Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

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Relaxed Backyard BBQ Wedding: Megan & Tom

Kat

Katch Silva

October 31, 2013

Megan and Tom had a chilled out, backyard BBQ wedding held at a friend's house. "We wanted the whole experience to be a representation of ourselves and our relationship", Megan wrote. "While we wanted everything to look beautiful, we didn't want it to be perfect or overdone. I went shopping in thrift stores for all kinds of mismatched vases that would compliment each other. At the end of the night. guests were allowed to take all of the assortments home with them."
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Colourful Columbus Wedding: Adam & Claire

Kat

Red Gallery

March 29, 2013

Adam & Claire were married at Via Vecchia Winery, Columbus - well actually they were married in the alley behind Via Vecchia Winery but they had their reception indoors afterwards! With a groom a wedding photographer himself, they put real importance on their images and so set up a pre-wedding 'first look' to capture some intimate moments before the ceremony kicked off. For this Claire wore a BHLDN dress designed by Orla Kiely, She changed back into this outfit for the reception but for the ceremony itself she opted to wear her mother's vintage wedding dress. Adam had no idea she was planning to do this or to even get changed at all, so seeing her walking down the aisle in a different dress than he expected must have been a very special moment indeed.
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Historic Cemetery Wedding with the Bride Arriving in a Coffin: Kristen & Jo

Kat

Heather Elizabeth

March 26, 2013

It feels weird to start a real wedding post with a disclaimer of sorts but this is just one of those weddings that I share with a small sense of trepidation. Without wanting to sound like anybody's mother, let's just remember that this is two people's actual wedding day and their way of expressing their love. I am under no disillusion that parts of the wedding may well divide opinion, but as always, let's keep the comments constructive and remember what Rock n Roll Bride is all about...
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Hiking, Tweed & a Roaring Log Fire: Ciaran & Ellen

Kat

Andy Wardle

March 7, 2013

Ciaran & Ellen's wedding was a far removed from a traditional wedding as possible. The bride didn't wear a white dress, she wore a tweed suit; they didn't have bridesmaids or groomsmen, they had their dogs; they didn't have a fancy vintage car, the went for a hike. The ceremony was held at The Woolpack Inn in Cumbria in February and was followed by a low key and intimate meal for their few attendees. A few months later they had a larger gathering in their own back garden for the rest of their friends and family.
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Reclaimed & Revisited DIY Wedding: Josh & Scott

Kat

Adam Lowe

February 5, 2013

Before I even saw these photographs I knew I wanted to blog this wedding. Wedding photographer, Adam Lowe, described the event to me as 'a mega super awesome gay punk dude wedding' and I instantly knew it would be amazing... and oh boy how right I was! Josh & Scott were married in October at 400 West Rich, a 100,000 sq foot warehouse in Columbus, Ohio. They did pretty much everything themselves and spent just $3000 making their wedding perfect. "We met through a gay social networking and just got to talking", they began. "About three months later we were taking turns visiting each other and three months after that Josh moved to Columbus. Josh is a huge Disney fan and we planned a trip to Disney and Scotty ordered an engagement ring. He proposed to Josh in front of Cinderella's Castle."
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Vintage Wedding at the Royal Observatory: Sarah & Paul

Kat

Andrea Ellison

January 23, 2013

Sarah & Paul and were married in September at the royal observatory - Queen's House in Greenwich. They went for a English vintage theme with a twist. It reflected the things they love in their everyday lives. "The wedding theme was English vintage as I am big into my vintage clothing and music so things needed to be pretty but with an eccentric twist", wrote the bride. "I didn't want it to be a Cath Kidston wet dream and neither did I feel that an out-and-out rocking festival would have suited us so we went for something in between! I love typography and so that was instantly worked into our invites and other paper goods (I made the majority using pretty parchment card and downloading fonts from the internet)."
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Colourful Manor House Wedding with just 34 Guests: Amy & Ray

Kat

December 19, 2012

I'm seeing a huge shift in a lot of the weddings that I'm being submitted of late. While large and lavish detail-heavy weddings were, and in many cases still are, wedding blog perfection, I am noticing that these days it's the smaller ones that a catching my eye. It seems that lot of my readers are completely swinging the other way and are planning small, intimate and personality-heavy nuptials. I know what it is though - my readers are rebels, just like me! You don't want to do what everyone else is doing - you want your weddings to be different and to be a perfect reflection of your love and your relationship. And that, dear readers, is why I friggin' love each and every one of you! I've known Amy for a while now. She is one third of Ava - a wedding styling company based in Birmingham, and we've actually worked together on many occasions. The biggest collaboration we've done has got to be my Rock n Riot shoot where she even commissioned a graffiti artist to paint me on a giant wall!
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A Farm Wedding with Fancy Dress, Fun & Frolics: Lauren & Matt

Kat

August 31, 2012

Lauren & Matt's started their wedding planning knowing exactly what they wanted: something relaxed, stress-free and fun. They were lucky enough to have a friend whose parents own a farm, so everything else really stemmed from that. Lauren told me all about it. "As soon as we got engaged we knew how we wanted our wedding to be, we just didn't know how to do it! The first and most important thing was to find a photographer. Being a enthusiastic photographer myself, I spent weeks searching for one that she liked, we finally came across Sassy of Assassynation and sent an excited email straight away. She immediately told us to phone her for a chat as we hadn't set a date yet, but when she told us she only had 2 Saturdays free in the 3 months that we were looking at we booked her there and then! Everything else was then planned around her."
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An Alice Wedding in Australia: Stew & Ali

Kat

April 2, 2012

The Australian wedding of Stew & Ali was held at Leaning Church Vineyard in Tasmania. "We knew even before we were engaged that we wanted to be married in a vineyard," Ali told me. "We love to visit the amazing vineyards in our area of Tasmania, which is famous for its Pinot Noir. We’re known for our somewhat overzealous love of said Pinot Noir….So a vineyard screamed Stew and Ali. We chose Leaning Church because of its rustic charm, hills full of vines, a quaint little lake, long yellow grass and absolutely fabulous wedding coordinator!"
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An Orchard Elopement: Dustin & Rebecca

Kat

March 15, 2012

Dustin & Rebecca had a tiny wedding on 11.11.11 - four years to the day that they met. Incredibly they also planned their wedding in just two weeks. "Our inspiration came from so many places!" the bride told me. "I think the fact that we had only 2 weeks to plan and a very small budget sort of worked to our favor. We were blessed with so much generosity from our friends, family, and strangers (who are now friends). I knew that I wanted to hand make as much as I could for the big day, make all the details count, and I knew I wanted to marry Dustin in a beautiful outdoor setting."
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An Anti-Princess, Nerdy & Eco-Friendly Wedding: Josh & Jaclyn

Kat

August 31, 2011

Josh & Jaclyn were legally married on July 13th but had their reception on the 16th at Smith & Wilson Winery in Cedar Springs, Ontario. "We decided to have the reception and the ceremony were on separate dates," Jaclyn told me. "On the Wednesday before the Saturday reception Josh, I, our parents and two close friends went to city hall for a justice of the peace ceremony. It was really relaxed - we didn’t even dress up in our fancy wedding attire. I wanted this because wedding ceremonies always bore me to tears and didn’t want to put our guests through that. It is also a good thing because I got a case of the giggles so bad that tears streamed down my face and we had to pause so I could catch my breath. That would have been so horrible in front of 100+ people!"
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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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Laura & Rich’s Eco-Friendly & DIY Two-Day Wedding Celebration

Kat

May 31, 2011

Laura & Rich's classic English themed wedding had some super quirky and personal touches. The couple werelegally married at Merton Register Office, London and a few days later had an outdoor blessing ceremony and their reception at Tilford Institute, Surrey. "People were confused as to why we had two days, but why not?" Laura told me. "I wore my dress twice. I was driven in a posh car twice. The first day with my dad, nervous; the second with my new husband, brimming with excitement at seeing my friends! I'd recommend spreading out the love to anyone."
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Sandra & Colin’s Budget, DIY, Bicycle Ride Wedding

Kat

April 20, 2011

Sandra & Colin's were married on 10.10.10 at The Franklin House, a private mansion in Tucson, Az. Their wedding was a super budget affair and 99% DIY. The couple did it their way and Sandra even had her dog walk her down the aisle (after some family disagreements.) "Our wedding was 99% D.I.Y. and very low budget," the bride told me. "We did get our wedding cake as a gift made by Busy B's Bakery. Colin designed all the programs and invitations and printed them at Vistaprint. We used all biodegradable bamboo utensils (that were wrapped with recycled fabric napkins I made) and sugar cane plates we found online pretty inexpensive Green Party Goods. At the time I was teaching a recycled art class in a middle school. For one of the classes I had the students decorate the plates with edible markers."
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