Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

Kat

A Vintage Tepee Wedding: Gemma & Giuseppe

Kat

January 12, 2012

There's quite a story behind Gemma & Giuseppe's gorgeous wedding, and one that I hope might ease any of you stressing about your wedding venue (I know Roo had a bit of a similar drama last month, she'll be writing about it for you soon). "Our reception took place in tepees, at Oatlands Park Hotel, Weybridge (who, p.s. were AMAZING)" Gemma explained. "We had always wanted a tepee party, but our original venue to pitch them fell through with just 8 days to go! Oatlands Park Hotel came to our rescue and then some. They turned everything around so brilliantly - nothing was a problem, and they accommodated everything from the tepees to my 100 vintage teacups for the arrival champagne. After it all went bottoms up, major panic ensued for approximately half a day before I gave myself a stern talking to and set to work! I have to say that despite all of the last minute worry, the day went like a dream, and it just goes to show that even the biggest disasters don't mean that your special day is ruined!"
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New Tour Date: School of Rock (n Roll Bride) – Sheffield

Kat

January 12, 2012

Today I'm a little bit over excited (and a big bit nervous) to announce the first 2012 School of Rock (n Roll Bride) workshop. On Wednesday March 21st, Gareth & I will be hopping on our tour bus and driving aaaalll the way up to Sheffield, and I hope that 20 of you would like to join us! The 4 hour workshop (1.30pm-5.30pm) is being held at the fabulous Chimney House. From the feedback I received after the last two workshops I've decided to make the classes longer and more interactive. There will plenty of time for questions and if you'd like us to, Gareth & I are more than happy to go through people's blogs individually and give you some personal feedback.
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A Final Fantasy Engagement Shoot: Jennifer & Scott

Kat

January 12, 2012

This isn't the usual kind of shoot I'd feature but sometimes we could all do with a bit of extra geek chic in our lives! Jennifer & Scott met in 2005 at Anime Expo, one of the largest Japanese animation and video game conventions, held annually in Southern California. At these events a lot of people show up wearing costumes of their favourite anime characters and at this particular convention they both happened to come dressed as their characters from the video game series, Final Fantasy. Jennifer was dressed as Yuna from Final Fantasy X-2 and Scott was dressed as Seifer from Final Fantasy VIII. Their shared love of the series served as a great conversation-starter!
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A Retro, Kitsch & Cherry-Themed Southend-on-Sea Wedding: Heidi & Jim

Kat

January 11, 2012

You can't help but fall in love with Heidi & Jim's Southend on Sea wedding. The cherry theme is just so cute and perfect for a retro, quirky and kitsch seaside wedding. "Our inspiration was most definately ourselves, our loved ones and where we live, sunny Southend on Sea!" Heidi explained. "We wanted a wedding that was totally personal to us, that involved everyone close to us as much as we could and that was totally full of fun and unstuffy. We knew we wanted good food and a venue that was ours, where we could do what we wanted, decorate it how we wanted, drink the drinks we wanted and eat the food we wanted!"
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Edgar Allen Poe & A Day Filled with Love: Joann & Jacqueline

Kat

January 11, 2012

A quote by Edgar Allen Poe was the starting point for Joann & Jacqueline's wedding plans. 'We loved with a love that was more than love' made them realise that really, their love was at that mattered. Luckily for these two beautiful women, they were surrounded by the stuff on their big day. "No matter how much planning that went into that day, we were both blown away by the amount of love we received from our family and friends," they explained. "We can’t fully explain or describe how it felt, but hopefully the love and laughter in the atmosphere of our wedding day had everyone just as thrilled and excited as we were. Our wedding was held at Penn Park, in Whittier, CA. The greenery was vivid and lovely just the way fairytales usually are, except this time there were two princesses."
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The Inspirations: Emma Case (in Your Face)

Kat

January 11, 2012

There are a few things you need to know about Emma Case before you read today's Inspirations interview. Emma and I met about 2 years ago when she submitted this wedding to me. It was only the second wedding she'd ever shot. This was before the whole 'vintage' editing that you now see, like, everywhere was popular and I fell instantly in love with her unique style. A few months later we decided to meet up in London. We went for sushi and I fell instantly in love again, only this time with her. I really don't have enough words to express how much I love this girl or how bloody talented she is. I heard her speak about her work for the first time at the Featherlove workshop this summer and I wanted to cry because she's just so damn inspirational. Needless to say, she was the obvious choice to be included in this series...also because she's just as obsessed with her cat Max and I am with Henry & Rachel. If you have't heard of Emma before this then my dears, you are in for a treat. ...oh and the (in your face) thing? Yeah private joke, sorry about that...I can't really remember where it came from but it was something to do with making everything in a conversation rhyme. I now can't say her name without adding it onto the end now though. I'm pretty hilarious no?
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A Winter-Themed Shoot & a Bride with Purple Hair

Kat

January 11, 2012

Becky's bridal shoot was the brainchild of wedding photographer Bethan Haywood Jones. She found Becky online and loved her look (hello, purple hair!) and so approached her with the idea of a winter themed shoot. "Aaaaah, winter. I'll be honest, I'm not a big fan on the whole!" Bethan explained. "It's cold, it's dark, most things appear to be dead and it rains a lot. However, the winter weddings I am lucky enough to shoot are usually bursting with love, life and enough warm things to make your toes feel toasty. So my inspiration for this bridal shoot was to show that even on the greyest of days it isn't too hard to inject a bit of colour into your day."
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A Bohemian Wedding with the World’s Coolest Centrepieces

Kat

January 10, 2012

Describing your wedding to me as 'vintage tech' automatically gets my attention. But when I actually laid eyes on the Star Wars figurines and helmets, the 80's VHS', the tennis rackets, the splashes of neon paint and the 80's cassette players...all nestled nicely into the bohemian chic setting...well I might have let out a little squeal of joy. The two juxtaposing ideas shouldn't work, but they do - perfectly.
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Why Attention to Detail is oh so Important

Kat

January 10, 2012

Details, details, details. We've probably all read about the 'wedding details' debate which dominated the blogosphere in the latter part of last year, but luckily I'm not here today to add to this debacle. Oh no, I'm talking about the seriously important matter of being detail-perfect in your business. How many times have you written a blog post only to go back to it and see a million typos? (guilty!) How many times have you gone to edit a photo and noticed a teeny tiny but now oh-so-bloody-obvious imperfection in the frame? How many times have to received an email starting 'dear sir or madam' and wanted to scream!?
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A Black Prada Dress, A Neon Sign and a Very Unconventional Wedding: Katie & Patrick

Kat

January 10, 2012

Katie & Patrick wanted a local wedding, one that reflected how they live their lives. They love Stoke Newington and so wanted to use local suppliers and to keep the wedding as close to home as possible. After proposing on Waterloo Bridge, Patrick presented Katie with a beautiful piece of costume jewellery from Kat and Bee. Katie always said she didn't really want a wedding ring, as she explains, "I'm not keen on having a ring that I have to wear every day for the rest of my life, I wasn't sure about the whole wedding ring thing. I did say though, that I would absolutely love a suffragette ring and, whilst I might not wear it everyday, I would definitely only want a wedding ring if it was one of those. They are about as rare as hen's teeth. But Patrick has a reputation for resilience! And he managed to find one..well, actually, he managed to find two! So I am now the proud owner of two suffragette rings, one of which is sort of my wedding ring."
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A Locally Sourced & Relaxed Wedding: Kelly & James

Kat

January 9, 2012

"Love, laughter, friends & family" said Kelly when I asked her about her wedding theme. "Through all the help and support we had leading up to the day, we knew this would be our 'theme'. It was important to us to make sure everyone enjoyed themselves. For us, it wasn’t about having a particular style or colour running through the flowers – it was just about being true to us as a couple and a family." Kelly & James were married at Braziers Park School in Oxfordshire, "I guess the inspiration for the day was making it about us and the things that are important to us which is basically family, friends and good food," Kelly continued. "I am a big believer in things happening for a reason and so many things leading up to our wedding seemed like they were meant to be and felt so right!"
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Hearts, Love & DIY Heaven: Sarah & Gray

Kat

January 9, 2012

When Sarah saw the work of Sassy of Assassynation on Rock n Roll Bride, she knew she was the only wedding photographer for her. "All of the photos I loved the most on the Rock n Roll Bride wedding blog seemed to have been taken by Sassy so I took the plunge and sent an email," Sarah explained. "We had an engagement shoot in September and instantly knew we had made the right choice (you can see it on Sarah's own blog here). Sassy suggested bringing Frank along too to film our wedding and it couldn't have been more perfect. The two of them were a dream to work with and felt more like guests." Sarah married Gray in November at Crockwell Farm. The bride wore a custom made Stella Lilliana gown and customised Vivienne Westwood Lady Dragon Heart shoes (she wanted the red hearted version that are no longer available so bought a pair of fakes from eBay and replaced the orignally peach hearts on her genuine Viv's - genius!)
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A Sunday Kind of Love: Magpie Vintage Sample Sale – Items from just £12!

Kat

January 8, 2012

There ain't no hiding that I love love love Magpie Vintage. Working with genuine vintage pieces, Lisa & Tania are some of the loveliest ladies in the wedding industry and so bloody talented at what they do! So, I'm more than a little bit thrilled to let you know that their sample sale is now open through their website. With pieces from as little as £20 you're sure to find something perfectly sparkly for your big day.
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DIY Tutorial: Vintage China Cake Stand

Kat

January 7, 2012

This week's DIY tutorial comes from Betty of Betty Bee Vintage. This simple project looks like a lot of fun, and wouldn't these look amazing as part of your reception centrepieces? You could cover them with cupcakes, flowers, pearls...well, whatever takes you're fancy I guess. I kinda like the idea of using really dark coloured plates and putting skulls on them surrounded with ivy...but well, that's just me. I better leave this to the experts...
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What Makes a Good Wife…and Am I a Bad One?

Kat

January 6, 2012

This week I've been thinking a lot about what it means to be a wife...or more specially a 'good' wife. I guess with the new year kicking in and all, I started a-pondering about where I am in my life and what I'm supposed to be doing next... Anyway, Gareth & I often joke that I'm a bad wife (at least I hope he's joking). The roles are anything but traditional in our house. As many of you will already know, Rock n Roll Bride is the sole source of income in our household and most of the work that goes into it is on my end - that's not to say that the things Gareth does aren't extremely valuable and important - just that he doesn't spend 12 hours a day glued to a computer screen is all!
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A Vintage Inspired Shoot for A Most Curious Wedding Fair – 2012 Dates Announced

Kat

January 6, 2012

A Most Curious Wedding Fair is going into it's second year with events being held at St Andrew's Hall in Norwich on the 11th February and in York Hall, London on the 31st March. To celebrate, organiser Becky got together with the amazing Joanna Millington Photography and some of the other suppliers exhibiting at the shows to put together this beautiful, vintage inspired wedding shoot.
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Thursday Treats – 5th January 2012: Cosplay Weddings & Cute Polar Bear Cubs

Kat

January 5, 2012

Hurrah the first Thursdays Treats of 2012 is here! It felt weird not posting one last week, but it does now mean it that I've got an extra large, bumper edition for you today - double hurrah! Therefore I decree extra long tea breaks and internet browses all-round. I also just want to say a HUGE thank you for all your feedback on The Green Room that we launched this week. Gareth & I were totally blown away by all your comments. A few of you did say you were having trouble getting into the room (is it weird that I quite liked that - almost like it's one of those easter egg thingummies on DVDs that you have to work hard to find but when you do it's like you're in a special club?!) Anyway it's was probaly my fault as maybe I didn't explain the 'sliiiide' function very well in my blog post. Here's a more detailed explaination for those of you that were confused...
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A Handmade & Simple Wedding: Genevieve & Andy

Kat

January 5, 2012

Genevieve & Andy were married at Smokey Glen Farm, Washington. A simply styled day, the couple put a lot of importance on their friends and family being involved and having a good time. "Early on, we decided which things were most important to us. We wanted it to be a fun party, to be simple, and to be uniquely us - everything else we tried not to sweat too much. As a result, we simplified our approach and only spent a lot of time and attention on a few key things. The venue supplied great BBQ, beautiful scenery, and a lot of fun games for our guests. And we rented a ping pong table. That was key."
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