How to Avoid Burn-Out: A Guest Post by Chanelle Segerius-Bruce

Kat

February 3, 2012

I arrived at the party, having had my hair blow dried and a coral pink ruffled dress picked out especially for the occasion. The doorman walked up to my black cab, opened the door and welcomed me to The Dorchester. I made my way up to the very top floor in the opulently decorated elevator and, after having my coat taken care of, was offered a glass of bubbly. I was to brush shoulders with the 'Best of British' that evening. This was a party hosted by none other than Mark Niemeirko, the UK's top wedding planner, in honor of Darcy Miller the editor of Martha Stewart Weddings. A selection of the best UK bloggers where there too, including the lovely Kat of course, as well as florists, hair & make-up artists and best of all the big name bridal designers. This is networking at it's finest ladies and gentlemen!

A Casual & Intimate Outdoor Wedding: Michael & Mariko

Kat

February 3, 2012

Michael asked Mariko to marry him at a festival, "in a trashed tent with some beers, talking with some friends about relationships and life," he told me. "You know… those most profound things you talk about at festivals. It was just the right moment." So then they had their wedding theme - a festival style, party wedding! "We wanted our wedding to be intimate, nothing big, loud or expensive," Micheal continued. "The most important thing was that we were getting married and be together forever, to share our love with the people we love, all our friends and family."

Thursday Treats – 2nd February 2012: Viva Las Vegas!

Kat

February 2, 2012

Happy February! I have a feeling this month is going to be more than amazing because in 13 days I'm going to Las Vegas baby!! I'll be there for WPPI - Wedding & Portrait Photographers International - i.e. a kick ass event in which 15,000 wedding photographers descend on Vegas for a week of learning and partying! Some of the most amazing wedding photographers are speaking... Jasmine Star, Jose Villa, Elizabeth Messina, Becker, The Greys... and so many photographers that I've only 'met' online are going to be there too (any of you reading this right now? Let me know in the comments and we'll try and meet!)

A Laid Back, New Age, Irish Wedding: Britta & Oscar

Kat

February 2, 2012

When I grow up I want to be as cool as Britta & Oscar please. They not only got married at their own home in Dunmanway, Ireland but they put the whole wedding together themselves including building their own marquee! "We built the structure with ash poles and tied tarpaulin to the poles with zip ties and lots of rope," Britta explained." It would not have been possible without the help of our friends especially Will Dukes who pretty much did most of the hard work as Oscar had broken his leg a few weeks before the wedding.... convenient you might say!"

A Relaxed Wedding Under Canvas: Gwen & Ali

Kat

February 2, 2012

Without wanting to start off this blog post by sounding inappropriate...How smokin' hot does Gwen look her her Fairy Goth Mother corset and skirt combo? VERY is the answer to that. Have you seen her teeny tiny little waist!? Anyway, enough perving...let's get along with the formalities shall we? Gwen & Ali wanted a unique and personal wedding, and to achieve this they chose to hire tents from Beautiful World Tents which they erected on the grounds of Knepp Castle in West Grinstead. "After looking online at lots of venues and land hire this place looked perfect," Gwen told me. "This was actually the only venue we went to see and the decision was made! Woodland, a lake, less than an hour from Brighton where we live, full kitchen facilities and more importantly stunning! The other added benefit was free roaming animal, pigs, deer and much more besides. It was incredibly beautiful and also very reasonable on costs. We found the location through the tent company and added bonus this being their headquarters which meant no delivery costs to get the tents to the venue. On the land we had 2 giant hat tents joined together facing down to the lake. You hire the land and facilities for the whole weekend, really handy for set-up and take down."

A Two-Day Hindu & Catholic Wedding: Lucy & Vish {Part Two}

Kat

February 1, 2012

After the festivities of their Hindu ceremony, Lucy & Vish woke up on the Saturday morning ready to do it all again - this time in a Catholic church. The ceremony was held at St Patrick's RC Church, Manchester, with the reception that followed back at St Peter's Hall. Their Catholic wedding has very British influences - from high tea to xx. Lucy wore a vintage wedding dress from Elizabeth Avey. "I knew I wanted a vintage Betty Draper-esque dress, as the 50s is my style era! Elizabeth's was my first stop, which was ideal as it was only up the road from where I live in Kentish Town. Although I didn't find the dress straight away, Elizabeth knew exactly what I wanted and told me to return in a few weeks as she was due to get in more pieces. I'm so glad I went back as when I returned she pulled out THE dress, which was an original 50s number, fresh from LA! Although she needed a clean she was in pristine condition for her 60 years! It was originally a drop waist dress but the lovely ladies at Designer Alterations raised the waist to make it m

A Two-Day Hindu & Catholic Wedding: Lucy & Vish {Part One}

Kat

February 1, 2012

This afternoon's wedding is being split into two parts. I'm not usually a huge fan of the two-parter, but there's just so much going on in Lucy & Vish's weekend-long wedding I did't want anything to get overlooked! On Friday 28th October they had a Hindu wedding ceremony and reception, and then the following day, they had a catholic ceremony and another reception! First up, the Friday... The day started with a ceremony at St Peter's Hall, Manchester. "We always knew we would have a wedding of 2 parts as we wanted to honour both of our cultures and religions," Lucy told me, "so we chose to have a traditional Hindu Blessing on the Friday followed by a Church wedding on the Saturday, an epic 2-day wedding!"

The Inspirations: Nubby Twiglet

Kat

February 1, 2012

I discovered Nubby Twiglet around the same time as stumbled across Gala's blog. I fell in love with her enviable personal style, and like any good internet stalker I loved her daily blog updates - from her clothes she wore to the pretty fonts she designed. Then, in 2010, when I decided to rebrand Rock n Roll Bride, I knew there was only one graphic designer I wanted to work with. Luckily for me she was able to squeeze me into her crazy-busy schedule and the rest, as they say, is history! Since my logo and website overhaul we've also worked together on my media pack as well as Rock n Roll Bride Magazine...and yes, we are working on issue two right now (sneak peek at the end of this interview). AND in just 3 weeks time she, Gala and I just happen to be in Las Vegas at the same time so we're going to hang out in (OMG) actual real life...AND do a photo shoot together (squeeee!) Jesus, I must get my fan-girlness in check before that happens...

A Simple & Homely Wedding in Milan: Roberto & Cherie

Kat

February 1, 2012

Italian Roberto & Chinese Cherie planned their Milan wedding from other sides of the world, "Until 2 months before the wedding, we had lived in 2 different countries (Hong Kong and UK) for 16 months, " Cherie told me. "I had taken a sabbatical to spend time with my family in Hong Kong and the majority of our ideas exchange and planning was done on email or Skype. We found the organising super boring, couldn’t wait to party on the day!" The couple met in London and so filmed their Save the Date video in the city, and they actually ended up having two weddings (the Italian one pictured and another in Hpng Kong) so it really was a multicultural, multinational affair!

Affordable Bridesmaids Dresses & Accessories from Girls of Elegance

Kat

January 31, 2012

Launched in 2004, Girls of Elegance are one of the UK's leading suppliers of affordable bridesmaid dresses, wedding shoes and bridal accessories. After trading solely online for the past 8 years, in August last year they launched their first dedicated wedding shoe showroom in Dorset, and February will also sees them taking on Charlotte Balbier wedding gowns into their boutique.

A Black & White, Boutique Hotel Wedding: Abbi & Jools

Kat

January 31, 2012

After a cliff top proposal, Abbi & Jools, who met while working at the Cadbury factory, planned their 5* boutique wedding at The Hempel Hotel, London. "Jools and I met 8 years ago, when we both started working for Cadbury. Clearly, having a Cadbury chocolate/sweetie bar at the wedding was obligatory!" Abbi explained. "We got engaged in Australia, on a cliff top on the Great Ocean Road, while sitting on a bench and eating some delicious cake. When Jools said 'I've got a question to ask you', I replied 'Do you want the rest of my cake?' Usually he would have jumped at the opportunity - but instead went down on one knee... to which I responded 'oh my God oh my God oh my God... where shall I put the cake?' I put it on the ground. It was fine. I ate it later."

Pushing Boundaries with Website Design, Going Against the Grain & Making your Visitors Work a Little Harder…

Kat

January 31, 2012

Confession: I've been trying to write this article for a while, in fact ever since we launched The Green Room at the beginning of the month. However I keep putting it off because it's a difficult subject for me to actually to get my head around, and an even more taxing matter to try and explain my jumbled up thought process to you...In fact I'm 99% sure I will come across as a bit of a douche - hence the article-writing-hesitation. I basically want to talk a little bit about web design, and specifically about making your website design different, but more than that - a challenge to the people visiting it and why I think this is a positive thing. This is probably a subject that, on first inspection, the majority of you will decide that I'm clearly mental, and be of the opinion that it's best to make our websites as clear and easy for visitors (and potential clients) to navigate as possible. Well maybe yes, however let me explain why I'm teetering on the other side of the fence right now...

A Rock n Roll Shoot & Iron Fist Ruby Slippers: Cat & Louis

Kat

January 31, 2012

It started with those ruby slippers. When wedding photographer Kat Forsyth first laid eyes on the Iron Fist beauties, she knew she had to do a photo shoot styled around them. "I’m not even a shoe girl, and I hardly ever wear heels, but hot damn, I wanted everything on the Iron Fist website," Kat wrote. "I couldn’t get the ruby slippers out of my head, so a few weeks later I popped into a shop to see them in person. Well, the only pair left was the display pair, and they were one size too small for me. But they were On Sale. On Sale for one fifth of the original price! So in order to justify the purchase, I decided I would buy them to use in a shoot one day. Photographing them’s just as good as wearing them, right? In fact, better, because it’d be more comfy!"

A Shamanic Wedding Ceremony in Guatemala: Daniela & Mark

Kat

January 30, 2012

How utterly beautiful is today's real wedding? This is the kind of wedding that makes my heart sing - no fuss, no details, no over-the-top-bridezilla-stresses - just the most important thing...love. The bride, Daniela, told me all about their special day. "There were only the two of us at the ceremony, the lady who married us, the lady who owned the land and our photographer. The ceremony itself lasted about 1.5 hrs and consisted of several parts: lighting the fire, being cleansed with special leaves and incense, hearing the 20 nahuales of the Mayan Calendar being read out, telling each other our love and exchanging our rings, being wrapped in a green shawl which represented Gaia. We began and ended the ceremony with chocolate, a block of which was also burned in the fire. Chocolate is sacred in Mayan culture."

A-Rockin’ & A-Rollin’, Bushy Park Engagement Shoot: Theo & Lisa

Kat

January 30, 2012

Hold the phones! This might be one of the cutest engagement shoots I've ever seen. No joke! Theo & Lisa are rockers at heart who love charity shop and vintage shopping, hip hop music and hanging out...and that's exactly what they wanted for their engagement session - a simple shoot that shows the real them. I flippin' love it.

Bridezilla Bootcamp: A Wedding Cinematography Workshop & A Shout Out for a Real Life Couple to Model

Kat

January 30, 2012

Today's post had a duel purpose. Firstly to announce that my good friend (and filmmaker extraordinaire!) Richard of FX Films and WedFilm Academy is teaming up with the guys at Reel Vision and Jeff Wood Visuals to put on a day long workshop for aspiring wedding filmmakers. On 27th March, they'll be decending on a beautiful Haythrop Park in Oxfordshire to put budding videographers through their paces at Bridezilla Bootcamp! Watch the video below for the full drill and what you can expect from the day...

A Candy Coloured & Cute Bridal Shoot with Snapacab!

Kat

January 30, 2012

Kay's simple but cute bridal shoot took place at Wokefield Park, near Reading. The idea of a sweet, candy coloured shoot with a fashion-edge came from photographers Studio Rouge, who also wanted to use the images to showcase their snapacab.

A Sunday Kind of Love: Impromptu Dance Parties

Kat

January 29, 2012

Recent Press: January 2012

Kat

January 28, 2012

Wow January has been such a blur! In fact it's moved at such a super fast speed and so much has been going on that it feels like May or something already. So much has happened this month (good stuff by the way...) and as always the British press have been nothing but wonderful to me. Thank you to all the feature writers, editors and journalists that are so supportive of Rock n Roll Bride.

Do You Have to Invite Plus Ones to Your Wedding?

Kat

January 27, 2012

I'm going start out by being 100% honest with you. I don't really know the answer to this question. However after a discussion with Roo last week, I feel it might be a topic some of you are struggling with. Therefore I thought I'd use today's wedding planning advice post as a forum for us to get in a discussion on the matter - I want to know your ideas and opinions on the subject please! Although I'm sure you could Google this question and come up with the 'proper etiquette' answer, I think it's much more relevant these days to figure out what's right for you and your wedding. However I do think you should consider a few things before you make your decision...