A Theme Park Wedding: Shirley & Elijah

Kat

April 30, 2012

Shirley & Elijah love going to theme parks and Disneyland so when it came to choosing a theme for for their wedding it was the obvious choice. "Our wedding was full of vibrant colors," the bride wrote. "We went for the overall theme of a theme park called 'Shirlijahland'. Every aspect of the wedding played off this. Our food was an upscale version of carnival food and our flowers were inspired by wands, pin-wheels, and lollipops. My dress and the dresses of my bridesmaids were fun and whimsical. We wanted people to be blown away and to share in a part of our quirky personalities."

Batman, Fish & Beards – A Party-Hard Nightclub Wedding: Dustin & Morgan

Kat

April 30, 2012

You'd be shocked at the number of emails I recieve from brides-to-be who tell me they love my site and the weddings I feature but that they're worried that their wedding will somehow not 'measure up' or be 'as cool' as the weddings they see online. My response to these girls is always the same: your wedding is not a 'coolness' competition or a chance to show off. Your wedding is for you and your partner and it will be awesome because you are awesome. The love is the most important thing, not the amazing centrepieces, the quirky stationery or the beautiful dress. These things are meant to enhance your day for you, to be fun and exciting, they do not and will not define anything other than that. So why did I want to mention that again today? Well Dustin & Morgan's wedding is pretty much the epitome of Rock n Roll awesome. It wasn't detail-heavy or wedding blog pretty - it was just a seriously awesome party! It celebrated their love in their way and they were 100% unapologetic about that fact... And you know what? It's one of my favourite weddings that's I've featured in a long time! So, forget about the bunting, the mason jars or the designer frock and focus on what's important - the LOVE (and in this case, the dancing)...

A Glitter Bridal/Trash the Dress Shoot

Kat

April 30, 2012

For her bridal shoot Emma wanted to do something different, and after buying a simple dress she decided to alter it herself as part of the shoot. Scissors, glitter and metallic spray paint all played a role, and I have to say I think I actually prefer the dress afterwards! How about you?

School of Rock Blogging Workshop at Muddifords Court, Devon

Kat

April 29, 2012

This week Gareth & I trotted off to Muddifords Court in Devon to host a School of Rock blogging workshop. As always I was super nervous on the drive down, but once we arrived and met Becky, Nicky & Pip my mind was put at ease. They were all so utterly lovely and made us feel extremely welcome! My four hour presentation went super quickly and, if I do say so myself, pretty swimmingly. There were so many questions which always makes me happy, and the attendees were all smiling and nodding along with what I was saying which is always a good sign I reckon!

DIY Tutorial: Cinemagraphs Using Photoshop

Kat

April 28, 2012

I've been obsessing over cinemagraphs for ages - in essence they are still images with a small isolated section that moves. When you first see them they're quite confusing but totally entrancing! I've always wondered how they were made and how you can get essentially a still image to have bits of moving video within it but today (eeek) my questions have been answered. When I was sent this Photoshop tutorial by photographer Violet Short I literally gasped. Check out this cute one she made of her dog Marshmallow!

Shooting Your Passion: A Guest Post by Steve Gerrard

Kat

April 27, 2012

In a previous life I stumbled into a career as a club DJ that took me around the world, saw me open for Oasis at Wembley Stadium and release my own mix CD (if you're interested it's called Thinking Out Loud and you can probably get it in your local charity shop for about 50p!) I loved every minute of it but none of it was really planned. It developed naturally from my love of music. And from me wanting to share music with anybody who'd listen. My passion became my career. And quite a successful one at that.

A Scottish Loch-Side Wedding: Wayne & Mac

Kat

April 27, 2012

Wayne & Mac were married at The Lodge at Loch Goil in Scotland. The beautiful venue and epic scenery really defined their gorgeous wedding. Newlywed Mac told me all about their fabulous day. "Rock n Roll Bride was a favourite blog for my when planning my weddings! It was a bit of a godsend actually as all the standard wedding websites and magazines made me feel a bit nauseas with twitterings on about favours and general frilly pinkness. Wayne and I are both fairly scruffy monkeys that don't do a lot of dressing up so we were keen to have a do that catered to us and our friends tastes. We wanted a fairly small wedding with close friends and family to have a chance of spending time with them rather than a quick 5 minutes that some mates had endured at their bigger do's. And we wanted to get some time together! The original plan was poking around a snow wedding in Norway or away snowboarding but the practicalities of shipping 20 plus people north or to mountains proved epic, and Wayne chipped in his 'must haves' of Scotland, bagpipes, and being able to keep his mutton chop sideys. We stumbled across The Lodge at Loch Goil during my many productive hours at work Googling and from our first visit adored it. Alice Gill, the head planner, and her assistant Kelly sorted out pretty much everything from their list of regular bookings - they do in-house catering (even with our veggie and gluten bothering mates), a resident florist and use local staff and suppliers for as much as possible including their own kitchen garden in the grounds."

Thursday Treats: 26th April 2012 – Radical Self Love & The Photography Farm

Kat

April 26, 2012

Eugh what's with the weather this week!? As I write thing the rain is banging down on my office window and it's all looking a bit minging out there. Good job it's time for Thursday Treats - let's bring some much needed sunshine to this miserable day! I also hope the photo at the top of this post adds some laughs to your day. Naughty Gareth! I love this shoot we did with Tinywater Photography while we were in LA last August (more here). Having cute photos to remember your trips is proper cool. We're off to New York next week and yes we have a shoot with another of my favourite wedding photographers scheduled for while we're there. I can't wait!

The Rainbow Wedding to End all Rainbow Weddings: Jen & Ben

Kat

April 26, 2012

I think most of you will be aware by now that I love love love a rainbow wedding...why pick one or two colours when you can pick twenty seven!? So as you can imagine I squealed like a small child on Christmas morning when Jen & Ben's wedding landed in my inbox. If I was less of a chatterbox I'd say that 'I had no words' when I saw these images...but in actual fact I had all the words in the world flying around my head as I made my selections for this blog post...

A Cute n Colourful Danish Engagement: Jakob & Majken

Kat

April 26, 2012

"When I first met Majken & Jakob, I immediately felt in love," Danish wedding photographer Amanda Thomsen wrote. "It is not a secret that I love colours and a style that shows personality. Well, as you can see these two wonderful people had that, and on top of it all, they where so warm and funny that I felt like I had known them for a long time."

A Masquerade Wedding: Zoe & Chris

Kat

April 25, 2012

Many couples shy away from heavily themed weddings, but I have to say when they're done well they can be darn right incredible. Zoe & Chris' masquerade wedding is testament to that! The Australian couple met before the ceremony with their closest family to have some quiet time, as well as time for photographs, before the festivities began. "Chris collected me from the hotel and we went to meet our close family at a beautiful inner city garden to crack some champagne and make a toast to the rest of the night," Zoe explained. "This was a beautiful opportunity to spend some time with those closest to us before the party began. We got some beautiful photos in the afternoon light as well."

The Inspirations: David McNeil

Kat

April 25, 2012

Wedding photographer David McNeil and I have been friends for a long time, waaaay before I started my blog or he started shooting weddings. We worked together at the shopping channel and having someone, basically alongside me for the whole time I've run my business, has been pretty amazing. We've advised each other (David is notoriously brilliant at advice!) and seen each other grow into our businesses and make a success of our passions. It's been pretty magical really. We've shot together, we've traveled to Vegas together and we've learnt a serious amount of stuff about this crazy little industry of ours together. So, who better to interview this week than the man that I've seen start from diddly squat and grow into his business like a complete and utter pro?

A 1950s-Inspired Shoot with a Brightly Coloured Modern Twist

Kat

April 25, 2012

1950s wedding inspiration isn't going anywhere, but these days I'm loving seeing shoots that have taken from this era but added a modern twist to it. Whether that be with bright pops of colour, modern accessories or quirky details (aren't the bouquets in the shoot the coolest?!) This shoot organised by The Sugared Saffron Cake Company and certainly landed smack bang in the middle of this new-wave of modern vintage styling. I'm thrilled to share it with you today.

Find Your Wedding Photographer with Specialens

Kat

April 24, 2012

Struggling to find a wedding photographer? After something very specific that you haven't been able to find? Well give Specialens, a website that specalises in sharing wedding photographers, a try? "We are solely focused on helping brides-to-be find their special wedding photographer in as fun and easy a way as possible." they say. "When we first had the idea of Specialens, the main thing we had in mind was to create a unique approach. We tried to incorporate all the questions and criteria a newlywed couple could possible ask when searching for their wedding photographer."

Measuring Success & Being Grateful

Kat

April 24, 2012

Last week I was invited back to my University to give a talk on blogging and social media, which I wrote about here. Quite apart from the usual nerves and the unusual emotions of being back there, it started me thinking about success or more-so how one might quantify it. On the way I texted my best friend, who I'd met at Uni, to tell her where I was. "Ahhh how exciting," she replied "How long since we left, 6 years? How the hell did we both end up all successful and stuff?" and so I started writing this article in my head...

A Colour Pop Bridal Shoot

Kat

April 24, 2012

"Waking up to a dark sky and torrential rain, the day started with two long suffering, bare foot models scampering through puddles and sheltering under crochet blankets", photographer Becky Mitchell wrote. Luckily for all involved the shoot was to be held indoors, in an old school building. The inspiration for this shoot came from wanting to create something simple but delicate, pretty and soft - pastels juxtaposed with a bold and bright and neon edge.

A DIY Beach Wedding: Jaq & Patto

Kat

April 23, 2012

A Picnic Wedding: Alex & Denise

Kat

April 23, 2012

The inspiration for Alex & Denise's Brighton wedding was for it to be "just like a big picnic". They used local suppliers (including the caterers who used local produce and supplied locally produced champagne) where possible and DIY'ed the rest! "Our inspiration was for it to be like a big picnic - although without having to sit on the floor!" Denise told me. "I found mini picnic baskets that were used as the centrepiece on each table. These were filled with chutney, pickles and breadsticks. We wanted the wedding to be really relaxed – I've always disliked formal situations. I also wanted there to be lots of colour. For the meal we had a blanket set up on the floor for any children that got bored of the adults. We also did a play area with a wigwam, dress up box and colouring books. Although on the day they mainly opted for running around the field like lunatics."

An ‘Old Soul’ Bridal Shoot: Bella Angelina

Kat

April 23, 2012

There are few things I love more than a beautiful pink haired bride. So when Bella Angelina's (yes, I know, best name ever!) bridal shoot sent over by Veronica Lane Photography I was thrilled. "Angelina is a locally known artist who also teaches art classes to children at the one of the galleries in Chatham-Kent, Ontario (Canada)," Veronica told me. "Angelina has been 'pink' for 6 years and has no intention of letting the look fade away any time soon. She did her own hair and makeup for the session and made the white wedding dress shown in the photos herself!"

A Sunday Kind of Love: Ulyana Sergeenko’s Spring/Summer 2012 Collection

Kat

April 22, 2012

After falling head over heels for her 2011 collection, I wasn't sure my love for Russian fashion designer Ulyana Sergeenko could grow any more. However I stand well and truly corrected as her 2012 designs have floored me.