock n Roll than Shoreditch.  Right off the bustle of Old Street, the Town Hall, while situated in the thick of uber hipsterdom, does not attempt to be trendy.  Far from it, the building’s interior harks back to Edwardian times, with gilt-edged walls, stained glass windows as well as an orchestral bay, all preserved in its historic state. However, staying true to Shoreditch’s alternative energy, the motto speaks quietly to the venue’s Rock n Roll spirit: “More Light, More Power”, a motto etched on its crest and in the stained glass windows (check out the photos of me in the venue below!).  The main Assembly Hall has its own elevated and built-in stage, perfect for your wedding band and holds 350 comfortably for a dinner and dance set-up, while, for smaller weddings, the Council Chamber downstairs can hold 80+ comfortably for dinner and dance.  Licensed for civil ceremonies, it is also entirely flexible – no on-site caterers or furniture, so you are free to bring in whatever and whoever you want.  Hire charges range from £3,000-4,000 + VAT.  And the most Rock n Roll of all: readers with any Forever & Ever wedding planning service will get a 10% discount on hiring Shoreditch Town Hall on bookings made prior to 1st February 2011.  For more details on this special offer, contact me directly at info@foreverandeverevents.com and make sure to refer to Rock n Roll Bride.

Shoreditch Town Hall, 380 Old Street, EC1V 9LT, 0207 739 6176.

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I’m afraid there’s no Photography Friday today and all the photography was done by other people this week! However not only do I know you’ll forgive me when you see this amazing wedding I’m putting in it it’s place, but you will also all be pleased to here that I’m going to be blogging the full Paris photo shoot on Monday!

Danielle & Ed’s wedding should certainly help you to get into that Marie Antoinette vibe. I knew I’d love their wedding as soon as I saw their engagement session (which I featured in July) With a penchant for crystals, skulls, fashion & shoes (!) this pair really couldn’t have anything but a ridiculously opulent and extravagant Rock n Roll wedding. Prepare you have your breath taken away…

Danielle wore four…yes FOUR different outfits (full list below!) – a different one for the ceremony, cocktails, dinner and dancing. A lot of the incredible decor and styling  was also a DIY effort from Danielle who owns Curtsy Bella, a boutique that sells all things sparkly. She made the crystal bouquets, the men’s steam punk-esque boutonnieres, the pom pom princesses tiara & bucket and the table signs. She also put together all the photo booth props.

The opulent and glamorous Marie Antoinette theme was a true reflection of the things the couple love in their daily lives.

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Julie & Chris got married on a hot and sunny rooftop in Philadelphia city centre. They handed their guests colourful parasols to keep them cool which they got from their local Chinatown. Following their intimate ceremony they hired out the second floor of their favourite restaurant Noble which they decorated with DIY flower arrangements, sweet treats and vintage style postcards.

The bride wore Dolce & Gabbana and the Groom looks dapper in DKNY. “In general, we wanted to keep the wedding simple and memorable,” Julie explained. “Great food, plentiful booze, and our closest friends there to bear witness.  We had thirty guests total.”

“We hired a fantastic guitar player to perform our favorite songs at the ceremony–I walked down the aisle to “I Summon You” by Spoon and afterward it was a great mix of White Stripes, Vampire Weekend, and Arcade Fire as we enjoyed a champagne toast.  We had our friend and brother-in-law Richard ordained to perform the ceremony–he was fantastic.  I decided against bridesmaids, but had my sisters read poems by Ogden Nash throughout the ceremony.  The groom’s father held our rings.” 

“The next morning, we attached our “Just Married” sign to our car and headed off to Lake Placid NY for a quick honeymoon.  We had a beautiful time.”

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Getting down n dirty at their allotment was the name of the game for Vonney, Tristan and Boo’s (the dog) pre-wedding shoot. A reflection of how they live their lives on a daily basis, photographer Caroline was keen to bring this realism into their session.

“When I first came up with the idea to include the pre-wedding shoot into my wedding package I knew that I didn’t want to offer my couples the standard posed pictures in front of yet another garage wall, holding a vintage camera etc,” Caroline explains. “I believe that we ‘normal’ people aren’t models. If we are told to do something, to stand in a way that we don’t usually stand it doesn’t look natural, does it?! And I also don’t think that this tells me much about the couple themselves and I came to the conclusion that I wanted my clients personalities to shine through in every pre-wedding shoot picture.”

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Photography Credit: David McNeil Photography

So this week has been a busy one. I went to Paris, I dressed up, I wore more pink hair extensions than I ever have in my life and paid taxi drivers in mini wedding cakes. We teased you with a live tweet from the shoot and I added to the anticipation by posting 3 highly secretive images yesterday. So today I thought I’d give you some more by including another exclusive image in this here Thursday Treats. You like? Full info on who and what I’m wearing/holding etc to come when I blog the full set of images (soon!)

I was also featured in the latest issue of Southern Weddings Magazine (full post here) and to celebrate I’d like to give away a copy of the magazine to one lucky reader. This magazine is GORGEOUS! To enter simply comment below saying why you think you deserve a copy. The winner will be picked at random and announced in next week’s edition of Thursday Treats.

I was also interviewed by Channel 4 for their website (you can check it out here) to tie in with the promotion for the new series Wedding House.

Phew! So needless to say I have been BUSY and I haven’t had a huge amount of time to scour the interwebs for the usual mammoth list of pretties. However I ain’t gonna leave you hanging – oh no, Thursday Treats is my favourite post of the week!

Enjoy!

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Oh I have yet another fabulous British wedding for you to le swoon over today. Joan & Tim’s English country garden theme was sure as hell given a Rock n Roll twist with the infusion of some seriously rad and personal touches. Not least of all, Joan’s incredible dress (actually a corset, skirt, bustle & train) from designer Jane Bourvis. It was all Vintage Couture. Jane was actually the designer behind Carrie Bradshaw’s famous ‘green seafoam ballerina dress’ that she wore in the final episode of Sex and the City (photo here) “Her shop is a wedding wonderland with vintage dresses and corsets dangling above you so you don’t know where to look at first,” Joan explained. “It was the first dress I tried on and within 5 minutes I knew that I wanted it.”

The bride made all the decorations, invites, place cards, table names, pom poms (from a Martha Stewart tutorial), and the seating plan by herself. ” We transformed the village hall, which was very much a black canvas, into a really beautiful room using the cream & caramel colour scheme which we got from my dress. We also carted around lots of picture frames, candelarbras and engagement congratulation cards from home to dot around the hall and make it more homely and personal to us. ”

They had tipi’s and campfires and everyone camped for 2 nights. They set up makeshift portable showers for everyone – complete with posh toiletries! In the toilets they put photos from the hen and stag (bachelor & bachelorette) parties!

“We both love music so we added this to the wedding with table names being famous duets. Our table place cards were our faces super imposed into duets and we had “Rockaoke” our band so that our guests could live the dream for a night and get up and belt out some tunes with a live band. All the music throughout the day was chosen really carefully by us….we had Irish music in the church for ceremony to go village old (robin hood) feel of church, we walked out to O’Carolan’s concerto which is an irish jig. The reception music was a mixture of reggae/brazilian beats etc – feel good holiday music and it did briefly coax the sun out for us!!Music during dinner was 40’s and 50’s feel good music which we knew parents and their friends and grandparents (who sadly are no longer with us) would love. The dancing playlist after the Rockaoke was a compilation of requests from our guests.”

Be sure to check out their fab music themed engagement session here too!

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EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!

Yes, that is how excited I am to share this. As most of you will know I headed over to gay Parieeee this week for the shoot to end all shoots, and BOY did it deliver. As you can probably see, the theme was punk rock Marie Antoinette and the props the stylist sourced were amazing. The dresses were super impressive (although I’ll be honest, I was a little afraid of them – they were BIG!) I got papped by more tourists than I’d like to count and was asked to appear in a French music video! I am a total Paris convert and will demand that Gareth takes me there again tout de suite!

I can’t wait to share the full shoot with you but to whet your apatite, here’s a couple of little sneak peeks – the first, a shot that we tweeted LIVE from Paris. David, the photographer was so excited when he looked in the back of his camera that he begged me to tweet just one. And the other two are a few little inklings for you to salivate over. Are you LOVING it?!

Full shoot (plus full list of all the amazing people involved AND behind the scenes shots & hopefully video) to come really soon – just you wait to see what a stir we caused at Sacré Cœur!

Photography Credit: David McNeil Photography

There are just some couples that you can only describe as utterly cute, and Lindsey & Noah are certainly that! They chose The Sons of Hermann Hall, a historical building in downtown Dallas, TX as their venue because it is one of their favourite places to go and see live music.

Lindsey wore an unusual and fabulous dress, designed and made by her Mother. For the ceremony, the dress was full-length but for the party, the some of the bottom tiers were removed to create this cute, short and sassy number (seriously, love this idea!) “I looked at the big bridal stores and couldn’t find anything that fit my personality,” Lindsey told me. “My Mom showed up at my house one day and revealed that she had been working on a dress for me that she was just making for fun. I tried desperately to think of ways to let her down easy, thinking that there was no way that I could get married in a dress my Mom made. However, I tried it on and I absolutely loved it. It had the ruffle, the charm and just the right fit.  She actually made the dress out of eyelet dust ruffles that she got in the home furnishing section of a department store! I can’t even put into words how special it was to walk down the aisle wearing a dress handmade with love just for me by my Mother. She instinctively knew exactly what I wanted for my wedding day. I was forced to wear flats because three days before the wedding I tripped on the sidewalk while going to get our marriage license and banged up both of my feet. I couldn’t cram my swollen feet into my cute yellow wedges I had planned to wear, but a pair of fabulous blue flats from Target saved the day.”

With Noah being a musician himself, and the fact that the couple got married in a music venue, obviously the entertainment was very important to them.  “One of our vows was to always remember the sound of our favorite records!” Lindsay continued. “Noah’s band, The Naptime Shake, got on stage and played a special wedding day song. Our friend, Glen Farris played an acoustic version of “Can’t Help Falling in Love”” as I walked down the aisle and also played “If I Needed You” during the ceremony. The Theater Fire played at the reception. 

One of my favourite parts of this awesome wedding though? Why, the kissing booth of course! What an adorable idea! With help from some friends, the couple made the booth themselves. “It was a great way to get to talk to our guests and lay a smooch on them at the same time. We used the “smooch money” for spending cash on our honeymoon. Several guests and my dad took turns manning the booth.”

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Rachel & Daniel got married at The Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, a modern building that gave their vintage styled wedding an unusual twist. The bride wore a gorgeous dress from Rock n Roll Bride favourite Fur Coat No Knickers. To keep things personal, they made their own cake (“It looked fine as long as it wasn’t in a strong light!” the bride laughed. “The ribbons were held in place by satay skewers – all we could find the night before we delivered it to the venue!”)

The day got off to a stressful start (to say the least!) when The Pope decided it would be a nice day to come and visit the UK (first visit since 1982 and the first *state* visit since Henry VIII!) so as you can imagine London was pretty much gridlocked! However apart from the meal being served a little late and a bit of a nightmare getting to the venue it all turned out perfectly in the end. “Daniel plus his best man, his girlfriend and Jo (our photographer) had to traipse across the west end, through an anti-Pope demo, while I had to trek across St James’s Park in my dress and shoes!” the bride recounted. “Unbelievably, we both got there in time for our ceremony, which was conducted to the sound of police helicopters overhead. The Pope’s visit itself made for quite a unique event – the venue were great and let us move our meal back by 30 minutes so we could all watch the Pope go past from the balconies. Daniel’s mum also managed to get interviewed by the News of the World newspaper who were keen to find out why she was all dressed up!”

Well that’s certainly a story to tell the Grandkids!

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I am a bit over excited that I got a mention in the newest issue of Southern Weddings Magazine. This publication is so utterly beautiful and in my opinion, features the very best real weddings and some of the coolest planning resources and ideas of all the print magazines out there, so I’m more than a little bit chuffed to be included in their ‘Top Blogs’ list.

Southern Weddings Magazine is available all across America and anyone on this side of the pond who wants a copy can order one online right here!

…and because I love this feature so much (and so many of my blog friends are listed too) I’ve included the full ‘Top Blogs’ feature for your viewing pleasure! (check it out after the ‘jump’)

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Photography Credit: Marianne Taylor Photography

I’ll see you all when I get back mid next week.

Au Revoir!

We all know that DIY and crafty weddings are BIG right now, so for this week’s ‘The List’ guest post I asked blogger and wedding stylist London Bride to come up with some of her favourite ideas to make your wedding crafting just that little bit more Rock n Roll. You will love!

The DIY/Crafty List

Getting crafty can be fun, but a girl needs the right tools, right?  Some staples that I think every diy bride might find more handy than her handiwork itself.

Bring back the excitement of receiving letters in snail mail format and send your save the dates out in traditional airmail envelopes or use them as place names with some pretty calligraphy and a little letter inside to each of your friends and family with a sweet story or memory.

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