Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

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Melissa & Jon’s Alice in Wonderland, Camden Wedding

Kat

June 30, 2011

"The theme of our wedding ended up as a sort of mish-mash of Mad Hatters tea party, 1940's/50's and Camden weirdness (Camden is an area of London known for it's alternative culture - great for people watching!), which fitted our personalities perfectly" newlywed Melissa told me. She married Jonathan at Islington Town Hall and afterwards had their reception in a hotel in Camden, where they first met. "My inspiration firstly came from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland," Melissa continued. "Jon and I went to see the film when we were dating and I fell in love with it, I'd always been a fan of the book as a child but the film had me hooked. As soon as Jon proposed I knew I would want a touch of Alice involved somewhere within the wedding, the only difficulty was going to be fitting the theme around our tiny budget."
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Shane & Lisa’s Budget, DIY and One-Hell-Of-a-Rock-n-Roll-Party Wedding

Kat

June 29, 2011

With a budget of less that $6000, Shane & Lisa had to be very creative and clever when it came to planning their wedding. Luckily they had a lot of support from their friends & family and they really got into the DIY! "Everything about the day was beautiful but what really made it sparkle was all our friends and family", Lisa told me. "I am so very thankful for them. My family and friends had all mostly come from out of state and immediately started in on making the cake, helping with food prep and cooking, cleaning, decorating, grilling, and cleaning up (they kicked me out of kitchen during reception because apparently the bride is not allowed to load her dishwasher in her wedding dress.)"
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Anthony & Collette’s Laid Back & Timeless Wedding

Kat

June 29, 2011

Anthony & Collette were married at South Farm in Hertfordshire. They wanted their day to be laid back and timeless, so a matchy-matchy or strong theme really wasn't for them. "We took our inspiration from a few different sources," the bride told me. "We wanted it to be quite understated but not boring. We didn't so obviously want to have a things match or have a recognisable theme. We did, however, want everything to complement each other. Kind of like how my wedding ring and engagement ring contrasted but complemented each other - a traditional white diamond engagement ring with a black diamond 'eternity' wedding ring. One of our favourite photos of the day is of the flower girls. It shows them in their sparkly' trainers - it sums up how we wanted our day... relaxed but quirky."
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Under the Spotlight – weddingfavors.org

Kat

June 28, 2011

Wedding favors are often one thing that's overlooked or left to the last minute when you plan your wedding. However the addition of some cute little gifts for your guests to take away can really add to the over all theme of your big day. I often get emails from readers asking where to look for unusual and personalised wedding favors, and for those of you on a budget cheap wedding favor ideas. So I'm pleased to be able to share my favourite wedding favor ideas from Weddingfavors.org with you today.
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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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A Short Black Wedding Dress – Sarah & Adam’s My Chemical Romance

Kat

June 24, 2011

I'll be honest, I've been looking forward to seeing Sarah & Adam's wedding for an absolute age. You see, I saw Sarah's incredible black wedding dress many times before the event, when I popped into see my girls at Fur Coat No Knickers in London. Laura & Emma showed the dress to me and told me I'd love the bride that has bought it - that she was cute and tattooed and wearing a black veil to match...and oh boy we're they right! So without further ado... "I would describe our wedding theme as American vintage," Sarah
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Elizabeth & Simon’s Homemade Vintage Tea Party Wedding

Kat

June 17, 2011

Elizabeth & Simon's crafty vintage tea party wedding was a DIY effort and the beautiful touches and attention to detail really shows. The couple put a lot of themselves into their day and the bride especially homemade a lot of their wedding details. "Over several months I purchased vintage china and glass wear from various charity shops and Pannier Markets," she told me. "This was used as the crockery for the tea party and because we've managed to collect some really nice pieces and a substantial amount, we’re keen to start a small vintage crockery hire service after our wedding."
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Uri & Evelyn’s Intimate Islington Wedding

Kat

June 14, 2011

Uri & Evelyn's intimate wedding was held at Islington Town Hall with their reception at The Union Tavern and party afterwards at The Distillers Smithfield. The couple won their wedding photography with My Love Story though a feature they saw on Rock n Roll Bride which makes me totally biased to say I think I love them! Although I love detail-heavy weddings as much as the next wedding blogger, I'm also a huge fan of simplicity and genuine love in the weddings I feature...after all it's the people that matter and the fact that the bride and groom are committing their lives to each other that's the most important, not that the wedding is 'pretty.' Although that's not to say that Uri & Evelyn's wedding isn't pretty, I'm swooning over the bride's simple dress from Coast and the cute as hell wedding cake from Bea's of Bloomsbury!
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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."
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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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Tory & Joel’s Two-Day Vintage & Rock n Roll Wedding

Kat

June 10, 2011

Tory & Joel's two-day wedding makes my heart sing. These two totally different days worked so brilliantly for the couple. Both had a vintage and Rock n Roll vibe and I'm utterly thrilled to share them both with you today. The couple were married at Marylebone Town Hall, London in an intimate ceremony on Friday 27th May. Tory wore a vintage dress by Armstrong Vintage and Joel wore a suit from Next . The couple chose not to have their reception directly after as they were dreaming of eloping, and having the ceremony separate to the reception party gave them this feeling without upsetting their family and friends! "Part of us wanted to run away together and have a romantic eloping story to re-tell but in reality we both wanted our parents and siblings there at the ceremony," the bride told me. "It turned out to be exactly what we wanted: incredibly romantic, very intimate and with our nearest and dearest there to squeeze our hands when things got a bit emotional." The reception was held on the 29th at West End Farm, Bedfordshire and certainly had the Rock n Roll vibe. The bride wore a second vintage dress from Love Miss Daisy and the event was a detail-perfect party for all their friends and family.
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Lori & Tom’s Casual n Cool Vegas Wedding

Kat

June 10, 2011

Lori & Tom were married in Las Vegas in a casual and laid back wedding. They kept their day simple and significant to them, as Lori explains, “We live in London and met at Coachella music festival in 2007. We wanted intimate (we were thinking 35 people, we ended up with 54!) and casual, a bit different and more of a party than a wedding. No ice sculptures, receiving lines, or head tables. We just wanted to have a big party with our family and close friends. My family live in Vancouver and Tom’s family in England, so we decided that if guests were going to travel, then why not make it a big holiday in Vegas? And to top it all off, in meant we could go to Coachella with our closest friends before the wedding — bringing everything full circle.”
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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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Jonathan & Zoe’s Wedding Festival

Kat

June 3, 2011

For their 'Wedstival' (wedding festival!), Jonathan & Zoe threw traditions completely out of the window and planned the wedding that they wanted. As the bride told me, "Having been together for a (very!) long time we really wanted to steer away from a traditional wedding and do something that completely reflected us as a couple – we love the outdoor life, our Airedale terriers, our family and music festivals. Thus we came up with the idea of our “Wedstival” – a weekend that saw pretty much all 150 guests camping at the farm (in a mix of tents, VW campers, caravans and even a 36 foot luxury RV!!). We took massive inspiration from our amazing venue, York Maze. It meant we could literally have everyone and their dog there! The kids enjoyed two adventure playgrounds, an animal farm, a jumping pillow and go kart track. All eleven dogs had their own special dog park and to top it all off we had a three table casino and the most amazing live band!"
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Tina & Scott’s Travel Themed Crafty Wedding

Kat

June 1, 2011

Tina & Scott's travel and craft themed wedding took place at The Greenbranch, Texas. It was predominately a DIY wedding influenced by the couple's travels. "It was mostly a do-it-your self peacock inspired wedding with a splash of anything vintage was a blast," the couple told me. "Our invitations were an image of a vintage suitcase with travel stickers of places we have visited. This connected with our first date; a “geocaching date”. We not only wanted to share our journey as a couple with our guests but also encourage them to have an adventure of their own. The wedding favors for the evening were uniquely trackable geocaching coins designed by us."
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