Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

Brighton

A Wedding of Two Halves: Jen & Steve {Part Two}

Kat

Fazackarley

August 19, 2013

Six months after their legal ceremony at Brighton Register Office, Jen and Steve had what they would consider their 'real' wedding. "We wanted a spring weekend of celebration, filled with love, laughter and true meaning", Steve explained. "Having got the 'legal' bit out of the way we could design the entire day around what we really felt important to us, which was to be surrounded by like-minded souls having a relaxed weekend house party with a festival feel, centred around a Humanist ceremony that we wrote specifically for ourselves and witnessed by friends and family."
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Blustery and Bright Brighton Wedding: Charlotte & Leo

Kat

Devlin Photos

August 8, 2013

Charlotte and Leo, originally from Brighton but currently living in Liverpool, knew they wanted to marry in the city where they met. So they planned their wedding from afar and booked out an entire guest house right on the sea front to accommodate their guests! A Room with a View has nine guest rooms and was the perfect place for everyone to get ready. The floor to ceiling windows looking over the beach and pier made for some great photos from Lisa Devlin too!
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Eco-Friendly Brighton Wedding : Matt & Brig

Kat

Moments Captured

July 26, 2013

Matt and Brig wanted their Brighton wedding to have a real community feel. It was also super important to them that it was eco-friendly and they used local suppliers as much as possible. "We met 15 years ago but at the time we were both with other partners", Brig explained. "Matt was the carpenter on an eco self build house that I was about to live in. Our kids were the same ages. We lost contact for about 10 years and then bumped into each other at Patchfest and we hung out for a while...4 years later we were married. Matt proposed on the Brighton Wheel on November 5th 2012."
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A Humanist Lewes Castle Wedding: Sara & Lucy

Kat

June 25, 2012

Sara & Lucy were married in a humanist ceremony at Lewes Castle, just outside of Brighton (they did the 'legal bit' a few days before in Brighton register office). Both girls wore coloured dresses. Sara found her 50s floral number at Fur Coat No Knickers and Lucy wore a a grey dress from Pretty Eccentric. The low key reception was held at Bill's Cafe, an organic restaurant in Brighton, which didn't need much decorating. However they added a few personal touches with the table names, the bunting and the flowers. "Bill's organised all decor", the girls told me. "They were amazing."
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A Picnic Wedding: Alex & Denise

Kat

April 23, 2012

The inspiration for Alex & Denise's Brighton wedding was for it to be "just like a big picnic". They used local suppliers (including the caterers who used local produce and supplied locally produced champagne) where possible and DIY'ed the rest! "Our inspiration was for it to be like a big picnic - although without having to sit on the floor!" Denise told me. "I found mini picnic baskets that were used as the centrepiece on each table. These were filled with chutney, pickles and breadsticks. We wanted the wedding to be really relaxed – I've always disliked formal situations. I also wanted there to be lots of colour. For the meal we had a blanket set up on the floor for any children that got bored of the adults. We also did a play area with a wigwam, dress up box and colouring books. Although on the day they mainly opted for running around the field like lunatics."
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The Secret Glamour of Hollywood: A Styled Shoot for Alexandra King’s 2012 Bridal Collection

Kat

April 11, 2012

Secret Hollywood glamour was the inspiration for this shoot, set up to promote the new range of wedding dresses from British designer Alexandra King. "The shoot was originally based on the morning after the Oscars, a hazy, sun kissed feel with the soft prettiness of the dresses against the cold concrete and run down beach," Alexandra told me. "As if an Oscar/wedding party traveled down to the beach in Lost Boys and here was the morning after. The shoot then developed to two more locations. To shoot the look book, we found a village hall which had the perfect school play feel to it with a velvet curtained stage and lighting that gave the models the appearance of being a puppet show.The abandoned 1960s caravan images gave a trashy contrast against the dresses again and I love the way some of the images have a romantic gypsy feel to them."
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A ‘Make Do & Mend’ Wedding: Rosie & James

Kat

February 7, 2012

I actually saw Rosie & James' wedding in the archives of Adam, of Viva Wedding Photography's, own blog. I dropped him a line to say I was sure another wedding blogger must have featured it when he first published the photos, but just on the off-chance...and to my utter surprise he said they hadn't! I have to say, I was thrilled. This wedding has a serious amount of cuteness. The wedding may have taken place in 2009, but it's still hella inspirational!
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Something Borrowed, Something Roo: How to Pick a Wedding Theme

Kat

January 2, 2012

Optional (and recommended) prep work before reading this month’s post: go around your house and make a little mental (or physical, I’m easy) note of what you can see in the following hiding places: your wardrobe; your shoe collection; your fridge/pantry, and your cosmetics cupboard/dressing table. No matter how bare or brimming these areas of your nest are, I hope that you’ll begin to notice certain themes lurking in each. For example, although I’m a bird who doesn’t subscribe to wearing a lot of makeup, I do have a penchant for fabulous nail varnishes. My collection isn’t vast, but there’s an obvious trend; namely understated nudes, pastel pinks, and darker, cold hues with a hint of shimmer. There is no hint of neon to be found. Moving to my overly extensive wardrobe (which I am always ungratefully bored of) I see lots of natural tones – tans, browns, greys (the odd plum sweater, maybe) – splashes of velvet, cheeky peeks of Breton stripe, trimmings of lace and a few impractical “statement” pieces. Similarly with my shoes, I find cherry red (faux) snakeskin ankle boots nuzzling up next to my Vans Old Skools, who in turn drape a shoelace around my Melissa Lovefoxx sandals. When asked to describe my style, I say it’s “Whatever”. It’s whatever I feel like, whatever the weather, whatever I want. In turn, I try to live my life by the mantra of my wardrobe, which becomes glaringly apparent when you look in our kitchen cupboards: scotch pancake ingredients, stuffing mix, cloudy lemonade, cinema sweet popcorn, potatoes, and tomato soup (we haven’t done our weekly shop yet, can you tell?).
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Something Borrowed, Something Roo: Finding Our Perfect Wedding Photographer

Kat

November 28, 2011

Something I am always keen to promote through Rock n Roll Bride is the importance of hiring a professional wedding photographer to document your wedding (the photos are the only thing - well except the marriage of course - that lasts after the wedding day etc etc) However not only that, I also think it is crucial to hire a professional wedding photographer that gets you. It may be all well and good that a photographer has won a gazillion awards or has shot some fantastic weddings that have been featured in magazines and on wedding blogs, but if you don't like them as a person or they don't understand your vision for your wedding... well they aren't the guy/gal for you.
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Something Borrowed, Something Roo: The Hunt for the Perfect Venue

Kat

October 31, 2011

My lovely intern Roo (oh I do love her so) had, to say the least, quite the drama with the search for the perfect wedding venue. So she's here today to share her woes and in turn reassure those of you that might be going through the same hell, that it's all going to be fine and that you will come out on the other side! I personally found the venue hunt the most stressful part of my wedding planning. Why are wedding venues such a pain in the...ahem. Over to you lady...
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A Simple Brighton Wedding: Holly & Patrick

Kat

October 4, 2011

Holly & Patrick were married in Brighton. They didn't really stick to a particular theme for their wedding, they simply included things they love. They wanted to keep the day simple and stress-free, as the bride explains, "We didn't have a theme, and we didn't say anything had to be a certain way. My dress was handmade on me, through chatting, drawings and ideas, by my friend Aimee who trained at London College of Fashion. Patrick chose his suit because he was definite that he wanted a 'mod' suit. It was all done very organically, and it was perfect. Somebody suggested I wear a long sleeve, high necked dress to cover my tattoo but I declined the suggestion and went for as low a back as possible."
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James & Charlie’s Intimate Registry Office Ceremony

Kat

June 6, 2011

You may have seen Andrew's own wedding around blog-land as it was photographed by the awesome Emma Case. Inspired by his own wedding experience, Andrew wanted to try his hand at wedding photography himself...and can I be so bold as to say, for a first attempt he pretty much nailed it! One to watch? I think so! He explained, "Meeting Emma had a huge impact on me. I've always felt quite a creative person and used to be able to channel that through music and film making. That just seemed to fizzle out through my mid twenties and left a massive void in my life. I never took time to fill it. When I met Emma she inspired me to pick up my camera and find a totally new passion. I've not looked back. I am so grateful to her and we still keep in regular contact. I find weddings and couples the most amazing thing to photograph as there is nothing but love and positivity in every frame. I am completely engulfed now and have taken the leap of faith to see if I can follow my own photography path."
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Chi Chi Revolver’s Tattooed Bridal Shoot

Kat

March 31, 2011

"I was really inspired reading the winning entry to your Knot Couture dress competition recently," photographer Bethan of Haywood Jones Photography told me. "It was hard to picture how it would feel to be made so uncomfortable in a shop who were clearly disapproving of you, thinking we live in a properly modern society (!) until it happened to me last weekend (not because I have beautiful body art sadly, but much more because I was dressed a bit scruffily and went into a very posh art shop. They actually got another member of security to stand in the shop while me and my friend walked around!!) It suddenly became clear that you really can't judge a book by its cover and that even though the *mainstream* wedding industry is becoming more accepting of the *alternative* side of peoples wedding creativity and gorgeousness, there are still many blinkered people out there who wont look past stereotypes and make you feel less than worthy of their attention."
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