Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

DIY

A Most Curious Party

Kat

January 13, 2010

Rebecca & John's summer wedding was so eclectic, so English and just so fabulously unique that I couldn't wait to share it with you. Rebecca told me all about their ideas and inspiration behind their amazing day, so I'm just going to hand over to her for this one! John didn’t want to get married in a church, as he is not religious so I had my heart set on getting married outside, because we felt there was a more powerful spirituality in the earth and nature that would bring us together with more meaning than just a civil ceremony. Almost a pagan idea I guess… The marriage scene at the end of Robin Hood Prince of thieves was a major inspiration! We got married at Hedingham Castle, an 11th century fort in Essex, England. The castle were quite strict in what we could do so we put most of our effort into making the reception at Belchamp St Paul Community Hall, Suffolk, our own. We had said the ‘theme’ of the wedding would be ‘vintage inspired –from the 20s to the 50s’ on the invitation, mainly because I love the fashions, music, style and glamour of those eras – but I suppose starting the proceedings in a Medieval castle fit in with ‘vintage as well.’ We felt it was really important that throughout the day everything should reflect who we were, rather than conforming to any idea of how weddings should be, Our whole wedding ethos was that it showed our personalities, as it was day about us after all! and you don’t get a chance to do that again… many traditions stand the test of time because they are lovely traditions such as the cake, the rings and getting dressed up etc, but we didn’t want it to be a generic cookie cutter wedding – and many people said that it showed, it couldn’t have been anyone else’s wedding!
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Vintage Zoo Wedding

Kat

January 8, 2010

Courtney & Michael's wedding is one of those that you wish you could see a fresh everyday. I got so excited when photographer Jacquelyn sent me this wedding to look at! They had a small ceremony officiated by an friend of the bride which took place at Birmingham Zoo Lodge. Pretty much everything about this wedding was DIY. The groom felted the cake topper (two birds sharing an ipod) and all of the bouquets. The brides birdcage veil and headpiece were made by her friend/hairdresser. They printed up tickets to throw instead of bird feed or bubbles. There was a small cake and punch reception afterwards where the guests were greeted by a llama and a parrot. After the reception, the bridal party met at a local restaurant - Rojo - for some eats and then on to the after party! The after party was held at a bar/antique shop called The Garage where there was much laughter shared and alcoholic beverages consumed. Courtney looks amazing in her dress by Unique Vintage and her adorable floral shoes by Not Rated. Credit: Jacquelyn Jackson Photography
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Red Rockers

Kat

January 6, 2010

After running a free photography contest on her blog (hint: enter mine!) photographer Laura Ryan was lucky enough to find Rebeca & Martin - two rockers from Boston who wanted her to shoot their red-themed wedding. Rebeca’s dress and Martin’s coat were handmade by her friend who created it for her from a 1950’s pattern and Rebeca even made her own hairpiece. The whole wedding had a old English teatime theme so everyone wore stylish hats, ate finger foods and drank tea to their heart's content in the beautiful historic building of Boston College Club, complete with cascading staircases and baroque style wall paper. Thanks to Laura (a real life rocker who actually has even visited my home town of Reading for the world famous Reading Festival) for sharing this wonderful wedding with us
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Thursday Treats – 31st Dec 2009

Kat

December 31, 2009

Well my dears, 2009 had been pretty damn awesome in Rock n Roll Bride Land and if you haven't yet then you totally have to check out my yearly review - part one and two - my favourite features of the past 12 months. "But what about the past 7 days!?" I hear you cry. "What have I missed whist I was opening my pressies, eating too much food and spending an untoward amount of time with my family?"' Well don't fret my loves, although blog-land has been a little on the slower side I've still been here, scouring the interwebs to bring you the best of the Christmas week's internet fun. ♥ The best of 2009 - How to make money from your blog ♥ 13 Tutorials to Help You Grow Your Blog Readership Next Year ♥ I Love You... by Max Chaoul Paris ♥ Snow globe torture...or diy snow globes (depends how you look at it really!) ♥ Julia Boggio's blog awards ♥ Meet Kingsley ♥ A veil of poofy wonderfulness
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2009 – The Year That Was {Part One}

Kat

December 30, 2009

As is customary at this time of year, I wanted to take some time to look back over the last 12 months and share with you some of my most favourite weddings, photo shoots and features. I think you'll be hard pushed to not find something that makes you go 'ooooh' amongstthis lot. Enjoy a-reminiscing! I'll be back tomorrow with part 2 (there's too much to narrow it down to just one post!) I'm also taking this slow blog-time (I like to refer to it as 'Crimbo Limbo' (!) to ponder my ideas and plans for Rock n Roll Bride in 2010. I'll try and share my musings for the year ahead with you soon and would love for you to let me know what you think. It's all about you dear reader after all...
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Glamorous DIY

Kat

December 22, 2009

Lauren & Chris had their gorgeous, heavily DIY wedding at The Maritime Hotel in NYC's meatpacking district. The neighborhood was perfect for the edgy and non-traditional wedding and photographs that they wanted. The bride's Mother made all the table decorations to fit their theme which encompased all the cities Chris & Lauren and traveled to together. All the flowers (including the bride's bouquet) were purchased at the Union Square farmers market the day of and assembled on site by friends before the ceremony. The cake was from Sugar Sweet Sunshine and the cake toppers were cute salt and pepper shakers which were a gift that Chris gave to Lauren a few months earlier. Thanks to Angie for sharing this funky NYC wedding with us today
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A Halloween-esque Steam Train of Epicness

Kat

December 21, 2009

Kim & Alex's wedding hit me like a steam train of epicness when I laid eyes on it. I'm pretty sure my insessent ramblings can't bring it justice so I think it's only fair I hand over to Kim with all the fantastic details. As usual, I'll be back with the eye candy. "Originally our theme was “Halloween Town” from Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, but as time went on, our theme evolved beyond Tim Burton to include other geeky things we love as a couple such as zombies, toys, film and... well... Halloween! We were mostly inspired by films (predominantly Tim Burton and Zombie flicks) and our own Halloween experiences. We just looked at the little things we loved most and used that to make our wedding our own. I’m in love with Burlesque-wear and wanted to incorporate that whimsical, glam-yet-sexy look to my outfit. Instead of bridal magazines, my fashion designer friend and I looked through many burlesque photos and lingerie books to gather inspiration for my dress. For my shoes, I found the most awesome bright green zombie shoes designed by Iron Fist. They were out of stock in Toronto, so Alex and I sent out all our online Twitter friends on a mad hunt for them. We ended up getting them shipped from Ohio. A few months later, a friend of mine from Chicago found the flat versions of the same zombie shoes, which I was really thankful for. I cannot walk in heels! The groom’s suit was inspired by Jack Skellington. He didn’t want to take the blatant replica route by getting a pin stripe suit. Instead, his plain black suit had black skeleton appliques all throughout. He even had a hoodie that had the skull on the hood! Since he almost always only exclusively wear Chuck Taylors, he wore black on black Chucks to the wedding. To add a sense of “badass” to his outfit, as well as his groomsmen/groomsgirl, our good friend, We Kill You made us custom pimp sticks for them to walk around with. We were really lenient with our wedding party when it came to what to wear
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Tattooed Lovelies Trailer Park Love Fest

Kat

December 20, 2009

I've got yet another wedding I've been waiting with baited breath to share with you as a matter of urgency. Lori & Jason's funky, punky, trailer part love affair wedding makes me squeal with excitement (especially when I saw the images of the couple getting inked together - hello, so awesome!)A vintage trailer park called the Shady Dell, a custom pink crinoline peeking out of the wedding gown, and tattoos on the spot are only a few of the awesome details of this wedding in Bisbee, Arizona. Shooting Lori and Jason at the Shady Dell was a blast. Lori looked fabulous in her Stephanie James Couture; it complemented her stunning body art. And the venue only added to mystique of the day; vintage Airstreams were the perfect backdrop for this hip couple who love all things vintage! And don’t forget the BBQ and potato salad on pick plastic plates! Thanks to Erin for sharing this fabulousa wedding with us today
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Quirky Details & An Old Fashioned Knees Up

Kat

December 15, 2009

It's official. I am actually starting to finally believe that the UK is catching up to America in the style stakes. When this wedding winged it's way to me from the West Midlands (that's a bit up north for my American readers!) I knew straight away that sharing it would make me a very happy blogger indeed. Katie & Matt had a very personal and private wedding with on 25 of their closest friends and family at The Moat House in Staffordshire. It was a right old party full of music, booze (of course) and lots and lots of dancing! Katie looked quite the Rock n Roll princess in her Ian Stuart 'Mae' dress and her Benjamin Roberts shoes. Matt looked just as stylish in his suit by Reiss. What made this wedding even better and more personal was that a friend of the family did the flowers and Katie's sister's best friend made the cake. Love it! Thanks to Lee for sharing this fabulous wedding with us Rock n Rollers today!
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Red Heels & Wheat Bouquets

Kat

December 13, 2009

I featured Mary's killer bridal session earlier this year - the aviators, gun and cigar really did it for me - so as always I've been eagerly awaiting for her wedding to Opie and I'm certainly not disappointed. I'm so exited that photographer Jenna wanted to share these with us: On her big day Mary not only rocked finger waves (vintage chic oh lala), a consignment shop wedding dress, a DIY wheat bouquet and red heels, but she and her beloved, Opie, had a wedding pie instead of wedding cake, saw each other before the ceremony (yay!), gave homemade truffles to their guests (and their photographer as well, which doubles their coolness factor in my book), and served hamburgers as their wedding dinner. Thanks to the every sweet, lovely and cool Jenna for sharing these today
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An Extra Special, Stylish & Quirky British Wedding

Kat

December 11, 2009

The UK is seriously on fire this week and I've got another fantastic British wedding so share with you. However this one is extra extra special as Sally & Peter actually found their photographer, Kate, through Rock n Roll Bride! Woo to the Hoo! Kate talked all about Sally & Peter and their wonderfully eclectic day on her own blog: I am in actual love with Sally's purple shrug and woolen gloves. What a ridiculously stylish and wonderfully quirky couple. I love it all! Thanks to Kate for sharing this wedding and I am so happy that in a small way I was a part of it! Credit: Depict Photography
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Barefoot & Beautiful

Kat

December 7, 2009

Yeah so I've gone a little nuts with this post. Sixty Seven photographs may be a lot to share in one bumper go, but once you lay eyes on these I know you're going to allow it! Chad & Christine, what can I say? The super stylish pair had a fabulous eco wedding at the end of October at Lake Oak Meadows. The bride wore a Sue Wong dress which she bought from Saks and both she and her groom had wooden rings made by Gustav Reyes which of course complimented their rustic, eco, hippy-chic theme to a tee. The bridesmaids all chose their own dresses from David's Bridal and the boys wore suits from Men's Warehouse. The entire wedding party went barefoot for the majority of the day and the pair went DIY-tastic by designing and making their own invitations, logo and napkins. Quite frankly my dears, my words can not give justice to this awesome day. Enjoy lusting over these won't you?! Thanks to photographer's Brandon & Brian for sharing this ridiculously awesome wedding with me and my lovely readers today. Mwah! ps I was going to post these tomorrow but I actually couldn't wait!
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Two Sides to the Story

Kat

December 2, 2009

Allison & Gabe's wedding day started like every other - excitable, elegant, stylish and full of lurrrrve - then night fell and the chaos and fun of rock star proportions ensued! I love how the couple's attire matches their mood - beginning of the day - excited, demure and classy (I adore Allison's simple dress), end of the night - ruffled and rocking the hell out (and again I adore Allison's dress!) In fact it wasn't just the bride who changed - the whole wedding party got changed (the women into ruffles, the men into dinner suits) for the massive party at the end of the night! Photographer Inbal me all about the madness, Allison and Gabe had a ceremony on a boat in the east river, incorporated marriage rituals from basically every religion they could think of (and made up a few of their own), and later had their reception at the Princess Manor in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, who also catered. They had ice sculptures made in their likeness! Kenley from Project Runway crashed the wedding! The bride got so drunk she lost her shoes (I gave her mine and she still has them)! As you can see, they partied pretty hard and made their own rules. Thanks to Inbal for sharing and of course to Allison & Gabe for being too freakin' awesome for words!
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Old Hollywood, Mexican Punk Rock!

Kat

November 30, 2009

Summer & Christopher's wedding took place in July in a cemetery/mausoleum where the bride's mother works at their beautiful 1920's era chapel - certainly made for some awesome shots huh!? Summer told me: "It didn't bother us that the chapel had a mausoleum inside of it. It's not that we were being purposely macabre, but we both have an understanding of the cycle of life, and felt that it would be beautiful, appropriate, and romantic, to have our wedding in a place which encompassed beauty and history. It was also a nice tribute to my mom, who brought me up with the understanding that death is just another part of life"
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