To say that choosing the next Rock n Roll Bride real-bride intern was difficult would be an understatement of immense magnitude. When I posted two weeks ago that I was looking for a new ‘Alice’ to come and write her wedding planning story for us I expected to receive maybe 10/15 entries…67 applications later and my brain is a little fried from trying to pick the one which I think will have the most interesting story for the blog.

So, I’m being a wimp and hoping you, the loyal readers of this ‘lil blog will come to my aid and help me! After all, I want you to be inspired by the stories you’ll be reading. I have managed to narrow it down to three ‘finalists’ (for lack of a better word.) Please read their entries, check out their inspiration and let me know who you think should come and write for me.

Who’s story do you find most interesting? Who writes in a way that makes you want to read more? Who’s inspiration board is most inspiring to you? Who do you want to hear more from and who’s wedding do you want to see on the blog?

I’m also planning on getting to know my intern in like, actual real life. I hope we can hang out, drink coffee and cocktails and generally talk all things wedding. When I get invited to wedding shows I want her to come with me and hold my hand.

I don’t just want my intern to be an unknown ‘contributer’ to the blog, I want to make a new friend damnit! I actually want to be real life friends with everyone that applied (seriously, you are all too cool for me) which is why I’m handing the final decision over to you. I can’t take the pressure – it’s like picking teams for school sports and I always hated sports…

You have until Sunday 31st July to pick your favourite, and the winner will be announced on Monday 1st August.

♥  ♥  ♥

Lisa My name is Lisa, I am 23 years-old, and as I type this I am sitting in my sunny bedroom in New Cross, South London. My fiancé, Liam, is out earning a crust while I make dippy eggs and soldiers and enjoy my day off from work as a barmaid, and my day on as a wedding planner. Our friends know us as Roo (that’s me) and Lamb (that’s him) and neither of us are from London. We were both born and raised in Liverpool, and met just over a year ago at a very drunken, very hazy party. It was love at first beer-goggled site, but we wouldn’t actually meet each other again until November. Lamb had moved to London to work during his last free year before university; I had moved to Brighton to study for a degree in Museum & Heritage Studies, and we happened to bump into each other at my then-boyfriend’s gig in Camden. All over again we were smitten kittens – I ditched the zero and bagged my hero, and the rest is all wonderful history.

We are getting married in 2012, although our venue and date are not finalised yet but so far we’re looking at between July and September, 2012. I’m tempted to nudge Lamb towards the winter months, though. I want to go all Phoebe from Friends with a fabulous winter coat.. and definitely mittens. We still have three venues to choose from in either Brighton (the Duke of York’s theatre), London (Battersea Arts Centre) or Cornwall (Polhawn Fort). We have viewings in each venue scheduled in a few weeks, so I’m not quite out of wedding venue HELL yet. I won’t lie; finding a venue has been utterly depressing, which I know you can absolutely relate to given the hiccup you had a few months before your own nuptials. We are not religious, therefore we’d find it inappropriate to get married in a church, and we want somewhere that is a total blank canvas for us to cover in our personalities. I was the person who e-mailed you t’other week about if it was possible to have someone ordained here in the UK. Since you posted my e-mail on the blog, I’ve been roping in friends and relatives to sign the Any Campaign and we’re really hoping that it’ll be a success.

In terms of caterers and whatnot, we don’t have anybody in mind as of yet – so far we’re planning on a real “mucking-in” wedding where our talented friends and family help us with the things that are usually expensive (for example, Lamb’s dad is a mean cook, my mum is an outrageous seamstress, one of my sisters sources vintage goodies by trade, and one of my bridesmaids is a trained florist). In terms of decor, favours, and other odd little details, I have a few vendors on Etsy lined up to shine. For example, a shop called marcher for their alphabet stamp rolling sets (we’re making all of our invitations, as you’ll be able to read about under the “skills” heading) and crearting for their ring holder/guestbook set as I’ve written about on my blog (follow the link to the listing, you won’t regret it!)

My Inspiration

Since we’re both magpies, we’re letting ourselves be led by lots of appealing themes. We want our wedding to be both a celebration of us as a couple, and a celebration of all the people who help to make our relationship work. With that in mind, we’re ignoring any comments that sway in the “oh my god i can’t believe you want [insert insane idea here]” direction, and focusing on the pre-determined hindsight of “oh wow, remember when Roo flashed her embroidered ‘Mrs. Riley’ knickers after they kissed? That was SO her!” For example, I have decided to choose six bridesmaids – since we’re hoping for our wedding to be quite intimate I decided to put some feelers out around wedding bloggers and see if they thought this was too many. Apparently it’s customary to have one bridesmaid/groomsman per 25 guests, and my suggestion of six was seen as outrageous and overbearing. I mulled it over, and I decided I don’t care. I am having my two big sisters, my three best friends, and Lamb’s sister. Lamb has one sister and one brother, and I wanted his sister to have the opportunity to be a part of one of their weddings (since she has no sister to ask her to be bridesmaid). We both got a little teary when I asked her, and I couldn’t be happier with my choices.

I am giving each bridesmaid a role to take charge of, to take some pressure off us and really make them an integral part of the day. One of my sisters sources vintage clothing, and I’ve asked her to be in charge of sourcing the bridesmaids’ dresses from huge vintage warehouses. Instead of having them dressed in the same/similar styles/colours, I’ve told all the girls to individually choose a dress that suits their personal style. My other sister is a marvel at hair and make-up, so she’ll be in charge of making us all look beautiful. My friend Abby is a trained florist; a few days before the wedding we’ll all get together and she’ll teach us how to make our bouquets – then we’ll make boutonnieres and corsages for all the guests. My friend Hannah is a bit of a party animal, and will be organising my hen party. Louise, Lamb’s sister, will be helping me to bake our wedding cakes, and my friend Rea will more than likely help out with invitations, and general duties relating to guests.

My three main sources of inspiration over the past few weeks have been Twin Peaks, David Byrne and Richard O’Brien’s “The Crystal Maze” (stick with me on this one). Twin Peaks is pretty much the greatest TV series ever made next to Clarissa Explains It All, and I’d really love to emanate some of Lynch’s splendor in our day – think mood lighting, drapery, delicious coffees, and lots of cherry pie. “Our” song is Talking Heads’ This Must Be The Place, from their Stop Making Sense album/gig. We want to take some decor inspiration from their stage design during the show and have vintage lamps everywhere. With regards to Richard O’Brien, not only do I dream of a leopard print coat, but we are determined to stay true to our vision in that we don’t care if Lamb’s socks don’t match his shoes or those napkins don’t really sit well with those center pieces. Did Richard O’Brien concern himself with the practicalities of building the Ocean Zone next to the Aztec Zone? No he did not, and neither will we.

So far, other ideas include terrarium table decorations, a traditional English roast dinner reception, six homemade wedding cakes instead of one bespoke one, Northern Soul dancing, an “open mic” style of structuring speeches (i.e. anyone can get up and say/do something, providing they’ve not had too many sherbets), outrageous party games, blankets, patterns, lace, richness/fulness, mother nature, and a guestbook quilt (where guests write messages of support on squares of fabric, and later I sew them together to make a quilt for our home). The inspiration board that I made for this application is the first board I’ve made in a long, long time (since college, in fact!) and I think it showcases our personalities perfectly. Our wedding is going to be absolutely insane, by hook or by crook, and I really do hope you’ll seriously consider me for your next intern! As far as Facebook goes, I have temporarily deactivated my account while I knuckle down to some serious planning, but I can easily log back on should you need me to. And Twitter? My account is gathering dust of late so I made a brand new one today!

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