Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

Eco Friendly

With a Little Help From Our Friends…{Part 1}

Kat

March 17, 2010

The event started the day before, with everyone coming together to set up and organise for the next day's festivities. "On Thursday, after Seba and I spent two days on vacation exploring Castro, we met up with Anita, Alan, and about 30 of their closest friends." Kyle told me "We carpooled from Castro to Quicavi, another little seaside town, where we would take a boat to Voigue. But first, we had to load that bad boy up. When all was said and done, I was nearly certain that we would sink. I have never seen so much stuff packed into such a small space. I mean, pretty much the entire wedding, minus the tent, was being transported. As soon as we arrived on the island, everyone set up their tents, we ate lunch and then we got right to work — and by “we,” I mean everybody else worked really hard and Seba and I photographed them working really hard."
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Retro Rockabilly vs Vintage Hippy Chic

Kat

March 2, 2010

For Jessica's trash the dress, she wanted to go for two different looks. So along side her husband Randy and her photographer Lori she got kitted out twice to create some images she'd always remember. First up was a retro rockabilly style urban session full of graffiti shots and stark architecture completed with her kick ass attitude and fashion including necklaces by Anna Sheffield for Target, the Je t'aime two finger ring (which I adore!) by Erica Anenberg and heels by Steve Madden. F0llowing this a much softer, more earthy style was required, so they all headed out to a local woodland with a gorgeous green chair and had a play around. For this style she wore vintage necklaces and a vintage coat, boots by MIA and a pink disc necklace by Dominique Cohen. Her dress in both sessions was from David's Bridal.
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Buddy Holly & Mother Nature

Kat

March 1, 2010

Amy & Nick's wonderful South Austin wedding had a distinct and very individual theme - perfect for them! Big fans of Buddy Holly and late 50's/early 60's music, it was important to them to really have that as a big part of their wedding. Amy walked down the aisle to an acoustic version of Every Day played live by a friend on the guitar. Nick waited to marry his sweetheart decked out in a grey suit, Buddy Holly glasses and his favorite pair of Converse. Amy wore a dress by Dolly Couture which was perfectly accented by a Magnolia flower created by Amy Barber of Sweettooth Bags.
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Woodland Nymphs

Kat

February 13, 2010

How do I even begin to describe a wedding like this? Eco? Hippy Chic? Organic? Ourdoorsy? Woodland nymph-like? Musical? Midsummer Night's Dream-esque? None of these words seem to do any kinda of justice to this beautiful wedding. Samuel & Jessica were married in Moravian falls at Pennel Horse farm. They wanted they day to have a raw and natural feel with a bit of mystical charm and simplicity. "They defined their wedding by what they love and not what tradition says to do", photographer Shelley told me "so they combined some common elements of the wedding ceremony, seasoned with of a little bit of hippie, funk, vintage and organic charm. Every little thing was a reflection of who they are as individuals and as a couple." Their bridal/groomal parties were huge and the woods were filled with light and music from the lanterns they all carried and the drums they played. The ceremony was a really emotional one (as you can see from the video below) the pair washed each other's feet and Sam even sang and played guitar to his new wife. The reception looks like a blast! The guests ate great organic food and they danced into the night around a giant bonfire. Jessica's dress was by Amalia Cararra. She bought her dress at "Stardust Celebrations" in Dallas, Texas, where she she was spotted by the creators of a new reality show on WEtv called "Girl Meets Dress." The couple's love story will be aired March 9th as the premier episode! Be sure to check out a snippet of their wedding video below as a little sneaky peak! Thanks to Shelley, Jess & Sam for sharing their a.m.a.z.i.n.g ceremony and wedding with us (and yes, there are over 100 photographs in this post but I had to include them all!)
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Eco Touches for this Snowy British Wedding

Kat

February 5, 2010

You know I'm usually all about the rock chicks, but there is just something about a quirky, DIY, eco, British wedding that I just can't resist...and that fact that the bride wore Vivienne's (I have them in yellow)...well I'm sold! Photographer Mark told me the whole story: Marie and Karl chose the personal, DIY approach to ensure their wedding reflected their eco-conscious principles, where possible, combined with their love of elegant, vintage styles, nature and music! The day was based in two venues in the Northern English Forest of Bowland on a snowy day in late December. The invite package contained screen printed and hand stamped bunting on recycled card and a button badge! The couple also set up a website was to encourage electronic RSVPs. Marie’s uncle’s 70’s cream ford galaxy 500 was the chariot of choice which delivered the pair to the organic farm for their reception- a gorgeous 17thcentury barn with heated floors and wood burning stove. Guests were greeted with mulled wine, hot vimto and the bride’s own homemade spiced biscuits served in an array of mis-matching vintage tea cups and saucers. Most of the deco was Marie’s own DIY effort -table centres were constructed on slabs of fallen pine/oak trees with arrangements of flowers she picked and dried over the year, vintage glass medicine bottles (car boot sales) and potted herbs in painted pots/vintage clay pots. Soy candles were arranged in charity shop finds- sherry glasses as votives and old glass jars covered in 1920s musical manuscript. Bunting was made by Gregg McDonald using off-cuts from the bridesmaid’s dresses (fabric from a brilliant mill in Bradford called Bombay Stores). Marie hand made some paper birds to sit on the edge of champagne glasses as place names and napkin rings were a ring of two-tone ribbon finished with a button. Karl designed and made “cootie catchers” which were placed on the dining tables featuring a selection of the couple’s favourite lyrics for entertainment between the courses of soup, pie and home-made cup cakes (courtesy of Marie’s mum and auntie)! The couple had been secretly attending swing jive dance lessons to surprise their guests and performed their first dance to Ray Scott’s red hot R n’ B number ‘Silk, Satin n Lace’. Later in the evening Karl’s band, including grooms men, ‘Super Johnny K and the Bang Bangs’ played a short set of vintage psyche n surf rock tunes. Marie teamed a stunner of a dress with her Vivienne Westwood shoes. She chose Daven by Pronovias and wore upcycled hair accessories ( from dress cut-offs and old sparkly bits) from Rebeccastone on Etsy and earrings which she also found on Etsy. Her bridesmaids wore dresses by Raouli. Karl wore a 1960's suit which he found on Ebay and a printed tie & hankerchief from Liberty. Thanks to photographer Mark and Marie & Karl for sharing this beeeautiful day with us
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Eclectic with Candlelight

Kat

January 2, 2010

I love this vintage fashion shoot so much! It has such a cool rustic, almost thrown-together feel with all those eclectic details... and who can resist all those candles? Isn't the light they emit just fantastic? Photographer Katelyn explains: What do you get when you put together 1 1/2 tables, 2 table-cloths, over 120 candles, 7 lanterns, 6 windows, some pretty awesome containers (jars), and some really cool books? an AWESOME outdoor photo shoot! I did a country vintage shoot that lasted through the day and into the night! It never got higher than 40 degrees but my model roughed it and did a great job. Thanks to Katelyn for sharing these with us...I need to do a shoot with candles like, now.
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Skin Graft, L.A.M.B & Dreadlocks

Kat

December 31, 2009

Kati & Hilal's wedding made me squeal with delight. It may have primarily been her custom made Skin Graft gown, her L.A.M.B shoes and her dreads that made me so excited, but alongside this inital visual feast, the whole laid back ambiance, feel and ethos of the day really makes me happy. Kati explained her choice of dress: Basically, it came about like this: I had seen and bought a few individual pieces of Skin Graft attire during the past few years, and then I noticed that they had a few weddings (within their "gallery".) I started an email conversation with them about a year before the wedding. (Skin Graft consists of 3 core designers and at least one wedding/custom gown assistant. I envisioned the outfit with Cassidey (one of the core 3) and then he passed me off to Amanda (wedding attire assistant) who finished the project off. We discussed different types of dresses they had already made, and different things I liked/didn't like. They sent photos of previous work, and drawings of my potential gown back and forth via email. I was measured in San Antonio, and sent the measurements to LA. When I received the dress I had to have it altered a little, but Skin Graft reimbursed me for the alteration fees.
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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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Sweet Tooth

Kat

December 2, 2009

I actually featured newbie photographer Shannon McLaughlin's own wedding waaaay back in February - many of you may recognise her as Mrs Candy Corn from Wedding Bee. Well, like many of us recent brides, the thought of giving up all things wedding once she'd tied the knot was too much to bear so she decided to venture into wedding photography herself...and oh how pleased we are that she did! She has only had her professional camera for a little over a month and look how awesome she is already! The recently engaged Veronika & Bryan acted as models for this shoot. Veronika owns her own vintage shop called Sweet Tooth Vintage through the fabulous Etsy so she had lots of amazing outfits to wear. I am also loving the various props and locations used for this shoot - an environmental centre in Philadelphia, the couple's own home (including their insane number of pets!) and a cuuuute tandem bike! A Huge Rock n Roll thank you ro Shannon for sharing her work and this amazing couple. I am so excited to see more of her in future! ps go check out her blog - it's super duper cute! Credit: Shannon McLaughlin (soon to be Fromage Photography)
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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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A Delicious, Locally Grown, Vegan Wedding

Kat

November 19, 2009

I love Megan & Brodie. I loved them as soon as I featured their Rock n Roll engagements a few months ago. So when Alica of In the Now Weddings & Events emailed me to share this kick ass wedding she'd helped to organise my first thought was "Hey, I know them!" When Megan & Brodie decided to get married, they knew they wanted it to feel homey and old fashioned, with a little rock and roll thrown in. They decided to have the ceremony and reception at the uber trendy Marvimon House, an awesome sustainable loft space in downtown Los Angeles. The pair are both vegan and we wanted to have a 100% vegan wedding. They served a delicious, locally grown, vegan buffet, Megan made 150 cupcakes and 8 dozen cookies and their friend (and maid of honor) homebrewed all of the beer! Megan's dress was a sample-sale-purchased Elizabeth Fillmore gown(Tattered Tulle from her Spring 2005 collection) and Brodie scored an absolutely amazing 60's suit from Jake's Vintage. They constructed a DIY photobooth, made 3 sets of favours, did all their own flowers and had the best kids table ever! Thanks to event organiser Alicia for sharing this awesome wedding with us and to Megan for sending me all the juicy details!
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An Eco Friendly Family Wedding

Kat

November 17, 2009

Fern & Ben organised their eco wedding themselves with the help of their families. Fern's uncle even made the gorgeous cake. Everything from the invitations (recycled paper with hand-pressed flowers) to the ring bearer's pillow (Fern sewed it herself) was a DIY job. Ben even designed Fern's engagement ring from eco-friendly jewelers (rose gold with a single chocolate diamond.) They chose to get married on the land where Fern was born. The material for the gorgeous napkins were all different patterns and colours and every table had a sharpie at it so the napkins could act as a guestbook, each piece will now be turned into a quilt with which they will always remember their wedding day. A couple of other unique aspects from this wedding were the slideshow (they pinned old pictures of themselves on a clothesline in the trees) and the fact that Fern's oldest sister married them. The dress that Fern wore was a designer dress that she borrowed (she's a model). It was an original, one of a kind Melissa Sweet sample. The flowers were different assortments of wildflowers and no table or bridesmaid had the same arrangement. The ENTIRE bridal party even went barefoot! They had a bagpipe player before the ceremony which was very, very cool and beautiful. Their reception was super fun with a bluegrass band, good-luck sparkler dance and plenty of dancing.
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Vintage. Quirky. Eco. Gorgeous.

Kat

November 17, 2009

Who couldn't love the quirky, vintage, rustic, eco wedding of Amanda & Matt? I am particularly gaga about the wheat bouquet and boutonnieres and Amanda's beautiful cameo bracelet. The pair wed at theirhome in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia. They rented a tentand despite the torrential downpour most of the day, things worked out really well in there. Friend and caterer, Nikki Kleinberg, catered the wedding using mostly foods grown in the urban farm Amanda and Matt maintain adjacent to their backyard. These two are super into self sustaining, eco-friendly means to living in the city. Amanda made her own flowers and centerpieces and friends played the music for the wedding ceremony plus they even dj-ed their own reception. Thanks to Carina & Amanda of Love Me Do Photography for giving Rock n Roll Bride the exclusive first showing of this awesome wedding.
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Love, Love Me Do…

Kat

September 14, 2009

Courtney & Justin had an eco friendly wedding at The Old Mill in Rose Valley, PA. We were amazed with the subtle natural aesthetic and the charming vintage vibe. It is a historic mill that sits in a rhododendron-lined woodland valley right alongside Ridley Creek the couple explained. For the first 3 months of wedding planning, I scoured the internet looking to purchase for anything wedding related – used dresses, used décor, you name it! I hit the jackpot when a bride from Philadelphia posted an ad on Craigslist selling all the décor used in her “Rustic Vintage” wedding. I bought all of her wedding decorations, including: • Vintage mason jars, antique medicine bottles, and painted metal charger plates used for the table centerpieces. • Green and brown ribbon boards (a DIY project) which were used to hold the place cards • Metal lanterns which our florist used to create an amazing display of artistic genius (see Flowers, below) • Hand crafted table numbers made from framed wooden numbers on a fabric backing I loved the glass and metal and DIY spirit of the décor – it fit our style perfectly, it fit our color scheme perfectly, and it was an eco-friendly reuse of someone else’s wedding items! In fact, we are planning to sell the décor items so that another eco-conscious bride can reuse it all for her own wedding. It’s exciting to think that those items will create happiness for another bride! Courtney's dress was from Adele Wechsler’s line of eco-friendly dresses. Initially she discovered she couldn't afford her perfect dress but lucky for her at Philadelphia's UnBridaled Expo Adele was giving away a gift certificate for one of her dresses and guess who won!? Clearly it was meant to be. The succulents they used were bought from a local garden centre and were put together with moss and flowers collected from various friend's gardens to give a unique and natural look. For all the rest of their eco details, be sure to check outLove Me Do's Blog, (thank you to Amanda & Carina for sharing as usual!) but for now...
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Woodstock Wedding

Kat

September 5, 2009

Oh. My. GOD! This hippy chic, picnic stylee wedding with a woodstock vibe is nothing short of phenomenal. Finding amazing hidden gems like this has got to be one of my favourite things to do. I feel as though I have unearthed a complete treasure. Forget everything you think you know about weddings. This celebration makes all that seem futile. Can you imagine being there? Cramming into a tiny tent, siting on your friends laps or on the floor just to see your best friend's get married. She's wearing a stunning vintage gown (which the little girls all clearly adore!) and he's wearing a fabulouslyretro velvet suit. And the car...and the swing...and the random panda head...oooh oooh oooooh! I want to go and run around a field like a child and celebrate the joy of love right now... Credit: Cory Kennedy
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