Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

Backyard

An Eco-Vintage Backyard Wedding: Shannon & Nick

Kat

January 23, 2012

Shannon & Nick were married in Shannon's parent's back garden, a lovely idea that made their wedding really personal and intimate. "I was inspired by the 1950s, nature and the country," Shannon told me. "I was looking for a way to bridge the gap between vintage elegance and the modern eco-friendly way of life. Every chance I could I made things reusable, recyclable and DIY. I also tried to pick vendors that were eco-friendly. I didn't set out to do things differently I just chose to do what I wanted to do and didn't let others reservations side track me."
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A DIY Carnival Wedding at Home: Bethany & Eric

Kat

January 18, 2012

Bethany & Eric's carnival-themed wedding was held at their home, Antebellum Farmhouse in Granville, Ohio. "The inspiration for our wedding really started with our pre-civil war home", Bethany told me. "When Eric and I first saw our house with our realtor we both stood on the front porch with tears in our eyes. We had not even walked through the front door but we knew this was our home. Eric looked at me and said 'we could be married here.' He then carried me across the threshold. Sounds like a fairy tale.... But so real." The theme may have started with their home but over time 'a day and night at the fair' became their manifesto. Royal Steamline provided the perfect stationery to fit the idea. "We wanted to create a vintage carnival feeling for all ages of guests to enjoy," the bride continued. "I have an antique and interior design business named after our home, so I incorporated many antique and vintage items, furniture and props to create the scene. I searched auctions and estate sales for real vintage goblets, punch cups and plates for our guests to enjoy. I used vintage furniture outside to create a living room area that was a fabulous photo booth for all of our guests as well as the bridal party."
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A Heritage & Handmade Australian Wedding: Janelle & Liam

Kat

January 17, 2012

For their December wedding, Janelle & Liam wanted an aspect of heritage and an element of the handmade. They chose Eryldene Historic House and Garden in Gordon (Sydney, Australia) as the place to host their celebration. "Most of our wedding was handmade - assembled and painted by bridal party," the couple explained. "We made our own vintage fabric bunting and table cloths as well as hand made fabric napkins. We sourced over 100 vintage plates from op shops and collected jam jars from family and friends. For favours we had home made seed pouches and home made orange flavoured lolly pops. The seating chart was a window from an old home in Epping and some fence posts. We wrote on the window panes so people knew where to sit."
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A Casual Wedding At Home: Ann & Tim

Kat

December 22, 2011

Ann & Tim had just the kind of wedding I'd love to have had if a) the UK marriage laws weren't so damn strict and b) if I lived in a blue house. With the ceremony being held on their driveway and the reception in their back garden, this is the perfect casual backyard wedding. The couple actually met at their house, at the house party of a mutual friend who owned it before them. Having the wedding here really brought their story full circle. The matchmaker, even spoke at the wedding. "They wanted the whole thing to feel like people were at home", wedding photographers Sarah & Adam of InTandem explained. "The home was built in 1940 and the original owners of the house who sold it to them also had their wedding reception there. Back then it was just a big white farm house, but Ann & Tim repainted, re-leveled, re-landscaped, and even built the flower boxes themselves. It was DIY to the extreme, and their love for authentic vintage came through in their decor."
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A Village Fete Meets Tattoo Parlour Wedding: Jess & David

Kat

November 14, 2011

Jess & David were married in All Saints Church in Kirby and they had their reception in the bride's parent's back garden. Jess wore a Candy Anthony Dress, Upper Street shoes (which she designed herself) and Vivienne Westwood jewellery. The lucky couple had Shell De Mar there to capture their day. "We met at school and had been together 12 years when David proposed at sunrise on the beach in Mexico," Jess told me. "Initially I’d been reluctant to get out of bed so early but something told me it might be worth it...and it was!"
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A Homespun, Backyard Wedding: Emma & Nigel

Kat

October 13, 2011

The garden wedding of Emma & Nigel was held at the groom's parents house in Brisbane. Emma explained, "The wedding was a mammoth team effort for about a week before the big day with people flying in from all over the place, gardening, weeding, cooking, shaving, marking and reporting (I'm a teacher getting married the day after the school term finished!) Somehow I still managed to sneak in a quiet moment with my bridesmaids to watch Dirty Dancing the night before and eat copious amounts of fish and chips and marshmallows.
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A Quintessentially English Country Garden Wedding: Liz & Blake

Kat

September 26, 2011

Liz moved to America from the UK where she met Blake while he was singing in a bar. After dating for a while he proposed while on holiday in Rome. Although well-traveled, Liz wanted to have her wedding in her hometown of Brize Norton, in her parent's back garden. She had to rely on her parents, sister and bridesmaids a lot for help during the planning, "I arrived in the UK 3 days before the wedding and immediately had to go and meet our vicar, after that we had to fight the jet lag to start decorating the marquee," Liz told me. "I didn’t realise how much stuff I had collected over the year and when I saw it all piled up in my parent's dining room I felt really overwhelmed by it all. Luckily my sister and bridesmaid were on hand to keep everything on track we knuckled down and started hanging and arranging."
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Tess & Ray’s Dream-Like Backyard Wedding

Kat

July 12, 2011

Tess & Ray's backyard wedding is pretty much what my dreams look like. Tess told me all about it and I swooned over every detail, "From the very beginning Ray and I knew that we wanted our wedding to be relaxed and FUN, but most importantly something we could be proud of. We wanted to stay true to ourselves and not worry about any kind of fuss or frill. We wanted to make our dream a reality without breaking our backs trying to pay for it."
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Joli & Gary’s Amazing Backyard Wedding

Kat

June 28, 2011

Joli & Gary eloped in San Francisco. They had planned to have a big wedding party afterwards with their friends and family at a biker bar in Palm Springs, but then Joli got pregnant and everything changed. So 7 months pregant, the couple had a kick ass celebration in the backyard of their Los Angeles home. They described their party as a celebration of "Love, Freedom, Wild, Raw, Family, FUN, Village, Community!" and that's exactly what it was.
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Mark & Maryanne’s Summer Fete, Tea Party Wedding

Kat

June 13, 2011

Mark and Maryanne had their garden tea party wedding in Maryanne's parents house in West Chiltington.The vintage vibe of the day with carried throughout with DIY, classic vintage and country garden ideas. The bride's dress which was original vintage from The Vintage Wedding Dress Company. "I found a beautiful 1950's dress that I had customised" the bride explained. "It originally came with a lace cape, but my fab seamstress turned the cape into sleeves and added a bit of sparkle with some old glass buttons that I found from a little junk shop in Sussex." With this she wore Emmy Shoes, a customised vintage veil (made from a 1940's hat) jewellery made from original vintage piece and bag from the 1950's.
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Vanessa & Brian’s Bicycle Themed Wedding

Kat

April 7, 2011

Vanessa & Brian's DIY wedding has a vintage bicycle theme because cycling was what brought them together. The day was held at Simpson House, Kansas City and started with an intimate ceremony on the gardens. Vanessa walked down the aisle to "I Will" by the Beatles, performed acoustically by a local couple. After the kiss, everyone rang bells that were placed on their chairs. They also decorated their venue in a way personal to them. Wheat was an important decorative element as Vanessa's Dad was a wheat farmer and passed away when she was young. She even has a tattoo of wheat on her arm in memory of him.
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Jess & Brian’s Backyard Holga Wedding

Kat

March 29, 2011

I spied Jess & Brian's wedding, shot almost entirely on Holga, on one of my regular scouts around Flickr. I was not only blown away but the stunning photography by Laura Burlton (who doesn't love a bit of Holga magic?) but the actual wedding itself, and all the love and attention to detail that the couple put into it made it super duper Rock n Roll worthy. "I didn’t want the standard cheesy wedding photographs," Jess explained when I asked about her decision to have her wedding shot on a toy camera. "I am a photographer myself and I have a love affair with my Holga. I went searching for a photographer who shared the same love, but also did weddings. No easy task! I found Laura Burlton though and she’s won quite a few awards with her Holga work. And joy, she also does weddings! My parents and I are both happy now and I love the way the Holga shots perfectly portray the feeling of the day."
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Amy & Manny’s Morocc’ n Roll Backyard Wedding

Kat

February 24, 2011

Amy & Manny were married in the bride's parent's back garden which they decorated themselves in an eclectic and fabulously 'them' style. " I actually didn't really intend for my wedding to be all Rock n Roll, and it turned out that way anyway," explained the bride. "It was kind of Moroccan/Rock n Roll... a Morocc' n Roll style! I think the fact that it was a Rock n Roll wedding without trying... that makes it ROCK N ROLL! Plus the awesome leopard party booth couch, the fact that my Dad plus the groom & all the groomsmen wore chucks..."
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Tasha & Noah’s Americana Backyard BBQ Wedding

Kat

January 11, 2011

Tasha & Noah's beautiful backyard wedding is pure inspirational gold! I am super excited to share it with you today. I just know you're all going to love it just as much as I do. The ceremony & reception took place in the couple's back garden and they asked all their friends & family to help out where they could to make the day a really personal one. "Noah and I wanted to have a small, chilled wedding that involved our families and close friends," Tasha told me. "Choosing red, white and blue for our Americana backyard BBQ wedding theme made finding coordinating fabric and accessories super easy. Nearly everything was DIY- Noah made our Save the Date''s and invitations, Noah's mom made all the desserts, Noah's mom, grandma and aunt made the bouquets and bouts from a few bouquets from Pike Place Market. My mom's friend made 200 feet of pennant flags from fabric I picked out at the fabric store down the street from my house. My sister and her boyfriend cut up all the fruit for our drinks. My aunt stamped all the BBQ bibs with a custom stamp that Noah designed. My aunts put together the centerpices the day before. On the day of the wedding, my mom and I set up all the tables, chairs, tablecloths, and centerpieces in an half an hour."
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Rebecca & John’s Elegant Vintage Garden Party

Kat

November 28, 2010

Rebecca & John's beautiful Tennessee wedding took place at Almost Heavens Wedding Resort. With quirky details and elegant 50's styling, this really was a wedding worthy of Rock n Roll credentials. The bride wore a Paloma Blanca gown with awesome Irregular Choice shoes and a vintage veil that she found at a friend's yard sale. A friend of the bride who is a costume designer re-worked it for her to suit the style she was going for. She carried and vintage lace parasol.
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