Their wedding plans were already very much in motion when George and Kirk attended Rock n Roll Bride Live in 2024. But when they ended up winning a prize package including photography by Lorna Newman, a dress by Lucy Can’t Dance and a custom veil by Holly Winter Couture, they knew just a quick trip to the register office wasn’t going to cut it anymore.

“We had a big wedding in Norfolk, and our London date was was originally just the official bit and meant to be a bit of a bolt on. The date chosen because its the closest one we could get to our Norfolk party”, George told us. “We’d booked the register office in Camden which just happens to be pretty special for me as I’ve seen some amazing live music there, and the Electric Ballroom is probably my favourite venue. Music and especially live music is super important. I had the logo of my favourite band, Therapy?, embroidered on my veil, because apparently just tattoos doesn’t convey to the world I love them quite enough… Kirk also loves Camden and it’s somewhere we’d visited as a family, so we booked in. Then when I won the Rock n Roll Bride Live prize and the whole London bit started taking on a whole different life.”

George selected iridescent sequin dress with a black slip and worked closely with Holly Winter to get her veil just perfect. She also made her own bouquet using an embroidery hoop, wrapped with collars from pets that had recently passed. “We were very adamant that we wouldn’t constrain ourselves to a theme”, she continued. “Two decades ago I got married for the first time and back then wanting to do anything non-mainstream was so hard. I didn’t wear white then either and I found most bridal shops struggled with that concept. This time around the suppliers we found were so much more open minded. Having people like Holly Winter going above and beyond on my veil was incredible. Want the logo of an obscure northern Irish band on your veil? No worries. Oh and a Charles Bukowski sketch embroidered on the other side? Yup, that’s just another yes!”

After the ceremony and photos around some favourite spots in Camden, they returned to their hotel, ordered food, and stayed put for the 24 hours! “That there is no part of the process or the day itself that has to be done!” the bride concluded. “It’s your wedding, do what feels right to you. People will ask you why you’re not doing this or that, just remember that you don’t have to justify any of your choices. Also keep reminding yourself that the planning (and event itself) will only be as stressful as you allow it to be.”

“But our biggest piece of advice to other couples would be to be open to change. When I won the Rock n Roll Bride prize that totally blew the wedding wide open. Elements that would have been wouldn’t-it-be-nice-if became feasible, which in turn changed how we did things. London became a much bigger part of the overall celebrations and we’re now so grateful we got to have this experience too.”