Tattooed Bride

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A Casual & Intimate Outdoor Wedding: Michael & Mariko

February 3, 2012 in Wedding | 14 comments

Michael asked Mariko to marry him at a festival, “in a trashed tent with some beers, talking with some friends about relationships and life,” he told me. “You know… those most profound things you talk about at festivals. It was just the right moment.” So then they had their wedding theme – a festival style, party wedding!

“We wanted our wedding to be intimate, nothing big, loud or expensive,” Micheal continued. “The most important thing was that we were getting married and be together forever, to share our love with the people we love, all our friends and family.”

“Being both outdoor cosy crazy people, we decided to give our party in a forest in Antwerp, called St. Anna bos, near the river de Schelde. There was no real theme, we just wanted to give our guests a ‘welcome home’ feeling.”

“Almost everything was self-made, made by us or with the help of our friends. With some colorful ribbons, simple bouquets, 1000 candles and a couple of balloons, we did so much more than we expected. The place where we held our wedding party was not fancy at all, it was kind of dusty and old. It was a clubhouse that had probably had it’s best days somewhere in the 60s. You could tell by the hundreds of different vintage dishes we found in the kitchen!”

“It was a beautiful night, there was moonlight on the trees, candles lighting up everywhere and we and our guests were happy and relaxed, just as we wanted! Everybody was sitting on the benches, having conversations and drinking.”

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A Shamanic Wedding Ceremony in Guatemala: Daniela & Mark

January 30, 2012 in Wedding | 18 comments

How utterly beautiful is today’s real wedding? This is the kind of wedding that makes my heart sing – no fuss, no details, no over-the-top-bridezilla-stresses – just the most important thing…love.

The bride, Daniela, told me all about their special day. “There were only the two of us at the ceremony, the lady who married us, the lady who owned the land and our photographer. The ceremony itself lasted about 1.5 hrs and consisted of several parts: lighting the fire, being cleansed with special leaves and incense, hearing the 20 nahuales of the Mayan Calendar being read out, telling each other our love and exchanging our rings, being wrapped in a green shawl which represented Gaia. We began and ended the ceremony with chocolate, a block of which was also burned in the fire. Chocolate is sacred in Mayan culture.”

“We chose to get married in Guatemala as we got engaged there last year and it’s our favourite country. Neither of us knew much about Mayan beliefs, but after doing some research we decided to tie the knot in a Mayan fire ceremony because we felt like we should honour the traditions of our chosen wedding location. Organising everything was extremely easy – we found our photographer via Tripadvisor and our shaman, the amazing Aum Rak , via a quick Google search. She then got us in touch with Terri, the owner of a local hotel in Lake Atitlan who offered us to get married on her land.”

“I knew that I wanted to wear a vintage (or vintage-looking) dress and briefly considered one by BHLDN, but it would have been almost criminal to shove such an expensive dress into my backpack for 3 weeks (we were travelling through Mexico and other locations in Guatemala before the wedding). So I chose a Gunne Sax dress instead, which I could just roll up and carry around with me without it getting creased. As for shoes, they had to be Swedish clogs!”

“Some might think we’re bonkers for getting married in this way,” she concluded, “but our parents fully understood, and for us it couldn’t have been more perfect or more emotional and meaningful (I was crying so much throughout the ceremony!). We had such a relaxed, blissful day as we didn’t have to worry about anything. No guests, no reception, no cake, no make-up or hair appointments… It was completely stress-free! Afterwards we had our honeymoon in the middle of the jungle in Honduras!”

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An Owl & The Pussycat Themed Wedding: Kerryn & Joel

January 27, 2012 in Wedding | 8 comments

“The Owl and the Pussycat went to sea. In a beautiful pea green boat, They took some honey, and plenty of money, Wrapped up in a five pound note…”

With The Owl and the Pussycat as inspiration, it would be hard for Kerryn & Joel to go far wrong when planning their cute and quirky wedding. Although the wedding wasn’t overly themed to match the poem, its message resonated throughout their planning and on the wedding day itself. They used it on their wedding invitations, had an owl and pussycat cake topper and Kerryn read the poem as part of her speech. “The Owl and The Pussycat popped up because around the time that we got engaged, I read The Owl and The Pussycat to my 3 year old niece, Amy,” Kerryn told me. “At the last page there was a lovely illustration of the owl dancing with the pussycat in mid air…”

“And they danced by the light of the moon, the moon. They danced by the light of the moon”

“When Amy saw that picture she looked at me very seriously and asked ‘Is that what happens when you get married?’ I thought that was very beautiful and it just stuck with me.”

“Even though there was a lot of planning involved, our wedding just sort of happened the way it did because we were very relaxed and decided to concentrate on being happy”, Kerryn continued. “We have quite specific taste and definitely didn’t want an overly orchestrated, perfectly manicured day. So really, our wedding couldn’t have turned out any other way.”

“We made the jam, we shopped for individual gifts for all the children and my brother made the bunting and the chuppa from a quilt that we’ve kept. The flowers were all unusual roses, more like garden roses than perfectly symmetrical blooms and we had them scattered in silver tea sets.”

Kerryn wore an Abigail Betz gown and emerald green shoes. “I knew that I wanted a combination of a 20s and 50s look for my dress and ruby slippers (they ended up emerald but I loved them!)” the bride explained. “We also asked everyone at our wedding to write us a letter rather than buy a gift so we have very special messages from the special people who were with us that we can keep forever. I never imagined that I would get married so I had no pre-conceived ideas about the perfect wedding, so it was just 100% us that sort of materialized on the day.”

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How about a Tattooed Wedding Dress?

January 26, 2012 in Bridal Shoot/Trash The Dress, British Brides | 24 comments

When wedding dress designer Jo of The Couture Company first told me about her idea to design a tattoo themed wedding dress I was excited. Super excited. I’ve certainly never seen anything like it before! Whether you’re a tattooed goddess and you want your dress to reflect your own ink, or you’re not quite brave enough to go under the needle but you love the idea of being a tattooed bride, these dresses are just perfect for you.

Designer Jo says, “I have always tried to design gowns that are different and unusual – using unusual colours, doing a traditional victorian bustle gown in fuschia pink, or a big meringue dress but in black. I love the idea of a bride having something totally unique and bespoke to them.”

“I have been a Rock n Roll bride addict for about 2 years and have been totally blown away with the diversity, creativity and individuality of each wedding featured – even if some of the brides wear the same dress, the weddings always look totally different. So that got me thinking about creating a dress that could be customised and unique and symbolic to that bride and her wedding.”

“I have seen so so many beautiful wedding ‘bits’ that are tattoo inspired over the last few months – cakes, jewellery invites, place settings, even couples who get commemorative tattoos on each other to celebrate getting hitched. However I’ve never seen a tattoo themed wedding dress so I thought, ‘why not?’”

“The truth is that the Rock n Roll Brides inspired me, and for this gown I was inspired by the old school sailor tattoos. Don’t forget the dress in these pictures is just an example and we can customise the tattoos on every dress order to the style the bride wants. She can also have the dress in any colour. We are open to brides bringing tattoo ideas to see if it is possible to incorporate their ideas into the gowns. All our tattoos are created using silk embroidery and are accented and highlighted with beads and crystals.”

Don’t you just love it ladies? Also pictured is Jo’s super cute daisy design wedding dress…I am totally gaga over the colour and that massive bow at the back!

Prices for the tattoo dress varies depending on the number and size of ‘tattoos’ wanted as well as what fabric you want the dress made in. However as a starting point, the blank canvas gown pictured – made from silk dupion and is overlaid with silk organza - is £1000. For more info on this, and any of Jo’s wedding dresses, be sure to drop her an email to joanne@the-couture-company.co.uk or call 0121 608 4445. The Couture Company are based in Birmingham, UK, but orders can be completed via email correspondence if you are unable to make it to her studio for fittings.

Exclusive Reader Offer

Jo would like to offer any reader of Rock n Roll Bride who gets in touch, the first two tattoos on her dress absolutely free. Simply quote ‘Rock n Roll Bride’ when you contact her to qualify.

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A Neo-Victorian, Steampunk Wedding: Jasmine & George

January 24, 2012 in Wedding | 18 comments

“We are both crafty, artistic and creative,” the pink haired bride told me. “We wanted a mix of romantic gothic, neo-Victorian, vintage and steampunk for our wedding. We really wanted to make it our own and original with still trying to keep a little tradition for our families. We decided we just wanted hints of each. That’s why we decided to DIY as much as we could.”

After an 11 year relationship, Jasmine & George were married in The Greenhouse at The Foundry, NY by groom’s cousin, John Russo. “We got our wedding rings from Gemvara,” Jasmine continued. “My ring has black and white diamonds and his had black diamonds added to it. The inscription says ‘True Love Waits’ after a Radiohead song because we waited 11 years before we got married.”

The reception was held in the main hall at The Foundry. “Our centerpieces were made by us,” the bride explained. “We collected wine bottle corks and dried out lots of red roses upside down on a laundry line at home at least 3 weeks before putting them all together. The tops of the apothecary jars had a black ribbon tied around with a different steampunk and vintage-themed trinkets attached.”

“The cake toppers were from blimpcat on etsy. They were wooden cameos of us that we used on our Save the Dates. All the paper goods were handmade by my maid of Honor including the programs, menus, table cards, our table banner and the wedding entrance sign. She also made the signs that the entire wedding party and parents held up for the photos. We got our wedding invitations made by Royal Steamline.”

The couple also made a huge effort with their outfits, DIYing and accessorising with vintage and steampunk details. “George and his groomsmen had time piece lapels were made by us using mini metal gears, chains, a mini key & a watch face. We had the florist attach the black calla lillies to the pieces we made.”

“The hats that my bridesmaids wore were made by us as well. We bought simple tear shaped hats and added black & red striped feathers, dark red birdcage tulle, time pieces and mini vintage keys. I made my veil/mask with white birdcage tulle and Swarovski crystals. The feather was from Claire’s Accessories that I just clipped on the side. For the reception, I changed my headpiece to a headband which I also made myself. I bought the sequin trimming and a brooch from etsy which I simply put together.”

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