This styled shoot was set up by photographer Andrea Ellison who wanted to get together with some of her favourite wedding industry companions and create something great. She told me all about it last week, “I had been speaking with Mandy from Saddleworth Shindigs for a while about arranging a shoot “just for the pure hell of it ” The time was never right and we couldn’t find anyone suitable….and then Amelia Rose Wheeler walked past me in a pub dressed to the nines like she had just walked off a 1940′s film set…I set off in hot persuit leaving my hubby chewing his own leg off with embarrassment as I picked up our model…she is a burlesque dancer called be_bop_ a_lulu who also owns a vintage clothes store and she is just aceness itself.”
“I am like you. I totally agree that just because you have someone nearby who has the same business as you do that doesn’t mean you have to hate each others guts,” Andrea continued. “I have two other photographers, Claire Penn Photography & Jo Rutherford Photography, both hugely talented and both on my doorstep, and the best work we do is when the three of us get together and share ideas and shoots. We support each other, we pass bookings to each other and we never see each other as competition. There is a photographer for every bride and if your true to your style they will find you if they like what you do”
The theme for Darren & Naomi’s romantic wedding was Vintage Circus. “We wanted a day packed full of fun, totally relaxed and whenever anyone thought back on it they would smile,” the groom told me. “The theme was a total surprise for all 200+ that were invited, with the first clue being as we walked down the aisle together as man and wife, and Entry of the Gladiators (the traditional circus theme tune!) was played by the organist.”
The ceremony was held at Clifton Cathedral, which with it’s dramatic architecture had been described by many as “a monstrosity of a building” in the past. However in recent times this building style has come right back in vogue and the building has even just been used used for British design store Habitat’s most recent photo shoot.
“Following the Catholic ceremony (where we snuck in some Fatboy Slim by the organist), we travelled in a vintage Hillman Imp to the reception to be welcomed by a 11ft tall ringmaster,” Darren continued. “On arrival, guests were greeted with pomegranate Mojitos, English afternoon tea sandwiches and home made scones with lashings of clotted cream and strawberry jam. Each guest also had a welcome bag containing a red nose, home made moustache-on-a-stick, kazoo, fortune fish, popping candy, an invite to an after party and a CD with the soundtrack of the day.”
“Next to the main hall we created a ringside retreat with old black and white circus movies played on a projector, hay bails, typewriters to write us a message, cupcakes, home made lemonade, Original Viewmasters with circus 3D images and a suitcase full of circus props and toys. In the main hall, we made our own popcorn and candy floss stand, which was next to our own Face Cut out stand for people to poke their head through and have their photo taken. We also projected on to the wall the table plans, which included a picture of every guest which we had a red nose superimposed on their face.”
“As the evening went on, an old photobooth arrived for every guest to have their photo taken as our guest book, retro cocktails were made with glowsticks and slices of pizza and cake pops were served. Our first dance ended with all 220 guests joining in a mass conga round the room and finishing on the dance floor where people danced the night away, and then a magician did close up magic while our entertainer juggled knives.”
Raven wanted some carnival themed bridal portraits and so she asked William of Famous William Company to shoot them for her. “She had a blast and was all smiles even though the weather was blazing hot that day,” William told me. “The carnival was located outside of Atlanta, Georgia. She wore a 1950′s vintage wedding dress and for her something blue for the photos she had blue converse trainers.”
This morning’s shoot was set up by photographers We Heart Pictures to showcase the types of brides they want to shoot. “Hector and I fly to Jersey often for client meetings as we shoot weddings in the Channel Islands,” photographer Charlie told me. “I took the opportunity to make the most of our trip and the stunning location and heckled people into getting up at 8am on Easter Sunday to join us in St Catherine’s Woods.”
“We wanted it to be fun so packed a picnic, chandelier, flags, bunting, balloons, bubbles, masks, several meters of fabric and threw in a couple of wedding dresses as you do!”
Ut oh…new wedding obsession heading your way. Seriously, Amanda & Tyson’s wedding is what dreams are made of and I’m so excited to share the full thing, in all it’s colourful glory on these pages.
Some of you might know Tyson. He is the genius behind this site, and a pin up artist (I actually found his site myself when I was searching for tattoo inspiration.) So needless to say, with such a creative groom, this wedding was always going to be bad ass. The wedding was held at Highland Falls in Blairsville, GA.
Amanda’s stunning green dress was by Teri Jon and she wore it with Jessica Simpson shoes which she added peacock clips from The Headband Shoppe on Etsy to tie in with the theme. She also used the decorative shoulder strap of the dress as her headpiece which gave her a really unique look.
“We wanted a weekend wedding because our families and friends get along smashingly,” the couple told me. “Plus, we wanted to have the time to enjoy everyone rather than spend the wedding only saying a quick hello. We love the mountains and we wanted an outdoor wedding so it seemed only fitting to find property that had a series of cabins to hold all our family and friends as well as have an on-site ceremony location and a large enough area to set up a tent for a reception… easy enough right? We found Highland Falls Cabins which is 15 cabins on beautiful property (check), large flat area for a tent (check), horse pasture that leads to two beautiful ponds = ceremony site (check).”
“Thanks to an exceptionally easy going and helpful property manager the site was exactly what we hoped for. Because of not choosing a venue there were some obstacles. We had to spend a bit more renting everything the catering required and running electricity, plus we had to be prepared for bad weather (thankfully there was NONE). By not choosing a wedding venue you definitely take on more stress, but thanks to a team of wonderful family and friends (big shout out to my mother in law Fonda Mcadoo) it was all possible. The ceremony and reception we had envisioned just wouldn’t have been achievable in a venue. With 40 acres all to ourselves we knew we could throw the party of a lifetime… and that’s exactly what it was.”
Sounds so perfect! But there was a bit of pre-wedding drama as Amanda explains, “Our wedding story is more like a series of ridiculous bloopers leading up to the day… starting the day before the wedding: the day starts with my nephew accidentally kicking me in the face and busting open my lip. By the evening I had somehow gotten pink eye and it looked as though someone had shoved a golf ball under my eyelid and then covered it with yellow pudding (YUCK!). So though my soon to be husband and I had planned on not spending the night before the wedding together, he stayed by my side, waking every two hours to put more eye drops in my eyes and to change the ice packs on my face… just a gentle reminder of how lucky I was. Thank God the morning of the wedding my eye is back to normal thanks to hubby nurse. But still more to come… (after all, these things always come in threes) I am dolled up by an array of magical hands… my dress is on, the makeup is perfect, the hair is flawless… then the stairs.. many, many, many stairs. I get caught on my dress, I fall and I crash down a flight of stairs. There is now blood & champagne on my dress while I hold back tears and simply freeze up. Before I even realize it I am swept into a chair, my wounds nursed, my dress (yet another reason I’m glad it’s not white) is de-stained by some club soda and besides the band aids and lumpy shins under my dress you would never know I had ate it…. the wedding is perfection, the reception a non stop party and my series of unfortunate events seen as sign of good fortune to come.”
Any final pieces of advice? I asked the couple. “If your having a weekend wedding get people involved,” they told me. “Your friends and family want to be apart of the event and giving them ownership of something that contributes to your special day will make them feel awesome. For example: designating the photo booth backdrop to a friend. We bought the materials, showed her an example of what we wanted and she made it awesome. Also don’t follow any ‘wedding rules’ because you feel your supposed to… follow the outback slogan ‘No Rules, Just Right’ and you’ll end up with wedding that feels like perfection.”
Hello and welcome to my little blog. My name is Kat Williams aka the Rock n Roll Bride and my aim is to provide a little haven of kick ass weddingness in a cookie cutter, pastel and often puke-worthy wedding world. 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!
Hello and welcome to my little blog. My name is Kat Williams aka the Rock n Roll Bride and my aim is to provide a little haven of kick ass weddingness in a cookie cutter, pastel and often puke-worthy wedding world. 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!
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