Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

1970s

Surprise Pool Party Wedding Recreation

Kat

November 19, 2012

Oh I love a surprise wedding! And a surprise wedding + pool party!? EPIC! But this wasn't actually a real wedding (sad face) although it was set up as a recreation of the actual wedding of some friends of the photographer who were married 30 years ago. Jessie & Kenny had this actual wedding, in this exact same spot in 1982 (some of their wedding photos are at the end of the gallery - how amazing are they?!) So to celebrate, and to have an their anniversary party with a difference, they decided to relive the whole thing. This is a styled shoot with a difference and, yes, they really had the big party afterwards!
Read more...

A Bohemian Mexican-American Wedding: Felicia & Ariel

Kat

October 8, 2012

Born and raised in Austin, Texas, Felicia & Ariel wanted to plan a wedding with a nod to their heritage as well as the place they grew up. The wedding was held at The Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems, a non-profit education and research organisation, owned by the groom's parents. "As born and raised Austinites and the children of hippies, we knew from the get-go that we didn't want to have the 'usual' wedding," began Felicia. "Ariel and I both love being in nature and so it seemed like a easy choice to have the wedding at the site of his family's home and non-profit organization. We wanted the wedding to have a lot of color and reflect our passions and cultures. I'm Mexican-American and loved the idea of embroidered Mexican dresses for my bridesmaids, delicate papel picado banners, and bright paper flowers."
Read more...

A Rustic Wedding with Personal Touches: Emily & George

Kat

December 15, 2011

Emily & George's rustic autumnal wedding was sent to me by Carina and Nadine of Love Me Do Photography and I simply fell in love with all the personal touches. The bride wore two dresses, the first, her Mother's wedding dress from 1977, and the second, a vintage-inspired short number by Avioanni. She also wore vintage jewellery. "The necklace I wore in the church was the same one that my Mom wore on her wedding and it was my Great Grandmother's (my Mom's Grandmother)," the bride wrote. "The earrings I wore in the church were the ones my Grandmother (my Dad's Mom) wore on her wedding and were given to her by my Grandfather. That was an amazing discovery. The jewelry I wore at the reception was also my Grandmothers but a little more modern looking. My aunt, Kathy, was amazing and loaned me most of the jewelry and told me some great stories along the way."
Read more...

A 60’s & 70’s Inspired Smokey Boudoir Sesh (*NSFW*)

Kat

November 24, 2011

**Warning before we begin, some of these photos may not be safe for work, so don't say I didn't warn you. There are boobs...nice boobs...but boobs none the less...** Most of you will have noticed that I don't feature a whole load of boudoir on Rock n Roll Bride. It's not that I don't like it, but I guess my opinion is the same as that on engagement shoots - the photos are amazing for the people involved (show me a man who wouldn't want to see his bride to be all sexified-up for him pre-wedding?) but for us non-involved people, once you've see one hot lady in sexy undies jumping around on a bed you've seen 'em all...
Read more...

An Eclectic 1970’s Influenced North London Wedding: Sally & Alex

Kat

September 5, 2011

I fell head over heels in love with Alex & Sally as soon as I laid my peepers on Sally's Ossie Clark-inspired wedding dress. She had it made especially for her by local dressmaker Barbara F Pellumbi. And just like the dress, the entire wedding was a unique and eclectic representation of the couple. Sally explains, "We were going to go for a Miss Saigon feel meets a tattoo-esque style but in the end it was anything that looked pretty or hard! Birds became a bit of a motif, featuring on the invites, cake and place names. We even had a lovely little stuffed bird in a cage which is where the table places were hung. We were keen to make the club (The Islington Metalworks) looked relaxed, in one area we tried to create an old skool 70's living room complete with Hilda Ogden flying birds on the wall."
Read more...

Peace & Love – Allie & Bo’s 1970’s Bohemian Wedding

Kat

June 13, 2011

There are some weddings I see that are just so adorably gorgeous that I squeal a little bit with delight when I'm allowed to share them with you...and this baby needs to be shared! I just know you're going to adore it as much as I do. Allie & Bo's wedding had a distinctive 1970's hippy vibe - an era that they live and love in their everyday lives. The bohemian, DIY details make this day simply perfect for them. As bride Allie explains, "I like to consider myself a modern day hippie with a bohemian bent. I wanted something sort of whimsical and vintage for my wedding. I grew up with stories from my grandmother of the passions of the hippie movement of the late 60’s and early 70’s. She encouraged me to be original and taught me an appreciation of nature and an independent sense of style. Bo and I love to hike and camp and we eat locally grown food, so it was important for us to plan an environmentally friendly wedding."
Read more...

‘Rock n Riot’ – Behind the Scenes Photos and Video

Kat

June 9, 2011

First of all, a big load of love to everyone who took the time to comment, tweet, facebook or email me about the ‘Rock n Riot’ shoot yesterday. As ever I have been blown away with your love and support. I’m thrilled with the results but I always have to go one step further huh? So today I have the behind the scenes shots from Emma Case and video awesomeness from Pete Smyth & Simon Clarke to share. But that's not all, the styling genius that is the Ava team have also kindly popped by to explain a bit more about how they executed this epic (this word keeps cropping up in relation to this shoot…but seriously, I don’t think anything else could describe it as well!) styled shoot.
Read more...

‘Rock n Riot’ – A Punk Themed Styled Shoot… The Final Results!

Kat

June 8, 2011

That time has come again when I have to put into words a day of so much epicness that it’s hard to know even where to begin. My latest big photo shoot was the brainchild of myself and florist Amy Grzegorzek of Little A in Birmingham. We first met at the Designer Vintage Bridal Fair in February and after seeing her beautiful vintage-inspired table settings, we got talking about working on a collaboration. She told me how she was about to launch Ava Event Styling, alongside Amanda of Bonne Fête and Vickie of The Boutique Baking Company, so a shoot like this would really be the very best way to enter the scene with a bang! “I’d love to do something really mental one day, shake things up a bit” Amy told me. “Yeah…like a punk themed wedding?” I asked. Amy’s face lit up like a child on Christmas morning and I’m pretty sure she let out a little squeal. “Yes! OMG yes, can we do it?!” …well put it this way, she didn’t have to ask me twice.
Read more...

Olga & Jo’s Two Day Russian/British Fusion Wedding

Kat

February 2, 2011

Olga & Jo's Rye wedding makes me super happy! I chatted to the bride all about it - their style ideas and how they integrated both their cultures, Russian and English, into their super cute wedding. She explained, "As soon as Jo and I had moved to Brighton, we knew we wanted to mark our wedding day by celebrating it by the beach. It is a Russian tradition to celebrate a wedding over two days so that with family and friends, and their children, there can be one formal and one informal day. With my family being from Russia we wanted to keep to this tradition and felt an English seaside was perfect for catering for both days and the number of people who would be travelling far for the occasion." "Having searched unsuccessfully in Brighton for our perfect location, we stumbled across The Place At The Beach Hotel in Camber Sands which looked just right. Having visited the venue and seen the beach across the road, the accommodation for our families and friends and a spacious garden with a BBQ, we knew it had everything we wanted for our two days."
Read more...

A 1970’s Woodstock Inspired Shoot

Kat

November 8, 2010

This 1970's Woodstock inspired shoot took place on Hampstead Heath, London. The shoot was set up by wedding planner & stylist, Mary Herrington of Forever & Ever Events. She and photographer Caro Hutchings wanted to create a shoot to show how you can easily create a beautiful look with vintage and reclaimed items that won't break the bank. "Finding inspiration in the ‘70s doesn’t mean that you have to stick with the original dress form the ‘70s or be literal about it; rather, you can take a vintage dress or theme and modernize it," Mary told me. "For example, the most amazing part of the dress was the tiered back – we took away the billowy elbows and the high neck, which really allowed you to highlight the back of the dress as the focal point."
Read more...

Rom & Will’s DIY, Humanist, 1970’s Vintage Wedding

Kat

November 2, 2010

You might recognise the gorgeous Rom & Will as I featured their engagement session back in August. I knew their wedding would be awesome as soon as I saw those shots so you can imagine my excitement when I got an email from photographer Steve Gerrard asking if I'd like to feature their wedding that took place a few weeks ago in Somerset. The couple had two ceremonies - a legal ceremony at Hestercombe Gardens, followed the next day by a humanist ceremony and reception at Huntstile Organic Farm (a humanist ceremony isn't legal in England at present.) Rom wore a different dress for each part of their day. For the civil service she wore an original 70s Ossie Clark dress which she had hunted high and low for. She finally found in a treasure trove of a shop called Hope & Harlequin in Brighton. "The owner Lou has original vintage dresses and she also makes bespoke vintage replicas," Rom explained. "With this is also wore Gold cork platforms by Miu Miu and a vintage garland headband from The Vintage Wedding Dress Company."
Read more...

Emma & Matt’s Incredible Fancy Dress Wedding

Kat

September 8, 2010

Emma & Matt had an incredible fancy dress wedding at home. The bride & groom live on a farm, so they decided their own home would be the perfect venue. The theme for the fancy dress was anything from 1920's - 1980's and they invited their guests to dress as their favourite decade from the last century. Even the music they selected fitted the theme, with the DJ's 'The Beautiful and the Damned' - who they saw playing at a festival - playing an eclectic mix of music from the 1920's to the 1980's throughout the evening.
Read more...

Retro Art Deco Kitsch

Kat

July 13, 2010

I LOVE a bit of retro kitsch and Caroline & Jim couldn't be more perfect at pulling this off if they tried. The shoot took place in their own Art Deco apartment in Brighton (just check out the exterior shots!) which has been decorated with an eclectic mix of bits and bobs collected from all over and ranging in era from the 1920's right through to the 1970's. I adore everything from the authentic mirror, clocks and Princess Anne collectible mugs to the incredible wallpaper and all the retro furniture. Jim is 'Mr B the Gentleman Rhymer' , a brilliant musician playing all over the country at gigs, weddings, parties and festivals. Caroline has a complete passion for fashion as she works in the fashion industry in London. The pair both embrace everything retro and nostalgic in fashion and styling, so their style was spot on for this style of shoot. The couple both wore all their own clothes to give a completely genuine portrayal of themselves and who they are as a couple.
Read more...