Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

Top Stories

The Inspirations: Lisa Devlin

Kat

July 11, 2012

Gareth & I joke that we should change the name of The Green Room to The Lisa Devlin Room in honour of her services to guest posts! I'm always so thrilled when Lisa offers her insight into something as she's pretty much always spot on with her advice! With 20 years as a professional photographer under her photography ninja belt Lisa has got to be the perfect candidate for an Inspirations interview right? She runs the phenomenally successful Photography Farm, sells PhotoShop actions, shoots weddings all over the country... oh and she's the 2011 British Journal of Photography Wedding Photographer of the Year. NIIIICE!
Read more...

A Simple Napa Valley Wedding: Ronnie & Richard

Kat

July 11, 2012

Ronnie & Richard were married at Calistoga Ranch, California. Originally from Taiwan, the couple's families knew each other and had often joked about setting the two of them up, but they'd never met. It was only when they both moved to America (her to New York and him to Austin, Texas) that they started emailing and arranged to meet. The bride readily admits that she's not a very crafty person so DIY was out of the question for their April wedding. She did however fall in love with etsy and used it to source as much as possible for the wedding. "We didn’t have anything handmade ourselves except for the 'here comes the bride' flag which Richard made", she told me. "I am not crafty, but I like the unique touch that comes from handmade products which is why I used etsy so much. I am also very into vintage style clothing and décor. I spent a lot of time researching on the site, searching for vintage wedding dress, bridal accessories, wedding favors and paper goods. At the end, I feel really fortunate to have found things I loved with affordable prices."
Read more...

A Village Hall, DIY & A Beautiful Bride with Dreadlocks: Gavin & Hollie

Kat

July 10, 2012

I don't see enough brides with dreadlocks. Where are you hiding my dreadlock wielding readers?! My sister and her boyfriend have them (his are down past his waist!) and I find them very intriguing and totally beautiful... So you can imagine my exuberance when Gavin & Hollie's wedding landed on my lap. "My good friends Gav and Hol got married in April", wrote wedding photographer Anna Clarke. "They are a beautiful and too-cool-for-school couple who had a yellow and green wedding. They did everything themselves including all the printed stuff, going to the flower market to get the flowers, decorating the village hall etc etc. I just love all the colours and Hollie's dreads piled into a big beehive. Her shoes are amaze-balls too..."
Read more...

Why You Should Get the Hell Off Your Computer & Market Yourself Offline…

Kat

July 10, 2012

Wedding blogs are amazing. Getting featured on them is a fantastic way to elevate your business and put yourself and your work in front of hundreds of thousands of potential client's eyes. But what if it's not working for you? Are wedding blog features reeeally the be all and end all? You might think this is a strange thing for a wedding blogger to say... but erm... no. No they're not. At last week's School of Rock workshop I had a few students saying "I love blogs but I know my photography wouldn't get featured. It's just not the style they promote." And while initally I was taken aback "but i like to promote as much diversity as possible!" I thought, in retrospect they were actually right. Wedding blogs do have their own very specific criteria for featuring real weddings, wedding suppliers and products. And more of often than not, that criteria doesn't hugely deviate from blog to blog. No matter what style of wedding they're promoting (alternative, vintage, traditional, regional etc) they all still want to basically share the same things - cute, affordable, aspirational wedding ideas. They want to show cute couples, inspirational (and attainable) wedding ideas and lots and lots of details for brides to copy.
Read more...

A Mixed Media Engagement Shoot: Francis & Mayone

Kat

July 10, 2012

If you want to see photography that pushes boundaries then look no further than MangoRED. This Filipino duo have been pushing my buttons ever since I first discovered them waaaaay back at the beginning of 2009. Their work continues to inspire me to this day. Why? Because they're continually pushing themselves to create. Their work has evolved - almost into a completely different beast - but the essence of unadulterated and unapologetic creativity has remained a constant.
Read more...

A Laid Back Camden Wedding: Gemma & Liam

Kat

July 9, 2012

Recently I've been getting so many weddings in my inbox where the couple describe their wedding theme as 'laidback'. This makes me very happy indeed. I think a lot of couples stress so much about having the perfect magazine or blog worthy wedding that they forget about actually enjoying the whole process! Well not my readers... you guys know where it's at! Gemma & Liam's Camden wedding couldn't have been more gorgeous. The relaxed vibe of the venues they chose, and their quirky and fun fashion choices made this wedding stand out from the crowd. "The whole wedding was a very laidback affair, from organisation through to the actual day," Gemma told me. "I didn’t even write a to do list until 2 weeks before the big day and I’m not sure if I even used it!"
Read more...

Wedding Planning Advice

Childfree by Choice: Why Some Couples Choose Child-Free Weddings (And That’s Okay)

Guest Contributor

Marieke Maakt Foto’s

January 26, 2026

A wedding is a day full of emotions and expectations, both for the couple as well as their guests. A somewhat unfortunate side effect is that everyone will have an opinion. Couples will often find their choices in regards to how they’d like to celebrate this day scrutinised. And one such choice invites even more scrutiny: when they choose to have a child-free wedding. Reactions to this decision can be tricky to navigate, as they combine the emotions surrounding weddings with protectiveness and fear of exclusion.
Read more...

Las Vegas Weddings

‘Til Death Do Us Punk

Kat

Christina Srorzah

January 26, 2026

Casey met Dwayne in 2005 while looking for a tattoo artist. Appointments turned into years of friendship. In November 2022, when they realised they were both single, Casey invited Dwayne to a local venue to watch a friend’s stand up set after a session. Sitting in the booth, he reached over, grabbed her face, and kissed her. “He said he’d been waiting to do that for a long time and we’ve been inseparable ever since."
Read more...

We Felt Like Rockstars: A Sure Thing Vow Renewal with a Difference

Kat

Tree of Life Films & Photos

December 4, 2025

Sure Thing Chapel (and their second location, Sure Thing Too) in Las Vegas has become somewhat of a pilgrimage spot for alt couples who want a kitsch, quirky Vegas wedding. We see a lot of weddings in this space. We’ve featured weddings with rhinestones, leather, Hellvis, pink suits, black veils and every combination possible. Then Zuza and Marcin walked in and the way Tree of Life Films & Photos captured them almost shifted the room into something new. We are totally obsessed with these photos and we think you will be too.
Read more...

Tattooed Weddings

Goths on the Beach: A Moody Californian Beach Elopement

Kat

Photos by Beck

February 2, 2026

Nikki and Nate got married on the Californian coast in winter, dressed entirely in black. Their inspiration was creating something intimate, alternative, moody, and a little bit boho with a dramatic, non-traditional twist. "We were inspired by the beauty of the coastline, earthy textures, and darker romantic tones", Nikki said. "We wanted the day to feel intimate, atmospheric, and authentically ‘us’ and a touch of edge that reflected our personalities."
Read more...

Gothic Weddings

Goths on the Beach: A Moody Californian Beach Elopement

Kat

Photos by Beck

February 2, 2026

Nikki and Nate got married on the Californian coast in winter, dressed entirely in black. Their inspiration was creating something intimate, alternative, moody, and a little bit boho with a dramatic, non-traditional twist. "We were inspired by the beauty of the coastline, earthy textures, and darker romantic tones", Nikki said. "We wanted the day to feel intimate, atmospheric, and authentically ‘us’ and a touch of edge that reflected our personalities."
Read more...

Dark & Gloomy Olympic National Park Wedding

Kat

CSwindell

December 19, 2025

Dalton and Tanieka had originally planned for a big wedding. But when costs started to spiral and what they started to feel out of touch with what they were putting together, it was time for a rethink. They instead planned something much more intimate and much more them, built around places that already carried the atmosphere they wanted. The Hoh Rainforest and Ruby Beach in Olympic National Park, WA were the perfect spots. With moss hanging from trees and fog moving over the ocean, it was the perfect setting for their moody, gloomy 'til death' themed day.
Read more...

Photo Shoots

Woodland Witch: A Queer Love Story for the Lobsters for Life Alternative Wedding Fair

Kat

Marieke Maakt Foto's

December 2, 2025

The Lobsters for Life Wedding Fair in The Netherlands pulled in makers, creatives and couples from across Europe last month and gave us a look at how alt weddings are evolving outside the UK. We were so excited to be invited along and spent the day meeting vendors who are pushing ideas forward with real intention. If you missed it and you are planning something unconventional on European soil, this shoot brings that same vibe straight to you! Every look, prop and detail was created by vendors from the show and most of them work with couples all over the continent.
Read more...

Nosferatu Meets a Candlelit Western Wedding

Kat

Nick and Lauren

November 25, 2025

When Nosferatu flickered back onto cinema screens, Lauren from Nick and Lauren Photography left the theatre feeling inspired by the film’s shadowy beauty. “I was inspired by the cinematography used in the movie, and wanted to do a wedding shoot that emulated that same aesthetic, but without being vampire based,” she told us. “We decided to combine the elements of country meets alternative, and started joking about what Nosferatu's wedding would look like if it were in the West. Everything snowballed from there!”
Read more...

Electric Love & Neon Dreams at Camino Real Ranch, TX

Kat

Lomonico

November 20, 2025

This wedding shoot was a riot of neon lights. Born inside the restless brain of Brooke Conaway, founder of CAT HAUS Collective, she wanted to create something that was the opposite of boring and beige. With a Lady Gaga lookalike bride, she built this shoot as an act of rebellion - against conformity, perfectionism, and the wedding industry’s obsession with fitting in. “I’m not a traditional wedding planner,” she said. “I have ADHD, I’m plus sized, an advocate for LGBTQA+ and someone who has had to fight to ‘fit in’ including how to work with my chaos brain, not against it.”
Read more...

A Hauntingly Beautiful Corpse Bride Editorial

Kat

Lauren New

October 31, 2025

Nothing says Halloween wedding more than the Corpse Bride and this shoot may be one of the best homages we've ever seen. In fact we loved it so much, we made it the cover shoot for our November/December print issue which dropped yesterday! It blends slight Victorian-inspired details with modern drapery and design elements, bringing together a touch of the past and present for a hauntingly beautiful, editorial goth vibe.
Read more...

This ‘Goth Glam’ Shoot Is Proof That Weird Is the New Luxury

Kat

Stag & Bird

October 29, 2025

This shoot, dubbed Goth Glam by everyone involved, was created out of a need to shake things up. The team wanted to bring together Kansas City’s weirdest, boldest, and most unapologetic creatives and make something that proved “high-end” doesn’t have to mean beige. They called it a love letter to the alt-lux side of weddings: velvet and smoke, drama and decadence, edge and elegance. The goal was to show that goth, glam, and alternative can sit right alongside luxury, without losing the grit.
Read more...