Rock and Roll Americana & Kitsch: Jennifer & Ryan

June 12, 2012

On a warm day in March, Jennifer & Ryan married in an Americana inspired wedding. “We have always had a bit of an obsession with America,” the bride told me. “It all started after we first visited New York together five years ago and fell hard-and-fast in love with the people, the shopping, the bars, and the food (hello blueberry pancake stacks!) We had originally planned to get married in New York, but when we found out that not all of our guests would be able to make it across the pond we decided to bring a slice of New York to the wedding!”

“All of our tables were themed after our favourite places in NYC – Trash & Vaudeville, Fun City Tattoo, the Trailer Park Lounge, Rodeo Bar, Big Daddy’s Diner, and the Velvet Lounge. We made miniature menus for place cards on the ‘Big Daddy’s table’, and one of our close friends spent several hours painstakingly engraving names into a hefty piece of wood for the ‘Rodeo Bar’ table plan!”

The couple handmade a lot of the details in order that they would perfectly fit into the vision they had for their day. “It has always been our dream to drive from New York to San Francisco in a beat up old 1950s caddy, stopping off at every diner, dive bar and motel on Route 66, so we decided that is exactly what we would do for our honeymoon,” Jennifer continued. “We thought we’d play on this for our wedding post box, and fashioned a DIY US mailbox from a chrome breadbin, some red foam (for the flag) and some old off cuts of wood (for the post and stand). As we have a habit of always taking things too far, we also invested in some astroturf for the ‘lawn’, an armful of plastic flowers for decoration, and (of course) a miniature white picket fence! We also flew a flock of pink plastic flamingos in from Baltimore to complete the set-up! As an alternative to a traditional guestbook, guests were handed postcards we’d collected from the states which they wrote on and then popped in the mailbox! I also made brooches for all of the ladies using red glitter fimo which I shaped into hearts, baked, and then edged with ivory pearls (all 1500 of them were glued on individually!)”

The bride wore a custom made dress from The Couture Company in Birmingham, with Vivienne Westwood shoes. However it wasn’t only the bride who looked the rockabilly part. The couple asked their guests to come dressed to fit the wedding theme too. Jennifer explained, “We told all of our guests that the theme of the wedding was ‘rock n roll with a kitsch twist’, and suggested watching ‘Cry-Baby’ for outfit inspiration! Everyone rocked up dolled up to the nines and looked incredible!”

Gorgeous! Thank you to Jennifer & Ryan for sharing their awesome wedding with us today.

Supporting Cast:

Photography Credit: VenusBlue Imaging
Venue: The Queens Hotel, Cheltenham
Bride’s Dress & Headpiece: The Couture Company
Bride’s Shoes: Vivienne Westwood
Bride’s Jewellery: Classic Hardware
Bride’s Garter: Hell in a Handbag on etsy
Groom’s Outfit: A Suit that Fits
Bridesmaid’s Dresses: Vivien of Holloway
Bridesmaid’s Jewellery: Tatty Devine
Cake: BooBoo Bakes
Flowers: Central Rose
Band: Magic Mirror
Stationery: designed by Leah Moule at Spear Studio, Birmingham & DIY
Neon Signs: Electro Signs Ltd
Transport: 1959 Cadillac Sedan de Ville from Chrome Occasions