Author Archives: Kat

A Touch of Vegas: Chelsea & Mike

May 16, 2013 in Wedding | Written by Kat Photos by Gaby J Photography

las vegas retro destination wedding gaby j photography 43

Chelsea & Mike wanted to marry in Las Vegas but without doing the typical cheesy Vegas wedding thing. So instead of being married by Elvis, they opted for a simple ceremony (not photographed) at Little Church of the West, followed by a photo session around downtown Vegas with photographer Gaby J. ”Our wedding them was ‘a touch of Vegas’, explained the bride. “We didn’t want to go all out with an over the top Vegas style wedding equipped with an Elvis pastor. So we opted for something more subtle. I had my blue suede shoes and my bridesmaids wore gold sequin dresses.”

las vegas retro destination wedding gaby j photography 52

“The most important thing for me was the photos”, she continued. “So we picked our location based on how they would look in the pictures and Gaby J was the perfect fit. I wanted unique wedding photos and we’d originally picked the neon boneyard and the desert as locations but with Gaby’s help we found even more unique places to shoot like The Pink Motel and Fremont St.”

las vegas retro destination wedding gaby j photography 118

DIY Vegan Wedding: Sarah & Steven

May 15, 2013 in British Brides, Wedding | Written by Kat Photos by Toast of Leeds

Vintage Vegan Tattoo Welsh Wedding - Toast of Leeds Wedding Photography-64

There was no doubt in my mind that I had to share this wedding with you. My heart skipped a beat as I clapped eyes on the beautiful Sarah and her stunning movie starlet-esque red wedding dress from The Couture Company and I flicked through Toast of Leeds‘ photographs holding my breath. What an utterly beeeeeeeautiful wedding.

“Our venue was Buckland Hall in the Brecon Beacons National Park, a country house in the Welsh mountains, that we could personalise and make our own for a long weekend”, Sarah began. “We had free reign of the house and grounds, which we decorated with family photos and personal belongings that we’ve collected during our time together. Sixty of our guests stayed on the night of our wedding and close family the night before. The ceremony was held in a room with views of rolling park land, the River Usk and snow capped mountains beyond.”

Vintage Vegan Tattoo Welsh Wedding - Toast of Leeds Wedding Photography-57

“We held a drinks reception immediately after the ceremony with vegan canapés, cherrytree Cola and cocktails we’d designed ourselves: Pimms #6 (made with fresh strawberry puree) and passionfruit mojitos (with organic fair-trade rum and sweetbird syrup). This was followed by a three-course sit down’vegan meal, with starter created by Steven (wild mushroom empanadas with fennel cream sauce).”

Vintage Vegan Tattoo Welsh Wedding - Toast of Leeds Wedding Photography-58

Laid Back & Vintage-Inspired Cripps Barn Wedding: Laura & Tom

May 15, 2013 in British Brides, Wedding | Written by Kat Photos by Emma Case Photography

Laura&Tom-103

Sometime late last Summer I strolled into my favourite wedding boutique to visit my friends, Laura & Emma, who own it. Whenever I’m in central London I always pop into Fur Coat No Knickers to see their latest pretty vintage wedding dresses, to drink some Cava and to catch up on all the latest gossip. But this fateful day in August was different. I was greeted at the door with squeals from Laura, “I’m engaged! Tom Proposed last week!” she shrieked. More Cava was popped and we started to discuss all things wedding – but this time not other people’s – hers!

Working in with wedding industry, Laura had quite a good idea about what she did – and did not – want for their March wedding. She knew Emma Case was the girl to shoot it and that obviously she’d be wearing a dress from Fur Coat No Knickers. She also knew they wanted something casual, low-key, fun and stress-free.

Laura&Tom-41

“To Have Emma Case to snap our big day was amazing”, Laura began. “She and husband Pete are so cool and so chilled and they capture everything. They are like two little meerkats popping up and down throughout the day and they are such a laugh. We love our photos so so much. The photo shoot bit of the day was awesome fun and they made us play lots of games to keep us relaxed. I loved this part of the day because Tom & I got to spend some time together. Emma & Pete made us feel so comfortable and it was so fun. I can’t recommend them enough. They totally rocked our day.”

Laura&Tom-43

The Plateau

May 14, 2013 in Green Room | Written by Kat Photos by Made U Look Photography

pdx shoot (317)

I don’t know about you, but I always do my best thinking in the bath. I’m sure it’s something to do with switching off, being away from technology and allowing my mind to wonder. Regardless, as I soaked in the tub one day last week I started to think about business plateaus, or more specifically, what to do about them.

The first few years of running a business are a super exciting. You’re pushing yourself, growing and learning, all while (hopefully!) having a lot of fun as you go. Yes, it’s a scary time but it’s also a super satisfying one. If you’re doing all the right things, you’ll be into a steady flow of getting enquiries, booking clients, then getting too many bookings so putting your prices up a little bit, getting back to a steady flow… and so on and so forth.

But then, and likely around the two or three year mark, something different starts to happen. You, as usual, put your prices up a little bit more to stem the flow (you can only take on so many clients after all and no one wants to work on loads of weddings getting paid a pittance for each one) but the result is different… zilch… nadda… nothing. Suddenly it’s not so easy to get bookings. You ramp up your marketing and you’re still getting enquiries, but after sending out your price list people aren’t immediately coming back to you with the same joyful exuberance about confirming you for their wedding. They’re either trying to haggle or you simply never hear from them again.

pdx shoot (115)

Inspired by Grecian Goddesses: Win a £200 Shopping Spree with Zalando

May 14, 2013 in Competitions, Sponsored Post | Written by Kat

KaviarGauche_for_ZalandoCollection_SS13_campaign_16

Zalando, Europe’s largest online fashion and shoe retailer, is branching out and they’ve come over all glamorous and Grecian! They already stock over 1,500 luxury and high street brands from all over the world, but now they’re collaborating with über-trendy Berlin based designers, Kaviar Gauche, and launching a stunning and exclusive 20 piece collection of designer wedding and occasion wear… without the designer price tag.

Inspired by Aphrodite, the most glamorous of Greek goddesses, this is a collection that is not only totally wearable, but purse-pinchingly affordable. Price start from just £85 with their most expensive items, the wedding dresses, costing between £165 and £590. That’s pretty darn incredible.

KaviarGauche_for_ZalandoCollection_SS13_campaign_18

The designs are also totally perfect for Rock n Roll brides. The collection features achingly cool dresses, fashion-forward tailored trousers, floaty skirts and accessories which are all adorned leather and chain embellishments - this sure is glamorous Grecian with a Rock n Roll edge!

Zalando offer free worldwide delivery and returns, although why you’d want to send back any of these babies back is beyond me.

Win a £200 spending spree!

OK so I’ve convinced you that you need to check this collection out now, right? Well let me incentivise you even further with today’s awesome competition. Those generous Zalando babes would like to offer one Rock n Roll Bride reader a whopping £200 spending spree! You can splash out on something from this gorgeous new range, or go wild and nab yourself anything else that takes your fancy from their extensive website.

Where is the Turquoise Tornado™ Going Now?

May 13, 2013 in Events, Green Room | Written by Kat Photos by Made U Look Photography

BLOGCADEMY_NEWDATES_4

Goodness, what a rollercoaster The Blogcademy has been already, and today we’re about to take another upside-down corkscrew followed by a loop the loop because we’re adding even more dates to our 2013 world tour! Your headmistresses are nothing if not diligent, and when we announced the full wack of dates back in March, there were some outcries that we weren’t going down to any of the Southern US states… Well, your wish is our command and so we’ve added an Austin date in August. BRING. IT. ON.

But that’s not all. The Melbourne class sold out so damn speedily, that we’ve decided to add a second date on our way home from Australia. It means we’re pretty much going to be away from home for a whole month (!) but hey, we love ya and we know you’re gonna make it worth our while! Our poor suffering husbands will just have to hold the fort at our respective homes a little while longer I guess…

BLOGCADEMY_NEWDATES_2