Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

DIY

A Western Vintage Vacation

Kat

August 6, 2009

After posting Jenn & Skip's engagements back in May, I was convinced I would totally love their vintage vacation themed wedding - and I guess I was right. As these exclusive (oh yes) photographs show, their wedding was one seriously themed affair. They went for a western/vintage vacation theme which was helped along by all their friends and family, not only dressing up for the day, but by helping the couple to DIY the lot! Jenn made her own veil and fascinator, the invitations, her bouquet, the boutonnieres, the cake, the decorations and the signs. Skip made his own Groom's cake - a bowling ball and pins - and helped Jenn wherever she needed it! Jenn's sister and maid of honour made all the cute cupcakes and each Bridesmaid maid their own fascinators. The couple decided not to include anybody in their wedding that they didn't know - so they had a friend perform the ceremony and other friends chip in with food, hair and make up. I am obsessed with themed things, so naturally the wedding had to have a theme. Our overall theme was “vintage vacation”. From there we had mini-themes inside the big one. The brides cake and cupcakes were woodland (to go with the mountains). The suggested attire was western. The groomsmen and Dads wore western shirts. The bridesmaids wore headpieces and carried fans, saloon girl style. Both the bride and groom wore cowboy boots (which we already owned)… the groom also had spurs, the hat, the whole shebang! Our favors were vacation & western themed, as well as our decorations, popcorn & candy bar. Insead of dancing, the wedding was rounded off with fun and games including eating doughnuts on a string, two photobooths, a candy and a popcorn bar. Wow! Jenn & Skip I am blown away by your wedding. Thanks so much for sharing it! Credit: Patrick of PWP Studio
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The English Way

Kat

August 4, 2009

In many ways the UK is a very forward thinking, literal place to live. Gay marriage is legal, you can drink at 18 and not attending church every Sunday is generally not frowned upon. However when it comes to wedding legalities, Britain can be a little strict on the rules. You can't, for example, legally marry outdoors. You are only able to wed at an officially consecrated place with an officially appointed person officiating the ceremony. However Lucy and J's dream was to have an outdoor humanist ceremony at Oxon Hoath in Kent, so despite the English weather and the English laws, they did just that (they did of course have to do the legal thing as well.) I am loving the following details about this wedding - Lucy's dress and shrug combo was from Joanne Fleming Design in Brighton, UK and their completely unique rings were designed and made by the couple themselves. Lucy's gorgeous bouquet was from Darling and Wild with the rest of the flowers all being done themselves who visited Covent Garden wholesale flower market to buy the blooms. Their uber cool twist on the traditional boutonnerie were again made by the couple themselves using white peacock feathers, leaves from the grounds of the venue and old buttons are pretty damn gorgeous though right? Ahh England, I still love you.
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Tulle Is Always A Good Thing

Kat

August 1, 2009

After featuring Kent & Roberta's cute engagements, I knew their wedding would be equally adorable but little prepared me for this. I am all about Roberta's own personal twist on her 'Weddings by Debbie' dress with the addition of a pink tulle underskirt, painstakingly sewn it by her Mother in Law - aww. Photographer Debbie has told me they have since done an awesome trash the dress shoot involving a bathtub - I can't wait to see the results. Credit: Englexas Photography
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An Urban Fairytale

Kat

July 30, 2009

Hurrah! Part two of Caroline Ghetes' amazing vintage inspired bridal sessions is live! This second installment has a much more modern twist to it as Caroline wanted to show how vintage fashion can work in super modern, urban suroundings. She scoured Etsy for the majority of the gorgeous pieces to go in this shoot. The ever so popular 50's style tea dress was from ghmarketplace, the sparkly tulle veil was handmade with vintage material from the 1940's by Liaison, the pink and the peacock hairpieces were by Chamberry Cherry and finally the dramatic bouquet was actually made by Caroline herself. (Just in case you missed it, Part one is here) Thanks again to Caroline for sharing these with us. I am waiting with baited breath for the third and final installment!
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God Only Knows What I’d Be Without You

Kat

July 30, 2009

"Good morning, starshine... the earth says hello!" Boy am I one crazy blogger - got to bed at 3am last night and at 8.30 this morning I am raring to go again. Sleep? What's that? Prepare for another day of wowing by the way... Lets get going with this simple yet beautiful backyard wedding, given a little bit of a retro feel with Danielle's stunning dress which was made by Siri and Wade's suit which was from Banana Republic. Photographer Carey, loved telling me about this wedding: When Danielle came out to the Beach Boy's "God Only Knows', you knew it was going to be a great night. It was out at Wade's family farm (just outside of Regina, Saskatchewan), and was just a really relaxed fun day. There wasn't too much of a theme, but the little pieces added gave it a really comfy feeling. The food was bbq'd, little homemade Canadian honey was given to the guests, there was music and dancing all night, fireworks, a firepit with smores and weiner roasting, and people camping to stay the night. Thanks to Carey for sharing the love...
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When She Used To Rock n Roll

Kat

July 20, 2009

Kirsten & Josh’s wedding not only had a fun, retro feel, but they really went all out with their 1950’s diner theme. I am crazy in love with the Brides entire outfit - from her Dorothy ruby slippers to her cute polka dot dress made by her Mother and friend Marnie Rogers, who designs clothes for Wintersun. The gorgeous Bridesmaid had a rockabilly style to them - especially their amazing hairdos! For the reception, the couple went all out for a 50's diner theme, where they designed and made everything themselves. The centrepieces were giant lolly jars and each table had a different type of old school lolly, which was the name of the table ("Sweethearts" "Milk bottles" "Ice creams" "Jelly beans" etc) The place cards were black & white candy striped lolly bags with everyone's names on them, each painstakingly tied with little red ribbons. The placemats were old records that they picked up in an op shop and they had little gifts for everyone on the table - mini erasers in the shape of burgers, fries, hotdogs and donuts, plus vintage metal wind up toys. Each table also had a diner style spring loaded napkin holder, salt and pepper shakers and tomato and mustard bottles. Then best of all, for dinner they served burgers, hotdogs, pizza and fries. I bet their guests were thrilled - no boring wedding food for them! The celebrations continued into the night with the couple having their first dance to 'I remember the Bride when she used to Rock n Roll' by the Stray Cats, finishing the night by swaying along to 'Earth Angel'. Thanks to the Groom's Mother Rhonda for sending me this wedding and to the couple for putting together all the awesome info for you all.
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Abbey Ruins – Part One

Kat

July 17, 2009

Woo! I have been dying to share the results from my photo shoot with Chanelle & Craig Segerius-Bruce so much so that I don't even have the full set yet so I'm going to do it in two parts. I met Chanelle for Sushi a while a go and we got a-chatting about doing a shoot together. We knew we wanted to come up with an idea that wasn't 'overdone' (even non brides-to-be worry about doing the same as everybody else...maybe I should read this article I wrote!?) Anyway, we came up with an idea revolving around an old castle and black...lots of black. This little inkling of an idea then evolved into shoot you see below. Despite buying a black dress from Ebay for the shoot, when it came to the crunch it just didn't look right so we went back on the old faithful, my Maggie Sottero wedding dress. I made the black veil myself out of some black tulle, a hair slide and lots of glue(!) and also broughtalong some various other colours of tulle which ended up coming in very handy (yes that is me splayed across a big rock and no it wasn't comfortable..or glamorous!) We trekked our arses all the way down to the Abbey Ruins in Reading town centre but when we got there it was all gated off with warning signs for potential falling rocks. Oh noooo! So what's a Rock n Roll Bride and photographer(s) to do? Hell break in and do the shoot anyway of course! Chanelle & Craig were fantaaaastic and played around with a new technique called 'painting with light'. I had to stand very still in one position for a number of shots while one of them moved around me flashing a flash for in different areas to highlight various area. I think you can see the results are pretty darn spectatorand give the images a real high fashion, edgy look. Chanelle is also an amazing re-toucher and has worked for no less than Mario Testino (oh yes!) so I knew me and my far from perfect skin were in good hands. Anyway, I hope you enjoy looking at these as much as we did shooting themand stand by for part two! (For the full part one set, head over to my flickr)
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A Colourful Mess

Kat

July 14, 2009

I'd just like to start by saying those were the Bride's words not mine but I like it so I stole it. They started off with wanting a 1920's theme but once they fell in love with their bright Bridesmaid dressed they knew that was out the window. The theme then morphed to 'Bonnie & Clyde' but ended up as 'whatever the hell was want!' I like that theme..screw being constrained by any kinda rules! A few more awesome tips and ideas from the couple... We made all our paper stuffs - the invitations, programs, placecards, table numbers and photocards. We did everything on a modest budget and still got stuff we wanted. I love my dress - I found it on sale, in perfect condition. Joe picked out his tux on his own and we found a matching fedora for the reception. We also picked very random songs to play during the reception. Hardly anyone knew what they were, but we loved them. It kept us dancing the whole night! And possibly my favourite fact about this wedding... Did I mention that although we were engaged for over a year, everything changed about 6 weeks out, so we did pretty much everything in a very short period of time? No, well, we did! We were really go-with-the-flow, whatever happens, happens and we didn't really care about a lot of the details.We didn't do centerpieces, we had chocolate suckers as favors, and we really didn't care what anyone wore. It was a very low-key crazy-colorfest! Methinks we can all learn a lot from this crazy couple..I totally heart them. Thanks Susan & Joe for not only sharing, but proving that stressing about having the 'perfect' wedding just doesn't matter! Credit: Katie Halton Photography
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An Eye Deal Match

Kat

July 14, 2009

Avory & Corey had some pretty dramatic engagements to fit in with their pretty epic style. Photographer Tiffanie used a 'light painting' technique to achieve these stunning results. The couple are a crafty pair who make their own glass jewellery and so it's obvious that such a creative couple deserve a pretty creative shoot right? If you wanted to buy some pieces by Avory & Corey then check out their company Eye Deal Glass. Credit: Tiffanie Weaver Photography
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Family, Friends and Fabulous Fashion!

Kat

July 10, 2009

I have been dying to get the wedding up all day, and I am so excited that it is all now ready to go. Photographer Monika Broz of Project Mad Love sent me these gorgeous images alongside a fantastic overview of their day by the couple, Cori & Rollie. So without further ado... We wanted to have a relaxed but stylish outdoor wedding with a casual feel in the Lambertville/New Hope area close to where are families are from but not too far from NYC where a lot of our friends are. I always pictured the sun shining with fluffy clouds and blue skies and kids running around and everyone just kicking back and enjoying the good food and good company. We chose the Mills for it's beautiful location on the Delaware River and the charm and history of the buildings.
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Traditional Korean

Kat

July 8, 2009

Jennifer & Matthew had a gorgeous traditional Korean wedding, which took place at Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden. Jennifer's beautiful dressis a traditional Korean dress called a hanbok, but with a modern twist. It was designed by Kim Mehee, who designed Sandra Oh’s dress for the SAG awards.... The couple went DIY'ed all the flowers! I love their peacock boutonnieres the most but I am also pretty crazy about her homemade bouquet, she used flake flowers to keep it looking perfect throughout the day. Credit: Caroline Tran
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One Big Party

Kat

July 8, 2009

Aly & Elroi's wedding was described by the couple as 'one of the most magical days of our lives' A day filled with such a fun party vibe and one where all their friends and family pulled together to help them achieve the wedding of their dreams. Just a few examples of their amazing friends who helped out include, both their outfit's being made by a friend of theirs who lives in New York and another friend made and travelled with their wedding cake all the way from Texas! They had another friend cater for them and some other friends who made the invitations. Funny and persoanal anecdotes are what makes wedding like this great, and Aly spoke about their impromptu (and hilarious) bridal shower... So, I went to the coffee shop to meet them, got my coffee, sat down and realized that everyone was being weirdly quiet as I babbled and babbled. So, I stopped and was like, "What's going on? Why aren't y'all so quiet?" And my friend Lindsey says, "Well, I'm just going to tell you. You're kidnapped." "Huh?" Danielle, my MOH, shouts "Get in the car. I'm not gonna tell you twice!" (She was trying to be tough-sounding in a hilarious way.) So I was handed a clue that I had to decipher to tell them where we were going to. I was like, "Wait- you're kidnapping me but I have to tell you where to take me?" Danielle: "Don't ask questions!" Ha! So I figured out that the place the clue was talking about was the place Elroi proposed. So we went there and took pictures that would be left as a clue for Elroi, who has also unknowingly been kidnapped from our house by his side of the wedding party. (Side note: Elroi was actually kidnapped right in the middle of washing our dogs. So, Danielle's boyfriend who had been helping at the house took over dog-washing duties. As El's friends were leaving with him, Macauley, our rascally cake-maker instructed Danielle's boyfriend to just "wash as many dogs as you can." Every time I solved a clue, I got a present--so it was also like a surprise shower. I couldn't believe I didn't know anything about it and I felt so loved that all these people would plan something so elaborate and fun for us. Thanks to Aly & Elroi for sharing their gorgeous wedding and story! Credit: Our Labor Of Love
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Genuine Vintage Style

Kat

July 6, 2009

I get super excited when I find weddings like this, and I get even more excited when the couple send me all the juicy details so I can share them with you all. Sarah & Colin chose some really special details to make their vintage wedding just right. Sarah's ridiculously beautiful dress was a genuine 1950's vintage find from a small shop in Lambertville NJ, and her shoes, which perfectly match her dress, were from Anthropologie. Colin wore a J Crew suit with a pocket square that belonged to his Grandfather. The couple also went DIY crazy, making the invites, the name cards, and the table numbers themselves, Colin said to me "We spent way to much time using one of those round corner cutters! It hurt my fingers" but I think it was definitely worth it, the result is just gorgeousness. Finally the flowers were put together by generous friend and family helpers, gotta love them! A huge thank you to Amanda and Carina of Love Me Do Photographyfor sending me the images, and to Newlyweds Sarah & Colin for sharing their wonderful day with us.
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Thrifty Gorgeous

Kat

July 4, 2009

Faith & Joe didn't have much time to plan their wedding, especially as they live in Portland but chose to have the event in California as lots of their friends and family lived here. They also decided to do the whole thing in a super thrifty way. This however, led them to have a truly unique, personal DIY wedding. Friends and family also helped them out wherever they could with her Mum making the cake, the dried flowers for the bouquets, boutonnieres and decorations being donated and Faith getting her gorgeous dress from a thrift store, adding the tulle and brown sash herself and even making her own veil. This has got to be one of the sweetest and most stylish DIY weddings I've ever had the pleasure of sharing with you all. Thanks to photographer Shannon Moore for sharing!
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For Those About To Rock…

Kat

June 29, 2009

With a rock star Groom like Jeremy would you expect anything less than a wedding like this? The couple choose an awesome venue and had live music a go go! They walked down the aisle to Led Zeppelin and had friends playing an acoustic set during their ‘cocktail lounge’. The speeches sound like they were somewhat epic, with Alison’s brother even getting everyone shout “For those about to rock, we salute you" at the end of his toast! Jeremy’s parents rapped during their speech and Alison’s dad sang for his. For favours the couple made a ‘Rock Star Survival Kit’ including a custom guitar pick, a shot glass and bubble gum. The couple also got their wedding rings engraved with the words ‘you rock’ on his, and ‘you rule’ on hers (made by The Devil’s Workshop)…definitely not the usual soppy stuff! Alison’s dress was by Alfred Angelo, her hair piece by Etsy seller, GG Designs and her gorgeous bouquet & Jeremy’s boutonniere were made by Princess Lasertron.
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A Broke Ass Wedding

Kat

June 28, 2009

After posting Dana (of The Broke Ass Bride fame) & Hunter's awesome 'Fresh Hubby of LA' wedding video I thought I was done. I saw their phenomenal photographs by Dan of Chennergy (who shot their wedding for free!) but decided to not share them straight away as I assumed photography as fantastic as this would pop up on all the wedding blogs. However it seems that maybe everybody else had the same idea as me, and while I've seen their video everywhere I look their photographs seem to have fallen to the wayside maybe just a little bit. That, my friends, is a travesty of utmost proportions. These must be seen and adored. Enjoy! Credit: Chennergy curtosy of The Broke Ass Bride
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Princeton Wedding

Kat

June 27, 2009

Sara & Matthew have sent me their wedding along with 150 of their favourite images from the day – and nope you didn’t read that wrong! While this may be slightly over the top I have to say it is indeed a rather fabulous wedding The couple had their ceremony at an old brick house under a huge tree with a few leaves missing where they hung bird cages to tie in their bird theme. They had their portraits at Princeton University and then headed to their reception at a Brewery and instead of the usual champagne reception, the couple served samples of local beer! Sara’s dress was Selena by Maggie Sottero and her Bridesmaids were by Niteline. The Bride embarked on a DIY frenzy making the ring bearer pillows, the table numbers, the aisle decor along with the tree and the flower centrepieces themselves – phew!
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Rock Stars By Name Rock Stars By Nature

Kat

June 26, 2009

Alysha & Javi are one of those couples that just sound so rock n roll that I wouldn't expect anything less then a wedding just like this one.What is so great though is that despite the rock n roll persona, this wedding still has so many gorgeous and super personal touches. The car that took them to their wedding was actually the car they had their first date in and all the flowers were based on the same arrangements the Bride's Grandmother had at her wedding. The Bridesmaids look awesome in their sexy black jumpers and pencil skirt combo and the Bride looks seriously amazing..and her shoes..oh the shoes! They are by Betsey Johnson and are just gorgeous! Thanks to photographer Shannon for sending me these. I will catch you all tomorrow (or on Twitter later, I am crazy addicted!), have you entered the contest yet? There is always space for you!
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