Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

Black & White

A Heavy Metal, Karaoke Party: Julia & Steve

Kat

September 16, 2011

Julia & Steve found their photographer Hannah Millard after seeing a feature on her on Rock n Roll Bride. It's always so extra special to me to share weddings that my blog has 'helped' in some way and I'm really excited that this gorgeous couple were able to get such great wedding photographs because of Rock n Roll Bride. Happy face! Hannah clearly agrees. "Woahhh," she writes. "This wedding was just... wow. I mean. Just... OK, I'm having trouble putting it into words, it was just pure Rock n Roll. Julia & Steve are an awesome couple and they definitely know how to party. There was vodka and tattoo artists and rock band karaoke and Julia's brother DOVE INTO A CAKE. It was amazing."
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A Gypsy Rocking Dancing Celebration of Love: Cole & Mike

Kat

August 5, 2011

Cole & Mike were married at The Mercury Cafe in Denver which is is actually they first met. When I asked the couple how they'd describe their wedding they replied, "A gypsy rocking vintage dancing celebration of love!" "I don't know if we could ever NOT do things differently, but with our wedding, this was especially important," Cole continued. "The venue itself created a unique atmosphere. It's this gorgeous ballroom above a local-healthy-organic-delicious cafe, and they have dancing there almost every night of the week. The place is strung with lights all over, and the walls are painted with gorgeous murals. The whole place is a bit bohemian and romantic, and in a lot of ways it dictated the style we went with-a very eclectic and romantic theme. The only thing that was really consistent throughout was. . . peacocks."
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Kristin & Brian’s Black & White & 1940’s Themed Wedding

Kat

June 28, 2011

"We got engaged in prison. Well...that's what my Mom likes to say - we got engaged on Alcatraz!" newlywed Kristin told me. "We both have a fascination with prison documentaries and we ADORE San Francisco. So, Brian took me to Alcatraz and surprised me with a ring. If you walk to the back of the prison by the water, you get the MOST gorgeous view of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. This is where he asked me to marry him." Kristin & Brian's unconventional but beautiful engagement was perfectly reflected in their glamorous wedding on Friday 13th May. "Our inspiration was a combination of vintage, old Hollywood glam, and a bit of Rock n Roll! I wanted to be in black and white," continued the bride. An all-white dress was never an option for me."
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Anna Lee & Jeremy’s Vintage-Inspired DIY Wedding

Kat

March 15, 2011

Anna Lee & Jeremy were engaged and married within 3 1/2 months. After Anna Lee moved away to teach in Rwanda, the couple realised they couldn't live without each other and set a wedding date before she'd even come back. Even though they we're technically already engaged, when Anna Lee returned after 10 months, Jeremy proposed properly and did so in the car park of their favourite restaurant because he couldn't wait one second longer! Anna Lee told me all about their vintage-inspired DIY wedding. "I think I would describe our wedding as DIY vintage and it wouldn’t have been possible to put together a wedding on a budget in 3 months without the help of my awesome family and friends. The only "vendors" we hired were the DJ and photographer. I hit up every craft store, thrift shop, and dollar store in the area. My Mom, sister, and I made everything: the invitations and programs, bridesmaid’s bouquets, boutonnieres, and decorations. I created the mothers wrist corsages out of fabric hair pieces from Forever21. The only flowers used were babies breath, purchased from a local grocery store. Instead of large floral arrangements at the reception, I bought manzanita branches online, spray painted them black, and attached tissue paper flowers and moss. A local landscaping nursery let us borrow two small trees we set up inside to soften the reception hall area. We saved a ton of money on flowers this way!"
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Paula & Teddy’s Chic Black, White & Stripy DIY Wedding

Kat

February 9, 2011

I’ve featured the gorgeous Paula & Teddy before. Their pre-wedding shoot made my heart sing but their actual wedding blows everything out of the water! Blue Point Bay Chapel played host to their intimate ceremony and the reception that followed was held at the pool side of the same venue. Paula wore a Jessica McClintock gown with stunning Balenciaga shoes and a handmade veil. The personal touches came in spades at this wedding which the bride worked tirelessly on. Their super cute lego cake topper came from etsy, and Teddy’s boutonniere and the moustache and bow tie favours were handmade by the Bride (she made over 80 of them!) The guest book and stationery were designed by the groom. The guests even took home vintage popcorn wrappers (filled with Indonesian snacks that the couple had both enjoyed since childhood) and Polaroid pictures. The chic black and white theme was seen throughout their day.
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Sarah & Jason’s Perfect-for-Them Wedding

Kat

January 26, 2011

One of the (many) things I love about Rock n Roll Brides is how different you all are. You are diverse and fabulous in you own unique ways and that makes me so happy! I love the way I see you all bring who you are to the table, to create the perfect wedding for YOU. It's great to get inspiration from wedding blogs like this one, but at the end of the day it's you + your fiancé who should create YOUR perfect wedding. Sarah & Jason did just that.
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Our Wedding Featured in Wedding Ideas Magazine (Again!)

Kat

January 20, 2011

Back in the Summer I was asked by Wedding Ideas Magazine, who originally featured Gareth & my wedding waaay back in 2008, if we would like to take part in a Real Life Weddings Revisited feature. Being a huge poser, I of course jumped at the chance (and Gareth came along for the ride - again - too!) I also thought it would be a nice opportunity to share our wedding with all the new readers of the blog who probably won't have seen it before. What a difference 3 years can make huh? As you can see, our wedding certainly wasn't the most Rock n Roll out there. The wedding industry in the UK was a very different place in 2008, and my disillusion with most of the choices that were offered to us at that time was actually the catalyst for starting this blog and campaigning for alternative weddings everywhere!
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Amy & Daylen’s Las Vegas Elvis Romance

Kat

January 10, 2011

It was Elvis' birthday on Saturday so I thought I'd mark the occasion by sharing Amy & Daylen's awesome Elvis-influenced Las Vegas wedding with you this morning!Amy & Daylen were married at Graceland Chapel, Vegas by Elvis (of course) followed by an informal and rockin' party reception at the MGM Grand in the Skyloft Suite. "We had a reception with about 25 of us at a Skyloft Suite, then all of us took a party bus to Graceland Chapel to get married by Elvis, we chose the Blue Hawaii package and Elvis sang 3 songs," explained the bride. "It was the loudest and liveliest wedding ceremony ever, I'm pretty sure. We all sang and danced and cheered, so much fun and exactly how I want to enter into marriage, with a fun party."
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Lowina & Philsy’s Incredible Double Wedding Celebration

Kat

November 19, 2010

When I laid eyes on Lowina & Philsy's wedding the only thing I could said was "OMG so cute!" Seriously, you get that right? How adorable are they? Adorable in a kick ass Rock n Roll way though you understand... The couple, who met in 2006 at a fashion trade show in Hong Kong, got married in Philsy's parent's back garden in Victoria, Australia. It was important to the pair to not only plan a gorgeous wedding but to make sure it truly reflected them as individuals as well as their Chinese heritage. They also were certain it had to be unique and fun!
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Rennie & Joe’s Vintage Styling with a Quirky Edge

Kat

November 10, 2010

Rennie & Joe are the coolest. The couple, who have known each other for 19 years and were first loves, still felt marriage was important to them even after all that time. "Most would think that it must be boring to marry after such a long time and that we might just be going through the motions," Rennie told me. "On the contrary, our decision to marry was not because we felt we "had to" - we decided to marry after all this time because we are more madly in love than ever and still best friends. We created our ceremony around our wishes to deepen our commitment to each other and profess our love in the presence of those who are most important to us."
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DIY Victorian Nouveau + Rock n Roll Bride Interviewed!

Kat

October 8, 2010

I saw red tulle, I saw black feathers and I was smitten. Photographer Shannon Grant set up this wonderfully Rock n Roll shoot with Mary & Matt to showcase some fun DIY styling with a Victorian Nouveau edge. "The bride's outfit was a DIY affair with a custom made tulle skirt, a black silk dupioni flower sash and different colored ostrich hair feathers," she explained. "The bouquet included feathers throughout as well. The groom wore black Chucks and had red accents to mirror the bride. We went out into downtown Plymouth MA and had some fun with the photoshoot!"
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Sophie & Jonny’s Burlesque Themed Rock n Roll Wedding

Kat

October 1, 2010

This is one of those posts that's going to have a lot of photographs (hello, burlesque Rock n Roll wedding - there's no way I could leave any out!) When photographer Marianne Taylor showed me a sneak peek of Sophie & Jonny's wedding a few weeks ago, I knew straight away that they were right up my street...you'll see why! The couple got engaged in Paris on Sophie's Birthday. "It was a dream come true," the bride told me "Jonny had booked us into a plush Moulin Rouge themed hotel. We sat on the steps of the Sacre Coeur and drank pink champagne and then he surprised me some more with tickets to the Moulin Rouge that night! I had no idea that he had not only secretly booked the trip but also tickets to The Moulin Rouge. My favourite film and as a burlesque fanatic, this was perfect. At the end of the show, on the red carpet, I was surprised with a box which I unwrapped to find a smaller box. Upon opening the small box and finding my Princess cut platinum ring (perfect!) he got down on one knee in front of everyone and asked me to marry him, to which I screamed and replied yes!" The Paris proposal and Sophie's love of all things 1940s and 50's (she is a burlesque dancer herself) inspired the entire wedding which was a real DIY effort. She sourced the white ostrich feathers for a burlesque theme and the ‘Eiffel tower’ vases herself and set everything up for the reception. She also designed and made all the stationary and paper goods as well as helping out to make the cake. Instead of a guest book they dressed a vintage looking birdcage (found in a boutique shop) with feathers and pearls and had little black and white cards for people to write messages on and post them in the birdcage.
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Dinosaurs, Silhouettes, Black Cats & Fairytales

Kat

September 6, 2010

I featured Christy & Daryl's 'Modern Film Noir' engagement session at the beginning of June so it's an absolute pleasure to come full circle and feature their awesome wedding as well, which also had a bit of the 'noir' about it don't you think? The couple got married on Friday 13th and had a silhouetteand dark theme. "Daryl and I are both artists and musicians, and met through a mutual friend/bandmate" the bride told me. "From the get go, our relationship was anything but normal. Our first date was to a funeral and we officially became a couple on Halloween. It was only natural to celebrate our wedding on Friday the 13th. We stuck with the theme of silhouettes, and added black cats and crows to our forest ceremony decor. We wanted to give the evening a moody, magical atmosphere."
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Images to Fall in Love with

Kat

August 4, 2010

"Our creative goal is to take ordinary couples and place them into fun, exciting, high-concept, themed shoots —as chosen by them, in consultation with us. If a bride has always wanted to look like Greta Garbo in 30's Hollywood, then we will sit down and work out exactly how to make that a reality for her. If the couples' vision is punk, vintage, or couture we will work with them to realise this on their wedding day. We're not restricting ourselves to a single theme, although we do have one unmovable ethos: we want to create images that our couples will fall in love with"
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Day of the Dead and Lots & Lots of Lovely Balloons

Kat

July 28, 2010

Beatriz & Ricardo got married early this month in Cartagena, a colonial city on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. Born here, Beatriz knew she wanted to return back to this special place to get married. They had a gorgeous civil service a few days before the wedding. "Weddings tend to be so cookie cutter and sooo traditional, we were sure we didn’t want that" the bride told me. "The first tradition we broke was not getting married in a church, we decided to just have a civil ceremony; but a friend of us told us that civil ceremonies were so plain and that we should do something special, so we decided to go to the notary to get married in Bogotá a few days before the actual wedding in Cartagena and to have a very special ceremony."
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A Bout De Souffle – A Cinematic Engagement

Kat

June 3, 2010

Shalma & Leo were lucky enough to find their photographer David through a feature on Rock n Roll Bride so as soon as the excited bride emailed me to tell me that they'd chosen David I was already looking forward to seeing what he would come up with for their engagement session. Over the past few years David has truly become the one to watch when it comes to his pre-wedding shoots. He's always pushing the boundaries and never fails to impress with his unique eye for detail. Shalma & Leo wanted to go for a film noir, classic film and super stylised shoot and in an unusual departure from his usual hyper colourful style, David decided process this entire shoot into black & white to fit in perfectly with this theme. "This couple are into their photography big time" David said "but they’re also in their classic films and wanted to have a pre-wedding shoot that referenced one of their favourites, A Bout De Souffle. This was a french film where the characters mostly smoke and drink coffee a lot - so we tried to recreate the streets of Paris in Richmond!"
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