Tattooed Bride

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“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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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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“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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Shannon & Nick were married in Shannon’s parent’s back garden, a lovely idea that made their wedding really personal and intimate. “I was inspired by the 1950s, nature and the country,” Shannon told me. “I was looking for a way to bridge the gap between vintage elegance and the modern eco-friendly way of life. Every chance I could I made things reusable, recyclable and DIY. I also tried to pick vendors that were eco-friendly. I didn’t set out to do things differently I just chose to do what I wanted to do and didn’t let others reservations side track me.”

The couple had terrarium centrepieces and they made the adorable moss balls, which acted as holders for the table names, themselves. “The moss balls were super easy,” Shannon explained. “We just bought some styrofoam balls, painted them green and used adhesive spray to stick fresh, broken up moss to them”

The couple wanted their wedding to have an eco-vintage vibe and so they also collected props and trinkets from thrift stores to decorate the backyard.

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Will & Keri’s Richmond, VA wedding was simple but effortlessly cool. The ceremony was held at Maymont Park, with the reception that followed at The Boathouse Restaurant at Rocketts Landing. “We really didn’t want to over do it on the decorations since both venues we’re so beautiful on their own,” Keri told me. “We found a lot of things on Etsy, and the rest we made ourselves. The heart on the tree at our ceremony was a grey chalkboard heart purchased from Urban Outfitters, we painted our initials on it with white paint and tied it to the tree with rope.”

“After the ceremony we took it around the city taking pictures at our favorite spots in Richmond. We decided for the ceremony to just add small bundles of dried lavender to the chairs, it was really beautiful and simple. We also had a little table set up with hot apple cider for the guests after the I Do’s.”

“I always envisioned our wedding to be more of a casual gathering of the people we loved rather than a formal meeting where people watched us exchange vows,” she continued. “I wanted our guests to feel comfortable and welcome to stay as long as they liked especially since we had so many guests from out of town. At the Boathouse, since it’s such a modern venue we wanted to keep the decorations simple and just let the architecture speak for itself.”

“Our florist, Alexis at The Green Flamingo was absolutely amazing, when we told her where we were getting married and how we just wanted to complement the venues with simple yet elegant floral arrangements she knew exactly what would work. It was like she was inside my brain and could see everything I was imagining. We just kept it simple with white linens and mason jars filled with all different kinds of wild flowers, it really helped pull the two venues together. And we found these awesome chalkboard labels at michaels for $1, we painted on table number and tied them to the mason jars with ribbon.”

Keri wore a beautiful Jenny Yoo gown with antique jewellery. Her simple ensemble made her feel comfortable and like ‘herself’ which was another thing that both she and Will wanted to make sure was prevalent throughout their wedding. They explain, “When trying to decide what we wanted our wedding to be like we had two very different ideas. Keri wanted a simple kitchy outdoor wedding while Will wanted an modern indoor wedding. So we decided to morph both ideas together and made it so prefect, it really felt like we were being true to ourselves and our own personal styles.”

Maymont was an easy choice for the ceremony, it has always been one of our favorite parks in Richmond and is super close to our house. Normally Maymont holds their wedding ceremonies at specifically built spots throughout the park, but we really loved this tree that stands isolated in the middle of a field. It’s so gnarly and unique it just fit us perfectly.”

The Boathouse was a really perfect find. It’s located in a newly built up area downtown right along the river that runs through Richmond and had the most amazing view of the city. It was an old factory converted into a 3 level restaurant, it’s super modern but with an old Richmond flair with exposed brick and an old smoke stack kept as a significant part of its architecture. The building itself is so beautiful we didn’t want to really over do it on the decorations.”

“One of the best things we took away from our wedding is that you should always stay true to who you are, don’t let anyone try and convince you to do something you don’t want to,” the couple concluded. “Who cares about etiquette? Weddings are all about starting your lives together, having fun and celebrating with the people you love most!”

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