Party First, Wedding Second: A Barber Shop Wedding That Broke Conventions

Katrina Young Photography

July 11, 2023

Loxy and Doiph’s wedding was a colourful celebration that prioritised fun above everything else. With a theme that emphasised the spirit of “party first, wedding second”, their aim was to create an unforgettable experience that reflected their personalities and was really fun for everyone involved.

One of the defining aspects of their wedding was their decision to discard traditions that didn’t resonate with them. They chose an unconventional venue (a barber shop) and the bride wore a sparkly prom dress rather than a bridal gown – and that was just for starters! Breaking away from the usual wedding schedule, they held their ceremony at 6pm, followed immediately by the reception.

“We threw out so many traditions that didn’t fit with us and tried our best to avoid things we don’t enjoy about weddings”, Loxy told us. “We don’t like that weddings can take all day, so we chose to have our ceremony at 6pm followed immediately by the party. We wanted to make sure our guests could enjoy their day then party with us!”

“Having been together for 14 years, it also felt silly to us to not to spend the day together. After all, its OUR wedding day. So, we spent the entire day together starting by having photos done which meant we felt pretty comfortable before going into the ceremony and the formalities of the occasion.”

“We also wore things that make us feel good. For me that was a sparkling, iridescent purple/ pink / blue dress WITH POCKETS and for him it meant not a tie or a suit and Nike Air Max trainers.”

Getting married in a barber shop meant they also avoided the tropes of a typical wedding venue. They had a pizza truck as their catering and signed their wedding certificate by leaning on a pinball machine! The bride also didn’t have bridesmaids, she had her brothers by her side as ‘bro-maids’.

Loxy and Doiph put great thought into the music selection, especially during the ceremony. “The groom arrived to Anchor by Birds of Tokyo and I arrived to Follow You by Bring me The Horizon”, Loxy said. “We then signed our paperwork to Adore You by Harry Styles and exited to Big Jet Plane by Alok and Mathieu Koss. We wanted to keep things light and fun. We had our friend’s mum Robyn as our celebrant which helped with our nerves. Doiph in particular hates public speaking so were much more at ease by having a family friend at the helm.”

Their reception was the main event for this pair and featured a photo booth, pool tables, giant Jenga, Connect 4 and pinball machines. The music, food and fully stocked bar from a converted airstream caravan added to the festive ambiance. One of their favourite moments ending their speeches with a celebratory shot of Baileys for everyone, instead of Champagne.

Their advice to future engaged couples is just to do what they did – discard traditions that don’t resonate and create a wedding that reflects your own personalities. “Fuck the traditions!” Loxy laughed. “Do you and only take the things you like about weddings for your day. Invite who you want, wear what makes you feel spectacular and anything that doesn’t make you say ‘Shit yeah!’ should go in the bin!”

Black and White Victoriana French Chateau Wedding

Celeye Photographies

September 28, 2018

Cristina and David’s wedding was epic and elegant yet dark and gothic, with two ceremonies, a marching band and a gorgeous venue.

The venue Cristina and David chose was the Domaine de Courson, a beautiful stately home in the village of Courson-Monteloup. Not only is it a stunning, impressive building with rolling greenery and lakes surrounding it, but it has sentimental value too: it’s also in the village where they live, had their first apartment together, and where they just bought a house!

Their theme was black and white, which they chose as they felt it would go well with the venue, but also with their guests. “We had a lot of tattooed, non conventional friends at the wedding,” Cristina says, “which was very funny because we spent the all day in the Domaine de Courson, which is a very fancy place, where they’re not used to having people like us!” Their Victoriana-inspired day was the perfect marriage of the two.

After the civil ceremony inside, Cristina and David led their guests – accompanied by a marching brass band – to their beautiful outdoor ceremony which was laid out on the grass in front of the stately home. “The outdoor ceremony was led by Mathieu, our friend,” Cristina continues. “It was very emotional and all our close friends and family had a chance to say a word – we cried a lot. The day of the wedding was actually the 56th year wedding anniversary of my grandparents marriage. They both where there and were so lovely and helpful!”

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Thursday Treats: Chocolate, Cologne and Ridiculous Nerves

October 30, 2014

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What have I been up to since we last spoke? Er, quite a lot actually! Last Thursday I was in Brighton visiting my friends at Choccywoccydoodah. They make the most epic wedding cakes and I was there to take part in their first ever Witches Kitchen class.

Upstairs in their brand new shop, nestled within the South Lanes, we got to decorate our own ChoccyWoccy creations. I opted for a white chocolate skull (I mean, how could I resist?) and it was surprisingly awesome fun! I went with my sister and we had the best time eating our body weight in sweets, getting our faces painted and drooling (not literally!) over the amazing cakes decorating the space.

The Witches Kitchen would make an AMAZING hen do idea, but you can also hire their Empire Room for two hours worth of ALL YOU CAN EAT chocolate. Oh baby! Just make sure you wear trousers with a forgiving waistband.

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There was no time to sit around devouring my creation though, because bright and early on Friday morning Gareth and I were up and heading towards Heathrow. We were off to Cologne where I had been invited to speak at Deutscher Hochzeitskongress, the first German Wedding Congress. I’m not gonna lie, I was BRICKING IT! Not only did I have to speak to an audience of 200, but an audience that spoke English as a second language. ARGH!

I had to do an opening key note speech and then a half hour presentation in the afternoon sharing blogging advice for wedding professionals. Although I was suuuper nervous beforehand, as soon as I got on stage I felt much more at ease. For me, the best thing an audience can do is smile back and nod along in agreement, and I was thrilled to see this happening as I spoke. They were such a great group of people and chatting and taking selfies with them afterwards was even more fun!

View More: http://hochzeitskongress.pass.us/ersterdeutscherhochzeitskongress

Hannah Witte

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Autumn Leaves

November 11, 2009

Oh yes, yet another autumn/fall/Halloween wedding for you lucky lucky people, but this one couldn’t be further away in style from the last. Darby & Eric got married at Heritage Park in Dana Point California on October 3rd 2009 and the reception followed at Darby’s Parents home nearby with just some of their closest friends and family. A super personal, uber stylish affair the couple really went all out to make it their own. I am absolutely loving the autumn leaf bouquets and subtle Halloween theming around the event – not OTT, not crazy, just them.

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Domestic Bliss

August 27, 2009

So I received a link to this amazing lifestyle style engagement session last week and I have been waiting with baited breath all week to share them with you! I love the concept. It’s like a day in the life of…series. It really reminds me of that Brangelina W Magazine shoot. It’s got a great 1950’s vibe to it all. Either way it’s flipping gorgeous and Sabina & Andres make for fantastic models.

Thanks to Molly & Matt for sharing this awesome set exclusively with us! 

 

Credit: Mathieu Photography

Backyard Swanky

July 27, 2009

You would be forgiven for thinking that backyard weddings are always small, budget affairs? Well not when the Bride’s parents own Portefleur estate! This surely made for a super swanky venue and wedding. Aaron proposed to Lauren with a song he wrote for her and even treated the guests to it at the reception..ahh love.

Thanks to Mathieu for sharing these with me

Credit: Mathieu Photography

Brand Spanking New

March 17, 2009

Remember these great weddings I featured a while back?  Well the Molly & Matt at Mathieu Photography have just send me a brand spanking new, just as fabulous, real wedding for me to share with you all – you lucky lucky readers!

Check out these amazing bridesmaid dressed – how gorgeous?!  I also love the guy’s buttonaires – It’s all about the little details like this that make Rock ‘n Roll Weddings so great!
Clicky right here for some more greatness

Credit: Mathieu Photography

Blair & Sean

February 22, 2009

Here’s another gorgeous wedding photographed by Mathieu Photography.  Blair and Sean’s wedding is just stunningly beautiful…so I’m going to let these images speak for themselves….

Edit: You must also check out their Trash The Dress shoot here..it rocks!

Credit: Mathieu Photography

Wedding Show Report + Mark & Jickie’s DIY Wedding

February 22, 2009

I’m am super tired from my busy weekend handing out flyers in the cold at the National Wedding Show this weekend.  I’d like to extend a very special thanks to all the lovely people I met, especially the guys who took the time to ask me questions about the site and gave me one of the many ‘Oh Wows’ I overheard when they took a look at the leaflet!  From what I saw, our leaflet did really seem to stand out from the crowd (exactly what I wanted!) and I even got someone who came up to me and asked if I was ‘The Rock ‘n Roll Bride Lady’!!  It really did make it all worthwhile.  I hope my new readers enjoy the site and good luck with the competition! (I have extended the Wedding Date to August 2010 by the way, as I figured a lot of people at the show may be planning for next year.)

Due to my busy weekend I have had no time to blog (how very unlike me, as I usually blog up to about 15 posts a day – I’m not kidding!) so I have a lot of gorgeous weddings to catch up on, starting with this fabulously stylish affair sent to me by the very lovely Molly and Matt from Mathieu Photography

Jickie and Mark, the Bride and Groom are clearly a very creative pair as they handled all the details from the gorgeous paper flowers to the hand painted sugar skulls (I love them!) themselves. Instead of a regular guest book they displayed a typewriter for all their guests to leave them notes of encouragement and lurrrve….Oh and one more bonus…the couple got engaged in London (woohoo)

Enjoy these amazing photographs!

Credit: Mathieu Photography