Photography Credit: Made U Look Photography
2012 has been, without a shadow of a doubt, the best year of my life. Words can’t describe how immensely thankful I am for every amazing opportunity I’ve been given because of this blog and YOU LOT. So as this incredible 366 days draws to a close and we hurtle towards 2013 with the utmost vigour, I wanted to share with you some of the year’s highlights as well as some of my favourite weddings and blog posts.
What were your favourite weddings of the last year?
And I’ve got a bit of top secret exclusiveness for you too, dear reader. Rock n Roll Bride is getting a facelift on January 8th! Shauna , Gareth & I (OK so mainly Shuana & Gareth – but I’ve been overseeing !) have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to create something pretty darn special. I can’t WAIT to share it with you all! Raising the bar again? Oh yes we are!
So here we go, 2012 in review from January to June…
January
We launched the Green Room on January 3rd – something I’d been dreaming about doing for a long time. I really wanted to be able to use my blog to share some of my businessy tips, tricks and advice that I’d picked up over the years and was thrilled when Gareth came up with the concept of effectively splitting the blog in two. My work load basically doubled but, honestly, it’s been one of the most rewarding things I write about. The feedback from you guys has been nothing short of incredible.
♥ Wedding of the Month: Hearts, Love & DIY Heaven: Sarah & Gray
Photography Credit: Assassynation
♥ Notable Highlights:
Mrs X lifted the lid on why hiring a professional wedding photographer is so important . Cue one of my most popular blog posts EVER.
Do you have to invite +1s to your wedding?
A budget-friendly DIY wedding with the world’s cutest wedding video
♥ Green Room greats:
Finding your business mojo
How to get the best out of exhibiting at a wedding fair
Dealing with rejection and why it’s the best thing that will ever happen to you
February
Gareth & I started the month by being roped into a pretty epic ‘wedding circus’ shoot by Sassy & Jo . Gareth even got on a horse! It was bloody freeeezing but so worth it. I looked like I’d lost about 10lbs in Jo’s amazing corsets.
Lisa, David & I headed over to Las Vegas for WPPI and to hook up with Gala & Shauna for fun, frolics, mischief and of course and epic photo shoot ! I don’t want to sound over-dramatic but this was a pretty life changing trip for me. I rediscovered why travel and new experiences are so good for the soul and made a pact with myself to do a hell of a lot more of it!
♥ Wedding of the Month: Indie Rock Winter Wedding
Photography Credit: Hannah Millard Photography
Seriously cute fabric bow-tie DIY
Wedding traditions and deciding what’s important
Mexican art wedding
♥ Green Room greats:
I interviewed on of my idols, Kirsty Mitchell
Why you should be pushing boundaries with your website design
How to set your prices
March
I kicked the month off with yet another photo shoot (sheesh what a poser!) this time with the amazing Joanna Brown . I don’t think I’ve ever looked so glamorous!
The March Photography Farm was epic, with Roo dressing as Miss Havisham for our creepy styled shoot.
I also did my very first solo School of Rock blogging workshop in Sheffield !
♥ Wedding of the Month: Emotional East meets West wedding
Photography Credit: Emma Case Photography
♥ Notable Highlights:
The desert & a disco tree
A pirate and rock concert wedding!
A cancelled wedding but a perfect marriage
♥ Green Room greats:
The art of self confidence was another one of my most popular ever blog posts!
Are you Madonna or Cyndi Lauper?
Search engines vs social engines – Gareth wrote about why SEO obsession is pointless
April
April was a tasty one and I attended the launch party for Choccywoccydoodah’s London store. Delicious.
I was also invited back to Canterbury, where I attended University, to give a talk on blogging and running your own business. The month ended with another School of Rock workshop – this time in Devon !
I also quit smoking!
♥ Wedding of the Month: The rainbow wedding to end all rainbow weddings
Photography Credit: Albert Palmer Photography
♥ Notable Highlights:
An emotional wedding planned in just 10 days
Cute ‘Alice’ wedding
Ombre cake icing DIY
♥ Green Room greats:
How to win friends and influence people with your social media
Debbie wrote about how to create a really great press release
How do you measure success?
May
Gareth & I headed to New York to hang out with Gala & Mike , Megan & Dave and to shoot with the Made U Look girls. Oh how I loved this trip. It confirmed to my why I love the city so much. This was also the time that Gala & I first starting talking about doing ‘some kind of blogging workshop weekend retreat kinda event thinggumy ‘ together. I also basically started planning to go back as soon as we got there…
There wasn’t much time for rest when I got home though as the week after I flew to Prague to hang out with La Carmina!
♥ Wedding of the Month: The Minecraft wedding
Photography Credit: The Goodness
♥ Notable Highlights:
Tropical paradise boho wedding
Mythical gothic anniversary shoot
60s inspired Easter wedding
♥ Green Room greats:
I shared some tips for really effective wedding blog advertising
Gareth made the entire wedding industry sob uncontrollably with his ‘‘If you love her let her grow’ article
Knowing when to quit
June
June saw yet ANOTHER School of Rock – this time in Birmingham. It was awesome to have Emma & Pete there to photograph and Lee & Dawn to film it. Awwww. I love the photos & video so much !
♥ Wedding of the Month: Tattoos, Skulls & Baroque n Roll!
Photography Credit: Lisa Jane Photography
♥ Notable Highlights:
The bridal shop experience & how to come out alive
A zombie apocalypse engagement shoot
Are babies the next logical step?
Should you take your husband’s surname when you marry?
♥ Green Room greats:
How couples chose their wedding suppliers – the statistics don’t lie!
Copying, copyright and the creation of trends within the wedding industry . This video changed my perception of ‘copycats’ remarkably!
Why you should be hated
Phew what a start! Be sure to pop back on Friday for part two – July to December!
You May Also Like
2009 – The Year That Was {Part Two}
Kat
December 31, 2009
The Cimbo Limbo posts continue with part deux of the grand review of 2009. Brace yourselves for the July to December extravaganza people!
♥ Jenny & Johnny were way to stylish and way to cool to exclude from this list. If I had a face like hers I'd certainly be rocking the girl-hawk hair do. A Ring bearing ninja, the motorbike portraits and the tattoo-inspired
Read more...
2009 – The Year That Was {Part One}
Kat
December 30, 2009
As is customary at this time of year, I wanted to take some time to look back over the last 12 months and share with you some of my most favourite weddings, photo shoots and features. I think you'll be hard pushed to not find something that makes you go 'ooooh' amongstthis lot. Enjoy a-reminiscing! I'll be back tomorrow with part 2 (there's too much to narrow it down to just one post!) I'm also taking this slow blog-time (I like to refer to it as 'Crimbo Limbo' (!) to ponder my ideas and plans for Rock n Roll Bride in 2010. I'll try and share my musings for the year ahead with you soon and would love for you to let me know what you think. It's all about you dear reader after all...
Read more...
Been Done? Who Cares?
Kat
July 8, 2009
You know this about me already but I'm a huge activist for being yourself on your wedding day, however crazy, out there or even mundane (oh yes) that may be. As all the veteran readers will know, I ran a contest for free wedding photography a while back, and have now gotten to know our winners pretty well. I was chatting to the Bride to be, Vana, on the phone the other day for no joke, literally an hour about all things wedding (jeez that gal can talk he he!) and I'm sure she won't mind me telling you this, she was running a few of her newest wedding ideas by me to ask my opinion as to whether I thought they had 'been done' (for some reason she thinks I must be some kind of expert on such things…)
I said this to her, and on her recommendation I am now going to say this to all of you...do not worry about tack, or about being over the top or if something you really want seems to be springing up everywhere in blog-land, and has therefore ‘been done’. Just remember this teeny tiny pearl of wisdom…Your guests won't have been scoring the Internet looking for wedding ideas for the last year so will have no idea if something has 'been done' or not!
To me, our wedding was not completely nuts. We kept it quite simple with a black and white theme and a few personal touches, but we had so many people saying to us it was the most stylish and cool wedding they had ever been too...they hadn't spent the last year looking at other people's weddings and comparing themselves after all!
So don't doubt yourself... Are you lusting after that cute Stephanie James Couturedress but are worried that in 10 years time the cute short dress look will look as dated as the poofy sleeved meringues of the 80’s? Pah, if I got married in the 80’s I would have wanted to remember the 80’s…2008 was the greatest year of my life and I want to remember that year through my wedding pictures.
Have you have been dying to have cupcakes as your wedding cake ever since you started planning your wedding, but are worried because now everybodyseems to be doing it? Well a lot of people that are getting married may be yes, but everybody in the entire world?...erm no.
Are you worried that your wedding isn’t cool enough because you spend all day looking at weddings that seen so much crazier/chicer than yours? (You are not alone by the way, I felt the exact same thing) You are more likely to regret planning a wedding in a style that wasn’t really ‘you’ than one that perfectly matches you and your fiancé’s tastes.
So quit stressing about what other people will think and just do it already...and then send me the photographs afterwards!
Now for a couple of trends I love and therefore don't care if they've 'been done'. Let me know if I've missed any of your favourites!
Read more...
Rock n Roll Bride for Crown and Glory: Autumn/Winter 2013
Kat
October 21, 2013
Not content with just doing one collection together, Sophie of Crown and Glory and I decided early on in our collaboration that an Autumn/Winter range would need to be on the cards. Of course I love the rainbow, neon pop insanity of the first collection but I was also really excited to get a little bit deep, dark and moody for this second incarnation
Read more...
Thursday Treats: Silliness in Santorini, Madness in Mykonos, Loonies in London!
Kat
September 12, 2013
Oh my God, I'm BACK! I know it's a terrible cliché but these past two weeks have been a whirlwind of epic proportions. From Reading to Santorini to Mykonos to London (where we taught two back-to-back workshops no less, what were we thinking?!) Gala, Shauna and I haven't had much time to rest, but we've had the time of our lives in the process.
Read more...
Blog Love – David McNeil Photography
Kat
December 3, 2008
Read more...
Goodbye San Francisco, Hello Chicago!
Kat
Kristin Cofer
May 15, 2014
Hello beautiful! This update comes to you from a very chilly Chicago, where I'm sat in my Air B&B digs with Gala and Shauna, hiding from the weather and planning our adventures in this brand new city.
Read more...
It’s My Birthday and I’m Giving *You* a Gift!
Kat
made u look
April 7, 2015
Yay it's my birthday! Although I do feel really bloody old now. I'm THIRRRRTYY freakin' ONE! OMG I'm totally ancient.
Although this time last year I was definitely struggling with the thought of leaving my 20s behind, the past twelve months have been awesome (hello! I now have a magazine in actual shops!) Nothing actually really changes the older you get, does it? I mean, you're still you. You still have complete control over what you wear, how you act, and what you do. I have no plans to dye my hair a more respectable colour or to stop dancing in sequins on beaches!
Read more...
