Yearly Archives: 2013

How to Comment on Blogs to Boost Your Own Business

Chellise Michael Photography

December 31, 2013

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Across the board comments on blog posts are down. I’ve written about this before and why I don’t think this is a negative thing, but today I wanted to share a few thoughts on blog commenting etiquette and highlight some ways you can do it to help your own business.

There are still benefits of leaving comments on blogs. I personally believe that social media (especially Facebook) comments are of much more value, but if you are wanting to get on a blogger’s radar then commenting on their actual posts is a great way to do this. If you are posting informed and interesting comments you may also gain new followers for your own site because people can click through to find out more about you.

This must be done with caution though. If you are only leaving comments to try and boost your own traffic or help your website’s SEO, then it is usually pretty obvious and can really hurt your brand and reputation.

Here are a few things you must never do when leaving blog comments:

Spam

It kinda goes without saying right? Never ever ever leave blog comments for the sole purpose of attempting to drive traffic back to your own site. Most bloggers won’t approve them and if they’re stuffed with keywords or links they’ll get caught in their spam filters anyway. Don’t waste your time.

Post links to your own site

Unless a link is relevant to the discussion, don’t post it in the body of the comment! It looks super spammy. Instead put your URL in the field above the comment. Most people know how comments work and that if they want to see more from you they just click your name to go to your site.

It is usually pretty obvious if someone is only leaving a comment to try and get links back to their own site. Even if the comment is relevant to this discussion, it’s really irritating. A lot of bloggers will simply delete these comments (or edit them to take out the links) anyway. A big tell tale sign of someone doing this is when they also post under the name of their business rather than their real name.

Write anonymous hate

Again, this should really go without saying but if you’re posting anonymously (or using a fake name and email address) to write hateful or mean things those comments aren’t going to get approved! Disagreeing with something, in a polite way, is fine but don’t try and get into some kind of flame war for the sake of it. Always be constructive and respectful in your feedback. Remember, all comments can be tracked back to your own unique IP address (even if they are anonymous). Does what you’re saying reflect well on you and your business?

Post one or two word responses

If you haven’t got anything worthwhile to add then you probably shouldn’t bother! Yes, writing “good job!” or “cool!” might show the blogger that you enjoyed the article, but if that’s all you ever write it can start to be quite counter-productive. If you want to show your appreciation for a post but haven’t really got anything to add, why not tweet a link to the article instead (and @ the blogger in it so they can see)?

Reply to all your comments

Yes, this is in the ‘don’t’ pile! If you’re the post author you should definitely make the effort to reply to your comments, especially if someone asks you a question, but don’t feel like you have to reply to every single one. If you do it can look a little desperate and, honestly, not every single statement needs it’s own “Thanks so much!” response.

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Budget Friendly Winter Wedding: Abbie & Tristen

Dale Weeks Photography

December 31, 2013

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Abbie and Tristen were married at the iconic The George Hotel in Rye. They had a beautiful and alternative wedding, but one that didn’t break the bank. As the venue was so gorgeous already  that they didn’t need to spend a fortune decorating it, a few stings of bunting and some homemade paper flowers and place names was just enough.

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The majority of their budget went on their photographer but they even saved on that by only hiring him for 3 hours. Pretty much everything else was DIY or a bargain. In total they spent just £2000! “We originally weren’t planning on having a professional photographer but we are sooo glad we did!” began Abbie. “The feelings of the day are captured forever!”

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Retro and Geeky Brighton College Wedding: Eileen & James

Neil W Shaw Photography

December 30, 2013

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I was so excited to get Eileen’s email about her wedding because she wore the Gala bow from my collection with Crown and Glory at their reception! Doesn’t she rock it so well?! She and James were married at Brighton College and their wedding had a retro theme with geeky touches.

“We crammed so much of ourselves into the day”, began the bride. “We didn’t really set out to have a theme but people that came to the wedding said it was so ‘us’! We’re pretty geeky and love books and films. We nicknamed the venue Hogwarts so we made table confetti out of pages from Harry Potter books as well as vintage atlas pages. James proposed to me using a vintage map poster that he had marked out all the places in the world that we had visited so far and the places we’re going to go, and wrote across it, ‘Will You Marry Me?'”

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“Our table plan had couples from films that we both love and we gave the kids Harry Potter themed gifts. Our favours were little wildflower kits to save the bees, because I love bees (my mother in law knitted bees for the kids, too). We had DIY photo props, the top table had a crystal skull bottle used as a vase and I wore several glittery things including a dinosaur brooch and my Rock n Roll Bride for Crown and Glory hair bow!”

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Fancy Dress Mad Hatter’s Tea Party Wedding: Rob & Laura

Anna Pumer Photography

December 30, 2013

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When Rob and Laura told me they had a fancy dress Alice in Wonderland/ Mad Hatter’s tea Party wedding I thought “Wow that sounds cool, but I bet I’ve seen it all before…” Oh how wrong I was! Never in my life have I seen a wedding where everyone – the couple, the wedding party and the guests – threw themselves into it so much. These costumes are just off the hook awesome!

The wedding took place in September in a marquee on a field at Hodore Farm, East Sussex. It was decorated from top to bottom with balloon teapots and playing cards, oversized playing cards, papier-mâché mushrooms, giant paper flowers, giant paper clocks, blow-up flamingoes, blow-up bananas, giant bean bags and a black and white tiled dance floor!

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“We had our first (and actual) ceremony at Burning Man in Nevada – the theme for that one was Mad Max vs Barbarella,” began Rob. “Laura had never been before but knew how much the place meant to me, having been the previous four years, so we decided we should get married there! Oh, and it was blogged by Buzzfeed!”

“This was our second (unofficial) wedding two weeks later. It was proper fancy dress as we love to dress up. I was the white rabbit, Laura was Alice, and all the people to do with the service were allocated characters. Laura had nine bridesmaids (and made the hats for all of them), a flower girl and a little drummer boy. I had Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee as my best men, whilst Laura’s best men were the Walrus and Carpenter. Of course, some people went completely off piste and we ended up with all sorts turning up, including Santa himself.”

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Rustic and Anthropologie Inspired Wedding… with Zombies!: Anna & Tommy

Love Me Do Photography

December 29, 2013

Love Me Do Photography

Anna and Tommy wanted a wedding that was “rustic, homemade, and Anthropologie meets Urban Outfitters in style” but with some added bite… literally. Oh yes, to go alongside their cute little wedding ideas they threw in some zombies – and why not?!

“I was inspired by a combination of weddings scenes in movies such as Braveheart, and Little Women. I loved the type of wedding that took place in a secret place, or the home of a relative”, began the bride. “I also loved the idea of our friends and families standing around us in a very intimate setting. I think the main thing that made the wedding unique was that it is 100% about who we are as people. So, that is always going to be unique as no two couples are exactly alike.”

Love Me Do Photography

“I decided very early on that I was going to only adopt and support the ideas of a wedding that I truly believed in. I felt like once you started breaking the rules, it was liberating. When we decided that we wanted to have zombie wedding crashers, we didn’t even blink.. we just started plotting and planning. It just made total sense for who we are. What a juxtaposition! We just wanted everyone to have as much fun as possible. They were amazing, and really got the party started!”

Love Me Do Photography

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Nautical Wedding Inspiration

Julie Siddi

December 28, 2013

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Although Laetitia and Franck aren’t planning to get married, they wanted to do something special for their four year anniversary and so decided to stage a shoot with cake and dessert designer Lauren Delpech of French Made, London. Being born and raised in Marseille, where Laetitia and Franck live, Lauren decided it would be the perfect place for the session. They chose the region of Le Panier because of its winding, hilly streets and Les Goudes Calanques as the stunning beach backdrop.

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“A seaside themed photo shoot there may sound totally cliché, but with my team of fab suppliers, we worked with nautical symbols such as anchors, wheels, boats, sea shells”, wrote Lauren, “Laetitia and Franck are into tattooed and live an alternative life, so we included these influences too”.

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Don’t Quit Your Day Job

Corey Sleap

December 27, 2013

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The majority of the women we meet and teach at The Blogcademy are just starting their blogs or businesses and most of them simultaneously hold down a full or part time job. Most of them tell us that their ultimate goal is to quit these jobs so they can focus on working for themselves. While we encourage them to do that when they’re ready, we’re also keen to share with them the huge benefits of working a day job while pursuing their dreams.

You won’t be stressing about money

You’re never going to be at your most creative when you’re stressing about money. Having a day job that pays the bills and puts food on your table really takes that pressure off your baby business. Stressing about money is never fun, so I’d encourage you to hold onto that safety net for as long as you can!

When I got to the stage where I felt like I wanted to quit my job as a TV producer Gareth (ever the voice of reason) said that I should really wait until I was earning the same – or more! – from Rock n Roll Bride as I was my day job. At the time this seemed like a huge benchmark to aim for (I am forever impatient) but in retrospect I am so glad that I followed this advice. Far from stifling me, having a job that paid the bills allowed me the freedom of growing my business without the pressure of worrying about money.

It was also a lot easier for me to reinvest in the business with any (however small) profit I was making from it. Spending money on my branding for example was a massive game changer for me and really helped step up the appearance of being a ‘professional blogger’. If I was solely relying on what I was earning from the blog at that time I would have not only have gone very hungry, but the blog wouldn’t have been able to progress as quickly.

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It makes you a time management wizard

It’s amazing what you can achieve in a relatively short amount of time when you really focus! Let’s be honest, most of us ‘full timers’ probably spend half of our working days being productive and the rest of it on Facebook or watching endless cat videos on YouTube!

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DIY and Salvaged Wedding with the Ceremony in a Car Park: Savannah & Eliot

Brad & Jen

December 27, 2013

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Savannah & Eliot’s super cool, Nashville wedding was held at The Crying Wolf  bar. They were married outside in the car park, which ended up being a surprisingly beautiful setting, and the reception was inside. With the venue already being so awesome and decorated in such a quirky way, the couple didn’t need to add too much, but they included a few things they love like animal skulls and various pieces distressed wood from the bride’s mother’s farm. Savannah also designed and made all the stationery, the flowers were bought from a flower market and the cakes were made by friends. The venue did the food and drinks and they had a friend DJ the party.

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“About 99% of everything used to decorate the wedding came from an old abandoned farm house owned by my mother”, began the bride. “The stumps were cut from the cedar trees on the property. The doors used in the entrance way of the ceremony were off of the old farm house itself. The twigs above it were harvested off the farm (nothing was painted.) The walls of the alter were created using the walls of a barn from the property that were hinged together. The platform was made from wooden pallets covered in excess barn wood to look like decking. All of the cow bones were harvested from the farm. We built everything ourselves with the help of friends and family. Any item that was not salvaged, came from GoodWill or from our own home. We spent long hours constructing, hot gluing, arranging and salvaging every part of the wedding. If we could make it ourselves, we did.”

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Skulls, Tattoos and the 1950s Inspired Wedding: Tim & Holli

Ed Godden

December 26, 2013

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The idea behind Tim and Holli’s wedding was for it to reflect the things they love, so they opted for a vintage, tattoo and 1950s inspired day. They added personal touches by making the centrepieces themselves, Holli also made her own bouquet from 12 red roses.

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“We didn’t initially intend for a particular theme, it was a natural progression from our own ideas and lifestyle”, she wrote. “The tattoo parts to the wedding were inspired by Tim who is a tattoo artist. We wanted to keep the whole affair fun and very free, we just wanted everyone to have a good time.”

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Lunchtime Vintage Wedding in New Zealand: Emma & Rikki

Meredith Lord Photography

December 26, 2013

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Emma and Rikki had a lunchtime wedding. They were married at 10am and their reception kicked off right after. The ceremony was held at Eskdale War Memorial Church and their reception at The Old Church Restaurant and Bar in Napier, New Zealand. They day had a subtle vintage theme with the bride wearing a headpiece that had been her mother’s and little vintage touches throughout the reception décor.

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“I was really in love with the vintage and rustic wedding themes, but I didn’t want my wedding to be an exact replica of other bride’s day”, wrote Emma. “I wanted our wedding to still be beautiful but still have the charm and personality of our individual tastes. I think by making it a day event helped our wedding to be more relaxed. We never wanted an overly ‘styled’ celebration or looked like we had tried too hard to fit into a theme that was never really ‘us’. I tried to keep this ideal in mind when I had my consultations with my vendors.”

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Weddings of the Year, 2013

December 24, 2013

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Babb Photos

With 2013 drawing to a close and me about to take a couple of days away from the blog for Christmas (don’t worry, I’ll be back posting as usual on December 26th!) I thought it’d be a good time to round up some of my favourite weddings from the past twelve months.

I blogged a massive 296 real weddings this year (so far!) so if you really fancy killing some time over the festive period there will be plenty of stuff to distract you. I hope you all have an amazing Christmas and I’ll see you on the other side.

These are the 30 weddings that I got most excited about sharing this year. Click the photos to see the full features!

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Lisa Jane Photography

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Adam Lowe Photography

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Backyard Chilean Dance Party Wedding: Eleonora & Cristóbal

Mónica Muñoz

December 23, 2013

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If your main goal for your wedding is to have a wild party and dance until the sun comes up then I have the most amazing inspiration for you today! Eleonora and Cristóbal had their wedding at the bride’s parent’s home in Chile. They planned and made everything themselves including all the décor, the stationery and the flowers (which were picked from the roadside!) Both the bride and groom wore outfits from Zara.

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“We didn’t care at all about the traditional stuff”, began the bride. “Yes, I tossed my bouquet, and my wedding dress was white but that was pretty much it. I ended up wearing a pleather jacket and sneakers, we had sandwiches for lunch and people could sit wherever they wanted, even on picnic blankets.  The most Rock n Roll thing about it was the party: everybody danced like there was no tomorrow, and practically everyone there has said to us that it was the most fun they’d had in a long time!”

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Fairytale Wedding in the Berkshire Mountains: Megan & Josh

Zac Wolf

December 23, 2013

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When Megan and Josh discovered their beautiful fairytale venue, everything started to fall into place. The day was held at Santarella, affectionately known as the Tyringham Gingerbread House, in the Berkshire Mountains. The magical setting was the perfect backdrop for an alternative but fairytale inspired wedding celebration.

“In keeping theme with our venue, we wanted it to feel like you stepped into a fairytale” wrote the bride. “The venue itself is so beautiful we didn’t need a whole lot of decorating. However, we attempted to make anywhere we could look ethereal with the use of glowing lights, soft colors, and complimentary décor live ivy and terrariums.”

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“We used light as our main theme and we placed it anywhere we could – there were fairy lights in the rocks, gardens, hanging from trees, lanterns as gifts, lights in the terrariums, etc. Of course, we nonchalantly snuck in some fairytale aspects to represent varying princesses like random apples, clocks, seashells and animals too.”

“My favorite memory is our first look”, she continued. “I was a running a little behind with hair and make up so getting into my dress was extremely rushed. But as I was walking down the path to Josh, everything kind of slowed down. My favorite part is when he turned around, looked at me, and said ‘I missed you’. It had only been since the night before that we hadn’t seen each other but as people who have spent months apart from each other, even a few hours calls for an ‘I missed you’.”

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Handmade Pagan Wedding: Lucienne & Peter

Jenny Rutterford Photography

December 22, 2013

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Lucienne and Peter wanted a wedding day that perfectly reflected their own personal style. It was held on Fairoaks Farm in West Sussex and was a laid back day full of fun details. “We knew we wanted an outdoor wedding, so that shaped how the whole day felt and how we planned it”, began the bride. “We wanted it to be fun, colourful, relaxed, rustic, in tune with nature and handmade!”

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“We had a Pagan handfasting ritual ceremony which was very much in line with our surroundings and with the place itself. We wanted it to be more inclusive and welcoming than a regular church wedding so the ceremony itself involved our friends and they had parts to play within it. The four bridesmaids called the elemental corners and the groom’s sister carried incense to cleanse the sacred space. It was very much a new but welcoming experience for our guests. We also jumped a besom (broom) at the close of the ceremony, this is a tradition that signifies the couple leaping into their new life together. The photos from this part are breathtaking!”

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A ‘Big Kids’ Wedding at Pinewood Studios: Sally & Lisa

Amy B Photography

December 21, 2013

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Just after we got married in 2008 I found out that you could get married at Pinewood Studios. I’m not going to lie, I was a bit gutted to have not discovered this out sooner, what could be better for a movie nerd than getting hitched at a film studio?! Luckily for Sally and Lisa, they weren’t as slack on their research as I clearly was and they booked it for their wedding in September.

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“Our wedding theme was FUN!”, began newlywed Sally. “Lisa and I are often described as big kids, so we wanted a wedding to match our big kid personalities. We have been to a number of weddings that were a little boring and reserved, or they only livened up after a few vodkas. We wanted everyone to have a day of fun and laughter to celebrate our love. We dubbed our day ‘Carry On Shenanigans’, because the Carry On movies were filmed at Pinewood and Lisa used to love watching them. Shenanigans was the perfect word for the tomfoolery we had planned! We had an adult-only guest list to ensure the adults were the ones enjoying the fun and games!”

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How to Create Blog Content That Goes Viral

Betsey Johnson

December 20, 2013

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The holy grail for most bloggers is writing content that gets shared organically to the point of going viral. While many people before me have shared tips and tricks about making this happen such as stuffing an article with keywords, submitting it to various social platforms and content aggregators, and posting about it on forums, there really is just one thing you need to do – write content that resonates with people.

Easier said than done you might think, and you’d be right, but here are a few crucial questions you can ask yourself before you publish anything. Doing so will help you create something that your readers will want to share with others.

1. Who do you want to read it?

You need to know exactly who you’re writing your post for so you can use language and cover topics that will appeal to them. Your ideal reader is not everybody. If you’re in the wedding industry your ideal reader is not even ‘people getting married’. It is much more specific than that.

My ideal reader for Rock n Roll Bride is female and between the ages of 24 and 30. She’s planning an alternative, budget friendly wedding in the next 12 months. When it comes to formulating my content, I think about what this very specific person might like to read. There are always people on the fringes, of course, but by targeting this person precisely I am able to write in a much more cohesive way and easily second-guess what their reaction to it might be.

2. How can you help them?

Often it is the things that you think are really obvious that turn out to be the most popular. My Want Great Wedding Photographs? blog post is a great example of this.

Another of my posts that was widely shared was 50 Pieces of Advice for a Happy Marriage. I know my ideal reader is a girl planning a wedding, and so the likelihood is she’ll also be thinking about marriage too. What bride-to-be wouldn’t want to read 50 simple tips that she can easily implement to make sure her marriage is a happy one? This article was doubly successful because it also was an attractive read to those on the fringes that are already married.

3. What personal stories or insights can you share?

Putting your personal spin onto a story will create a much stronger message that one that’s just completely factual. If people enjoy reading your blog the likelihood is that they do so because they like your voice and want to hear your opinion.

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Etsy Christmas Gift Guide: Kitty Cats

December 20, 2013

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Cat temporary tattoo by Hello Harriet

If there’s one thing I love more than glitter, warmth and skulls its cats! I am an unapologetic, fully-fledged and card carrying crazy cat lady. Plain and simple. Any gift with a feline face on it and I’m as happy as happy can be.

Who’s with me?

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1. Cat portrait tote bag 2. Sterling silver and diamond kitten ring 3. I like cats tee-shirt 4. Cat earring and necklace set 5. Cat temporary tattoo 6. Flower and cat wallet 7. Blue kitty tights 8. Crazy cat lady necklace 9. Vintage cat teapot and sugar bowl

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Thursday Treats: It’s Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

December 19, 2013

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Anthropologie

This is it, the last Thursday Treats of 2013! I’ll be trying my hardest to take some time away from the internet between Christmas and New Year (who am I kidding?!) so I won’t be posting a Treats post next week. Let’s make this final one a complete blinder!

Who’s getting excited? I’ll tell you who is in our house – Gareth! We went to buy our tree last weekend and despite living in a very modest (read: tiny) two bedroom house, he insisted on buying the biggest tree in the shop, a 7 foot monster! It is practically bursting out of our living room but whatever makes him happy makes me happy. The cats are also enjoying their new playground..!

I’ve got most of my gift buying done now too (woohoo!) and I’m now taking on the role of expert Pinterest-scourer for canapé ideas. I’ve been tasked with making them (from scratch!) for Christmas day with my family. It may not be the most important role, but I’m throwing myself into it wholeheartedly. I am so making these and doing this!

Weddings & Weddingy Things

♥ Hip New York farm wedding
Sparkly urban garden wedding
Mountaintop wedding
♥ Obsessed with this bride’s princess dress
This green haired bride is so adorbs!
♥ Florida based wedding photographers, Rocker in Love, have just starting offering cinemagraphs in their wedding packages! How damn cool are these?!

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Photography: Rocker in Love

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Relaxed South African Farm Wedding: Ulrike & Dirk

Kikitography

December 19, 2013

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I’m not sure there is a wedding backdrop more beautiful than the plains of South Africa. And when Ulrike and Dirk started to plan their September wedding they knew that a farm backdrop was perfect for them. “We decided to have a farm theme seeing as our wedding was held at a farm”. began the bride. “I was infatuated with the idea of a barn wedding.”

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“We decided to make everything ourselves, and that nothing should be matching. We wanted our wedding to be very informal and mainly just see it as a fun party. People sat where they wanted and while some people ate, others were watching the band or playing Foosball.  We just included whatever we thought was pretty. It didn’t matter if it matched or not.”

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Rock Concert Dive Bar Wedding: Tom & Lindsey

Benj Haisch Photography

December 18, 2013

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What could be more Rock n Roll than a concert wedding at a dive bar? Nothing! And that’s why I’m thrilled to be sharing Tom & Lindsey’s wedding at The Shakedown in Bellingham, Washington with you today.

“Our inspiration for our wedding was our relationship itself”, began the bride. “We have always had a ton of friends, gone to shows together, and eaten amazing, bad-for-you food. I’d say probably the first thing we decided to do differently was have our wedding at a bar. We met in college, on what’s known as Thirsty Thursday in the university world which is why we chose to get married at a bar on a Thursday.  When we approached The Shakedown, I think they were surprised that we wanted to have our wedding there, but they were very cool and very excited to make it happen.”

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“Next, rather than send out a formal invitation, I built an entire website (QR code included) and then designed show posters in Photoshop that would become our wedding invitations. I attached the QR code at the bottom for our tech-savvy friends and then designed concert tickets to go with the flyers that would include details about the ceremony itself, which took place two and a half hours before the Big Party. To keep with the theme, I made backstage passes and event wristbands as well.”

“Other things that we thought were pretty different is that my husband is a very popular, charismatic guy, so he played MC for most of our wedding and party himself, getting the crowd laughing and joking around. He also performed that night. His band played a 45-minute set during the latter half of the Big Party.”

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