About

made u look rocknrollbride

Hey there cutie! I’m and I live in Reading (just outside of London, UK) with my husband Gareth and our two children Maine Coon cats Henry & Rachel.

I started Rock n Roll Bride in secret as Gareth & I were planning our wedding in 2007. After we were married in April 2008, I realised that I rather loved this wedding malarkey and didn’t want to quit the blog just yet. After much soul searching, I morphed it from my own wedding planning website to a place to collate and share the kind of weddings I loved but didn’t see properly represented in the mainstream wedding media – the offbeat, the alternative and the Rock n Roll.

After six years of hard graft mixed with a huge dose of complete obsession, the site now fully supports myself, Gareth and our two very hungry and rather large kitty cats.

OFFICIAL BIO

Topping ‘influential blogger’ lists throughout the UK and beyond, Rock n Roll Bride is the brainchild of ex-television producer Kat Williams. Launched in 2007 while Kat was planning her own wedding, it has quickly grown from ‘just another bride blog’ to one of the biggest in the world. After becoming jaded by the limited offerings of the UK wedding industry, Kat saw a niche for alternative wedding inspiration and ran with it! Kat now works on the site, and the ever growing Rock n Roll Bride brand, full-time alongside her ever-suffering husband Gareth. She is also editor-in chief of the Rock n Roll Bride print magazine.

As the first ever UK based wedding blog, Rock n Roll Bride has been featured in more magazines and newspapers than can be considered healthy. Wedding publications that have featured Rock n Roll Bride include every major wedding magazine in the UK (Wedding Magazine, Cosmopolitan Bride, You & Your Wedding, Perfect Wedding, Wedding Ideas, Unique Bride) as well as many smaller, regional and international wedding magazines (inc Southern Weddings Magazine (US), Irish Brides (Ireland), Confetti (Ireland), Eco Beautiful Weddings, Pink Weddings, Wed (Devon & Cornwall) Mariée (France), Your Wedding Day, Attire Bridal and Bridal Buyer). In other words… she gets around!

Non-wedding press includes major features in Marie Claire (UK, Australia & India), Cosmopolitan (twice!), Grazia, The British Journal of Photography, Easy Living, Sew, Company, Tattoo Revolution, Things & Ink, The Guardian, Snippets, Professional Photographer, F2, Glamour (online) The Daily Mail, The Sunday Times Style Magazine, the BBC News website and The Daily Express. Kat has also been interviewed live on BBC Radio Berkshire and the US breakfast show, The Morning Blend. Kat has written regular columns for Cosmopolitan, Photo Professional, Vintage Life, Wedding, Unique Bride and Perfect Wedding. 

Kat is a competent and enthusiastic public speaker, and is one of the headmistresses at The Blogcademy, a two-day blogging workshop co-founded alongside prolific US bloggers Gala Darling & Nubby Twiglet. Other speaking engagements have included the Unveiled Photography Conference hosted by The British Journal of Photography and sponsored by Hasselblad, The Photography Farm hosted by wedding photographer Lisa Devlin, Cosmopolitan Magazine’s Superbloggers Masterclass and the first ever UK workshop of world-renowned wedding photographer Jasmine Star. 

Rock n Roll Bride has won a multitude of industry awards, the highlight of them being the award for ‘Best Wedding Blog’ by Cosmopolitan Magazine in October 2011.

Kat believes in sparkle, silliness and the excitement of a new day. She is obsessed with her cats, photography (usually at the same time – yep she’s that girl on Instagram) and her permanently cotton candy-coloured bonce is almost always accessorised with ridiculous head wear.

pdx shoot (48)

Mission Statement

Rock n Roll Bride promotes individuality and general awesomeness within a cookie cutter, pastel and often puke-worthy wedding world. Don’t let the wedding industry define your day – let *you* define your day.

My aim with Rock n Roll Bride is to provide a little haven of kick ass weddingness. If you’ve ever picked up a bridal magazine and felt queasy, or trawled the internet and felt disheartened by what you didn’t find, well my friend you are in the right place! Rock n Roll Bride is all about the charm and unique nature of ordinary people’s extraordinary weddings. There is no ideal Rock n Roll Bride. What I love isn’t necessarily what floats your boat and what makes the weddings I feature so amazing is YOU!

I want to share a diverse variety of wedding inspiration and the only thing I ask is that each feature is a perfect representation of the couple and their individuality. Think tattooed punk brides next to eco hippy chic weddings and DIY extravaganzas placed side by side with elaborate Alice in Wonderland themed weddings and you’re half way there.

Being ‘Rock n Roll’ is not about being ‘cool’, being a rebel or even thinking of the most unique idea you can, it’s about planning a wedding that reflects you and your partner and declaring your love in your way. To be featured on this site, you don’t have to be cool, you don’t have to be ‘wacky’ or ‘offbeat’ or intentionally ‘quirky’, you just have to be you.

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FAQ

I’m looking for a wedding supplier based in (blank) for my wedding. Can you send me some recommendations?

The quickest and easiest way to find some awesome wedding suppliers for your own wedding is to browse the real weddings and company profiles on the site. Each real wedding has a ‘Supporting Cast’ section at the bottom which lists everyone involved in the event. Remember, most suppliers these days will travel or work via phone/ skype/ email so don’t feel like you can only look for people in your exact location.

I’m having a problem with (blank) while planning my wedding. Please help!

While I would love to reply to every distressed email I get from brides and grooms-to-be with wedding planning woes, I simply don’t have time. I’m only one little blogger after all! Please do email me though and I’ll try my very best to get back to you.

I want to start a blog. Can you give me some advice?

Blogging is amazing but it’s no easy ride. Also, as I’m sure you can imagine, its not really possible to give you any quick fix answers. The key to having a successful blog is having something different to say and a unique way to say it, consistency and dedication – none of which I’m able to give you I’m afraid!

However to get you started I’d suggest checking out the Green Room – which is an area of my blog where I write all about running your own business. I regularly write about bloggling related topics.

If you’re really serious about making it happen, I host a blogging and business workshop called The Blogcademy all over the world with two of my blogging BFFs Gala Darling and Shauna Haider. We cover topics like how to write great content, growing readership, making money, branding, photography, social media and so much more! If you’d like more info on this or want to check if we’re coming to a city near you then head over to our dedicated website.

Can you give my some help or advice with my business?

Again, the Green Room is for you! I’m always on the look out for topics to write about though so please feel free to email me your question and I may well turn it into a blog post in future.

Can I work for you?

I’m super flattered when someone reaches out wanting to work for me and I give everyone who does so much credit for having the intuition to do so. However right now I’m not on the look out for any outside help or to employ anybody, but be sure to keep your eye on my blog and social media, because if I ever do I’ll be shouting it from the rooftops.

Who designed your website?

My graphic designer is the one and only Shauna Haider of nubbytwiglet.com. She’s the bees knees. My husband Gareth is a coding and IT wizz and he makes it all work!

kat & gala (175)

Can you please promote my company or event via your blog or social media?

As you can probably imagine, I get a lot of these kinds of requests, and while I’m honoured to be invited to so many events and to have people wanting me to mention them on my site it’s just not physically possible for me to say yes to everybody. At the end of the day I don’t want to just become a walking billboard for the wedding industry so in order to keep it fair I choose to only promote my advertisers or events I am directly involved with.

How can I submit my wedding?

Follow the instructions on my submissions page - simple!

How can I become an advertiser?

Again, its easy! Check out the info on my advertising page and drop me an email with your company name, URL and let me know a little about yourself and your company.

How can I get featured in your print magazine?

I don’t take submissions just for the print magazine. However if you have a wedding or story that you’d like to share I’d love to hear from you. If it’s not right for the magazine it may still work for the blog.

I’d love to work with you on a project…

I love doing brand collaborations and I’d love to hear from you. Obviously I can’t accept everything but drop me an email and we can have a chat about it!

Who does your hair and what dye do you use?

The awesome Elbie Van Eeden does my hair (and make up for most shoots). She’s based in London but travels all over the country for weddings. I use Stargazer Baby Pink on my tresses for the most part but sometimes I like to mix it up with a couple of other shades of fuchsia. Crazy Colour also have some awesome (and vibrant!) colours.

To get your colour really bright and to make it last, leave the dye on for longer than the packet recommends. I usually leave mine on for a couple of hours which makes it super neon to start off with but then it lasts a lot longer. Another great tip is to occasionally mix some dye in with your conditioner when you wash your hair to give the colour a bit of a boost between dye jobs.

Who did your tattoos?

I’ve been a bit of a floozy when it come to my tattoos and I’ve had work done by a bunch of different artists. My sleeve was originally done by Mike Harris and while I loved it but there were always a few parts I wasn’t not completely happy with. I decided it needed a female touch so I booked in with Leah Moule to get some reworks done. Her work is amazing and I am now SO THRILLED with how it looks – finally! My smaller tattoos were mostly done by Ian at No Limits in Reading although I think he now works at Reading Ink… The stars on my left shoulder were done at a studio in Canterbury (I forget the name or artist). My best friend and I got matching ones to commemorate finishing university – awww. The angel on my back was done by some dude at a random studio in Camden. Although the less said about that the better…

pdx shoot (92)

Comment Etiquette

I will edit any comments by deleting links that are solely placed to benefit the commenter’s own website and not the discussion of the blog post.

Swearing is not encouraged and comments may be edited to remove profanity.

I reserve the right to delete or edit any rude, hurtful or defamatory comments. I will not tolerate bullying or bitchiness on my blog. Comments that I feel are vicious or are a direct attack at someone featured here are not permitted. No question.

This is my house. You are all more than welcome to come in and join in the party, just play by the rules.

217 comments

  1. Valerie Ronnie

    Hi

    Love this site Vintage rock and Roll is not only the 50′s but vintage clasic rock from the early seventies is my favourite bands like Iron Claw underground and real this wedding ides is brilliant good luck with the site……………………….Rock On

  2. rebecca

    AAAAAHHHHH! I am in bridesmaid dress hell right now and desperately need help. If I see one more satin boring dress I am going to scream.
    I am looking for some alternatives if anyone can help I would be grateful! Black and teal or black feathers would be good but to be honest at this point (4 months to go) anything that goes with my black cherry MMK Sophies rose dress!

  3. Paula

    I just want to say I love love love your blog!! I am so sick of looking at article after article of the same crap done in different colors at every wedding ever. As a bride looking to make a splash at her wedding and have it be anything but normal, I was SO grateful to find this site and some truly inspired wedding ideas. My kudos to all the brides on here for sharing their awesomeness! And to you Kat for finally bringing out what so many of us need for our wedding!

  4. RayM

    Just want to say, well, a very big thank you. Finally some inspiration in a sea of pastels, against a swell of wedding industry people who just can’t understand that some couples want to do things differently. Bravo. If our plans work out, we’ll be sending you some photos for sure…!

  5. Kat,
    Loving your non-traditional take! There is room for everyone in the world of love. So glad you are out there providing a resource and voice for the rock and roll bride! You have a great blog! Keep up the great work.

  9. Rickee Mahoney

    Finally, after returning to the “wedding photo” industry after being absent for 20 years I made the choice to join forces with a former student of mine and we agreed that we would do our very best to only photograph events that held true to the client’s real personality, hopefully, that which mirrored our own. We went searching for websites to advertise on or to link to our own blog/business. When we found your site we were over the moon, then saw that you were in the UK. After we cried a little, we thought, what the heck (see no swear word necessary), and said why not advertise anyway. We figured that your vision was universal if we came upon it here in the US. So, thank you for doing what you do and expect us to contact you later.

    Rickee Mahoney and Brooke Baumgartner

  11. Jill

    Thank you so much for this site. I’m in indecision land on the beginnings of our wedding. My fiance is more worried about finding a new job than how we’re doing this, so we’ve given ourselves 2 years to put it together. I have a dress that needs some modification love, a pile of books to turn into flowers, and this place to go to for inspiration. The only things we do know is that we are definitely getting married to each other, who the wedding party consists of, and that we’re getting hitched in an old german dance hall. I’ll be stopping in often to see what new things you’ve found.

  12. Laura

    Just seen the article in Cosmopolitan about you and the site, and I just had to come and have a look! All this stuff is so up my street; the unconventional bride! Can’t wait to have a full browse!

  13. Kat, the top picture of you is beyond stunning, super proud of everything that you have achieved – with a smile on your face and a gin in hand xx

  16. Erin

    I read your interview in Cosmo’s Febraury edition and I had to take a look at your site – I love it! I’m looking forward to having a good look around the site!

  17. Nancy

    I love this blog!!!!
    I’m from Argentina, and it’s very complicated to found cool ideas about weddings, specialy, rock n’ roll wedding theme.
    My wedding i’ts planificated for de next year, and I’m very inspired for your blog.
    Sorry if my english it’s poor… ha ha ha!
    Thank you so much for this site!!!

    kisses!!

  18. Kirstie

    Hello …. please help me! I am getting married in July (yep, this year) and only just started planning….mainly as I never thought I would get married (feminist ideals!) but have met my soul mate and he’s worth the commitment. I have NEVER imagined what this ‘thing’ is going to be like….but its slowly taking shape how we could be ‘us’ in it all …. I now have an idea for a dress but its more a 50′s evening dress….does anyone know a good and reasonable (I have a stooopid small budget- £300) dress maker based in surrey/hampshire/sussex area who could help? I have a pattern!
    Any advice appreciated…………..

  19. Beautiful Photography there, are these taken at on the same day? Just wondering about the hair colour, is it a wig? I love this kind of photography, I want to add this style to my wedding photography. I will have to show you guys my work at some point. I am loving this site :-) I’m a very happy photographer now!!!

  24. Hi Kat,

    I absolutely love your site. More than that, I LOVE YOUR ATTITUDE. I work in the wedding industry too and I often tell my clients that their wedding is not about pleasing family or friends or anyone else, it´s about the two of them as a couple pleasing themselves and doing that they want to do whether it´s craziest and quirky or simple and subtle – it´s all about them and their love for each other.

    x

  26. Hi, I found your blog on a facebook post -someone else had mentioned about checking this out!,…word of mouth travels well! ;) I am not a bride but I need brides like this! who want a funky, out the box kinda wedding and therefore flowers to match! Loving all the fifties inspired dresses/looks, burlesque etc, the infusion of colour – you gal’s are not afraid of it when others are more inclined to stick to the traditional! These are the kind of weddings I really want to be involved in so if you like funky, bespoke, original I would like to be considered as your freelance funky florist of choice! I’ll definitely be returning to see what funky stuff pops up next!! keep posting. Is there any chance of linking up services??..

  27. Hi,

    I recently found out you are a UK blogger. I have recently started up in the blogging world and am wondering if you know of any lifestyle blogger groups/meets in London and good ways to meet fellow bloggers. Woud love to hear the story of how you met and began collaborating with Nubby and Gala.
    Thank you

  28. Post author

    Alice you should come to The Blogcademy! We’re doing one in London in September. There’s an amazing community of bloggers in our private forum already and they regularly arrange meet ups. We’ve already done 2 classes of 30 students each so thats 60 of them, not including the ones that will come in September

  29. Kat, Absolutely! I’ve been looking forward to the London Blogcademy event for months now! Fingers crossed for the scholarship too :)
    September is a few months away though, was wondering if there is a way to get in touch with past Blogcademers or ones that hope to attend London in September in the meantime? Thanks again!

  30. Post author

    Alice sure! You’ll be invited to join the private forum as soon as you sign up!

  32. Love the Rock n Roll Bride website, full of wedding inspiration. I’ve really enjoyed reading the articles and would love a copy of the magazine.

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