Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

Kat

Mexican Art Wedding: Kirsta & Alec

Kat

February 13, 2012

Kirsta & Alec's Arizona wedding had a Mexican art theme. Being married in an arts centre and with a mutual love of travel and other cultures (they met while working in an orphanage in Kenya) the idea of having this vibe for their wedding just felt right. "We met working at an orphanage in rural Kenya," Kirsta told me. "Luck would have it that both our loves of travel and adventure lead us to being in the same remote place at the same time. We just happened to be placed as roommates and the rest is history! We fell in love over working with kids, farming projects, and other development work. After moving back to the States to live in Seattle for a year, we got the itch to live abroad again and moved to South Korea so that I could teach. We had a series of serious discussions (neither of us really 'proposed') and decided that we wanted to make it official. In April, we had an awesome little Embassy wedding in Seoul totally by ourselves. We knew we'd be going back to the US for the holidays, so it felt like a natural time to have a bigger ceremony with our families and friends. The whole idea behind having a second wedding was simply to have a big party to celebrate with those people that we love and miss so much while we are off adventuring."
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DIY Tutorial: ‘Be Mine’ Tattoo Heart Valentine’s Cupcake Toppers by Restoration Cake

Kat

February 13, 2012

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, I fancied sneaking in an extra bonus DIY tutorial for you just before the big day. Get yourself to the supermarket sharpish and make these cute Valentine's themed cupcake toppers for your beau (and if you buy the cupcakes to put them on I promise not to tell...) Thank you to the amazing Charlotte of Restoration Cake for the awesomeness. She would also like to offer all readers of Rock n Roll Bride 10% off any wedding cake order placed after seeing this feature. Simply email Charlotte on info@restorationcake.co.uk with the subject header ROCKNROLLBRIDEOFFER. Charlotte will also randomly pick one of you to receive a whopping 50% off your wedding cake (more info at the bottom on this post).
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Watch out America, The Pink One is Coming : Las Vegas Edition

Kat

February 12, 2012

So part two of my American Adventure™ is underway! Last August Gareth & I globe-trotted over to Omaha and LA, and this week I'm off to Las Vegas for 2 weeks! I'm heading out for the WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Photographers International) conference and as it's such a long way to go, Lisa, David & I thought we'd extend our trip into a little holiday too...oh do a photo shoot with Gala & Nubby! I am SO EXCITED. It's the first time in a long time that I will have been away from Gareth for such an extended period though...sad face. I hope he and the kittens don't destroy the house in my absence. Keep an eye him via his twitter would ya?
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Thursday Treats – 9th February 2012: Vegas Countdown & Headshot Outtakes

Kat

February 9, 2012

Isn't the photo at the top of this post beautiful? It's one of my best friends, Katie, who got engaged at Christmas and is getting married in March (they're doing it so quickly and it's well exiting!) Photographer Lisa Jane came to Reading last week to do their engagement shoot and after seeing just this one frame on her blog I can't wait for the rest! I also asked Lisa if she could do some new headshots for me. I'm keeping most of them offline for now, but some of the outtakes were so funny I had to share them...
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A Colourful DIY Wedding: Rhian & Toan

Kat

February 8, 2012

My favourite wedding photographs are those with happy smiling faces in them. The ones that when I look at them, I hazard a guess that people's faces were aching at the end of the day from grinning so much. Now obviously most weddings are full of joy and smiles, but I think Rhian & Toan might win the 'most smiley' prize. Big cheesy grins all round! "We absolutely love our wedding photos, and genuinely couldn’t be happier with them," begin Rhian. "We had a very tight budget for everything, but photography was the one thing I wouldn't skimp on the quality. I love it so much in my day to day life I knew the value of getting good ones done for the big day. When I saw Shell de Mar’s portfolio I could see straight away that she has a beautiful eye for detail and lots of talent. We like to think that we found an excellent photographer who happened to do weddings, rather than a ‘wedding photographer’."
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The Inspirations: La Carmina

Kat

February 8, 2012

Reading the work of other bloggers is so important to me. I spend at least an hour a day (and often more!) catching up with my favourite non-wedding bloggers. I find they really help me stay inspired and not get trapped in the 'wedding industry bubble'. It's nice to feel a part of the 'real world' (however wacky!) too...otherwise I'd go mental. These other bloggers help me to keep what I do fresh and therefore enables my blogging to be more rounded - so thank you non-wedding bloggers!
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A Help Yourself, Village Fete Wedding in Cornwall: Rosalie & Fergus

Kat

February 8, 2012

Rosalie & Fergus had a sweet homespun wedding in Cornwall. "The whole ethos was to get all our creative friends and family together for a two week holiday in Cornwall," the bride explained. "The deal was, that they spent the first week, sewing, making, cooking, baking and generally doing anything and everything - then we had a massive great wedding/party which continued for the rest of the week. I don't think they feel used, it was a great vibe and a really chilled way to organise a wedding."
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Table Top Treats from Mateus

Kat

February 7, 2012

Pinterest has a lot to answer for. I've spent many an hour gushing over my 'Pinterest house' whilst ignoring the pile of washing up/my extensive floordrobe/the DIY jobs in my 'real-life house'. Well haven't we all? A little word of warning, if you've been trying to curb your additction I'm afraid today's spotlight post isn't going to help you on your road to recovery AT ALL (sorry about that). I've just been introduced to the work of Swedish design company Mateus. These cereamics and table top treats would be perfect in my Pinterest house. Let me illustrate...
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Stack ’em High, Sell ’em Cheap

Kat

February 7, 2012

If you're anything like me, walking into your favourite store with the notion of treating oneself is a regular occurrence. The feeling of excitement is even more heightened when it's a store I can't really afford, but I know I can get one tiny little thing which will make me feel extravagant (my favourite is Vivienne Westwood on Conduit St by the way, what's yours?) Invariably its not the designer frocks and overpriced couture selection I'm, drawn to, its the more disposable and affordable items - I'm talking perfume (£40), costume jewellery (£100) and if you're a Vivienne Westwood fiend like me the Melissa shoes (£120). Doesn't it feel great to be handed over that fancy designer carrier bag knowing that the item inside (no matter now small) is yours!?
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A ‘Make Do & Mend’ Wedding: Rosie & James

Kat

February 7, 2012

I actually saw Rosie & James' wedding in the archives of Adam, of Viva Wedding Photography's, own blog. I dropped him a line to say I was sure another wedding blogger must have featured it when he first published the photos, but just on the off-chance...and to my utter surprise he said they hadn't! I have to say, I was thrilled. This wedding has a serious amount of cuteness. The wedding may have taken place in 2009, but it's still hella inspirational!
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Something Borrowed Something Roo: When it all Goes Wrong…

Kat

February 6, 2012

When I got a text from Roo just before Christmas saying "erm...I think we might have to cancel our wedding...our wedding venue is being shut down" my heart skipped a beat. You know when people say "oh I know exactly how you feel..." but actually, really, they don't? Well in this case I could reply those words with utmost sincerity. Our wedding venue pulled out of our wedding just three months before our day. That's a story for another time, but I did have 100% confidence in my reply "Roo, everything with be OKAY. You won't have to cancel your wedding"...
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A Colourful Barn Wedding: Paul & Hayley

Kat

February 6, 2012

Paul & Hayley planned their wedding in just four months! They were engaged in July and wanted a winter wedding but the didn't want to have to wait a whole year...so a speedy engagement it was! They were married in November at Vauxhall Farm in Suffolk. "We decided that we wanted to decorate the reception ourselves and bring in caterers so Vauxhall Farm was perfect, " Hayley told me. "It was essentially a big empty barn in the middle of some fields! Our thoughts for the venue styling was lots of colour and lots and lots of fairy lights!! We found lots of vases and lanterns and filled them with fairy lights and strung more lights across the ceiling as well. Our table names were pubs that we love. So we painted the inside of photo frames with chalkboard paint and wrote the names on there, we then gave our guests chalk so that they could wipe off the table name and have some fun!! Someone said that our tables looked like children's party!"
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A Sunday Kind of Love: Kids on Marriage

Kat

February 5, 2012

♥ Overcoming my Skype phobia ♥ plans plans plans! ♥ shoots shoots shoots! ♥ having a full week at home - I didn't have to go to London ONCE! Bliss... ♥ kitties crazy on catnip ♥ slanket snuggles & cuteness ♥ having my hair all cute again - beautified by Elbie ♥ all you can eat sushi!! ♥ blog love ♥ thinking about feminism & business...and missing Megan (but getting excited that I'm going to see her again SOON!) ♥
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DIY Tutorial: Seriously Cute Fabric Bow-Tie

Kat

February 4, 2012

I love this super adorbs fabric bow-tie tutorial from Chloe Adlington of Adore by Chloe. I think they would be perfect for your fiance, his groomsmen... or even your pets to wear at your wedding (check out the sweet doggie photo at the end of the post!) Plus, once you've mastered the making the bow, why not use them to make something for yourself? You could add it to a headband, attach them to a belt, make it into a brooch... The bow-y possibilities are endless! Have fun! Over to you Chloe...
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Wedding Traditions & Deciding What’s Important

Kat

February 3, 2012

I put a shout out on my Facebook page to ask if any of you we're struggling with anything wedding planning-wise and if I could help. A couple of you mentioned wedding traditions, namely how to decide which to include and which to scrap altogether. I have a few ideas on the subject... Remember, it's your wedding There is a recurring theme throughout nearly all of the weddings I feature - that the couples wanted to have a wedding that was a true reflection of themselves...their likes and dislikes, their relationship, their personal style, their life influences. I believe that deciding which wedding traditions to include or ignore should also be totally dependent on you and what you value as being important to your wedding day.
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