Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

Gothic

Dinosaurs, Silhouettes, Black Cats & Fairytales

Kat

September 6, 2010

I featured Christy & Daryl's 'Modern Film Noir' engagement session at the beginning of June so it's an absolute pleasure to come full circle and feature their awesome wedding as well, which also had a bit of the 'noir' about it don't you think? The couple got married on Friday 13th and had a silhouetteand dark theme. "Daryl and I are both artists and musicians, and met through a mutual friend/bandmate" the bride told me. "From the get go, our relationship was anything but normal. Our first date was to a funeral and we officially became a couple on Halloween. It was only natural to celebrate our wedding on Friday the 13th. We stuck with the theme of silhouettes, and added black cats and crows to our forest ceremony decor. We wanted to give the evening a moody, magical atmosphere."
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A Punk, Rockabilly, Neo-Gothic, Country & Western Engagement Sesh.

Kat

July 21, 2010

Michelle & Mike's engagement session is a total reflection of them as a couple. They were inspired by Quentin Tarantino for the style and used their "Rockabilly, car kulture, punk culture, antiques, vintage & neo-traditional design and styling, neo-gothic, country/western, low-brow art, tattoo culture, vintage pin-up/greaser" personalities as the theme! They even brought a 1970 Mustang Grande & 1962 Chevrolet Biscayne along for the ride.
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A Really Dramatic Impact

Kat

July 20, 2010

As a pale chick with brightly coloured hair myself, I felt an instant affinity to Cheyenne's photo shoot. Photographer Sarah wanted to contrast with something dark and almost gothic is style as she knew this would create a really dramatic impact. "The black lipstick was definitely my starting point for the rest of the styling. Our first outfit was the lace trimmed bodysuit with the patterned tights and long coat. We shot in the late afternoon, but it was still over 100 degrees here (LA), she was a real trooper. I thought that this would be an interesting approach to a boudoir session with a bride not into the traditional lacy panty pics. I hope I find a bride who would be down for it! ha. All of the outfits were from my vintage and thrifted collection of pieces."
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Bibliophile

Kat

June 12, 2010

I usually only put one post up on a Saturday, but I have to admit that I wanted to share this engagement shoot as soon as I could...and plus, the submissions have been coming in at such a rate of knots since I posted my How to... Get Your Wedding Featured on a Blog post (which I'm not complaining about of course!) but I do feel like I have a lot to get through this week! Alister & Rachel are having a gothic & diy wedding on a mountain vineyard in a few weeks. The wedding is sure to be super detail-heavy and I can't wait to share it! However their engagement session was actual quite impromptu. "They wanted a Gothic yet bibliophile theme with a twist for the main part of the shoot, hence the books, vinyl and rug. Then for the rest of it, we simply found some killer locations and let them do their own thing; smiling, laughing, whatever went!" photographer Julian told me.
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The Happiest Place on Earth

Kat

June 2, 2010

Where could be a better place to celebrate the happiest time of your life that The Happiest Place on Earth!? "Mary and her strange love for Disney that only a comic-goth girl could have, met Carlos the guitar player for an LA metal band in 2004" photographer Colette Lash told me. " They fit together like rockers and latex pants. Mary rocks out at Carlos' shows, and Carlos stand proudly by his girl for her art openings and show premieres (she's worked on all sorts of tv/movie cartoons that have her wicked sense of humor like South Park where she has been for a handful of years) The two make art together too, Carlos builds these guitars and Mary does beautiful paintings on them."
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Night of the Living Wed

Kat

May 17, 2010

This ghoulish, retro horror themed wedding may not be everybodys cup of tea but I can't help but be a little over-excited about it. So. Much. Originality! Photographer Al, who has just been shortlisted for 'Tattoo Photographer of the Year' was keen to tell me all about Ash and Michelle Ghoulmore's (oh yes!) friday the 13th wedding. The couple run retro rebels store and the horror-themed clothing company Kreepsville 666 so their wedding was always going to be a spooky special. 'Ghoulmore' actually is Ash's surname and they pretty much live Halloween everyday, so it was fitting to pick a horror / b-movie inspired Wedding theme. "This meant I had to light the formals in a slightly different way to ensure I got that punchy highly saturated contrasty feel that fits with the mood" photographer Al told me. "This was the first time I've seen a smoke machine used during the ceremony! The archway was decorated with skulls and light like a stage. As you can see form the photos the cake was a skull and all the attendees got to take home a set of cast-silver effect fangs to say 'fangs for coming' [groan]. Zombina and the Skeletones provided the live music for the reception, again fitting the horror-rockabilly theme."
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Vintage Lace & Rock n Roll

Kat

May 14, 2010

Check out Ursula & Chris' fantastically cool wedding. I fell in love with it as soon as I saw her Claire Pettibone dress (I wrote about these dresses a while back beacause they are called the 'rock n roll bride' collection!) Oh holy black tulle! "'I fell in love with my 'Midnight' gown from Claire Pettibone's rock and roll bride range the moment I tried it on. The mix of vintage style, beautiful beading, delicate embroidery and edgy black train make it a very special dress. I just loved the way my long veil looked against the slightly gothic black train. Breathtaking!" Ursula explained.
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Urban Grunge & Diy to Die for

Kat

May 7, 2010

Shaun & Jacinta must be every wedding photographer's dream clients! With Jacinta being a fashion designer and Shaun an illustrator, their wedding was always going to be too damn cool for words. Jacinta designed and made her own dress over 3-4 weeks which incorporated a print designed by Shaun (!) The pair worked together to decide on few ideas of what to have in the design to make it perfect for them and to represent both their families. They wanted it to include a Maltese cross to represent Jacinta’s heritage and one of Shaun’s mother’s favourite flowers, Chrysanthemums.
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Rock n Roll Ink

Kat

April 6, 2010

Oh how I love these!! I mean what's not to love? As photographer Paulus explains "Paula is a sentimental, fashionable, crazy gothic lolita girl and Teddy is an easy going, noodle maniac, graphic master, straight to the point guy. They both came up with this amazing concept. Both of them are tattoo lovers, so they decided to shoot their photos at Rock n Roll Tattoo. They got their vows inked on their arms." Yeah so these guys are pretty much perfecto for Rock n Roll Bride aren't they?
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Gothic, Fancy Dress, Halloween Wedding

Kat

March 22, 2010

I have been dreaming about blogging this wedding since October when photographer Caroline of the wonderful Tinywateremailed me to let me know she was off to shoot a Halloween, fancy-dress gothic themed wedding...and even before shooting the wedding, she knew I was going to love it. Well judging by the number of photographs I'm including in this post you could say she was pretty much bang on! I was lucky enough to have Rachel, the bride get in contact with me to share all the glorious details!
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Edward Scissorhands ‘Winter in Summer’ Wedding

Kat

March 3, 2010

"One night I was watching my favorite romance movie, Edward Scissorhands" Karri began "and something magical occurred to me. How amazing would it be to have a winter in summer wedding! I was suddenly seeing snow, ice sculptures and ice blue colors. The love story of E.S. was dark and whimsical which is how I always saw my special day. My best friend and maid of honor eventually introduced me to the pattern, "damask" which further inspired me to incorporate the design into the "winter blue" theme I had in mind."
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Thursday Treats – 4th Feb 2010

Kat

February 4, 2010

It's my favourite time of the week again and I'm always ready for a little treat aren't you? To stay with, I had to share yet another image by Kirsty Mitchell at the top of this post (she's got the top spot for a second week running now) as this simply is my favourite image I've seen all week. She sent it over to me a few days ago and it's well...just too damn wonderful for words isn't it?! In fact all her photography is really - simply breathtaking...Thanks Kirsty! ♥ I heart this engagement ring made out of a block of wood. So damn sweet ♥ Inspired by: wedding gloves ♥ Red dress lovely - le swoon ♥ Anna Sui's apartment ♥ The Ruche spring catalogue is really really lovely ♥ Stylish and fun Cubu pre-nup session ♥ Life is too f***ing short! ♥ Message on a cookie ♥ More fabulous invitations courtesy of Ilovelolliblog
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Latex, Tattoos, Piercings & Fancy Dress Make a FABULOUS UK Wedding!

Kat

February 2, 2010

I've got a funny feeling you're going to go just as crazy about these as I did. Words can not even describe really can they? Danny & Louise's amazing alternative, British (oh yes this couple is English woooo) wedding was all about the style. Louise's stunning latex dress was made by Jane Doe Latex. This part certainly didn't care about what was 'expected' of their wedding, not only are the pair clearly ones to play by the rules (Louise is a piercer and micro-dermal specialist and Danny is a tattooist. They are both heavily modded, both having split tongues, facial tattoos and multiple piercings) but the wedding meal after the ceremony was a trip to MacDonald's eaten at their house! Their evening reception and buffet was held at at our local rock bar, Sanctuary and was fancy dress, hence the grooms rather fetching nurses outfit! Seriously guys, put your eyes back in their sockets right now and enjoy! Thanks to Donna for sharing this AMAZING wedding with us
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Under the Spotlight – Royal Steamline

Kat

January 27, 2010

Something a little different in Under the Spotlight today. I'd like to introduce you to Aerin & Jeremy of Royal Steamline. They specialise in wedding invites with a gothic/steampunk/retro/vintage vibe and I think you're going to totally dig what they do! I can't wait to get going... Who are you and what do you do? Royal Steamline is Aerin and Jeremy -- a husband-and-wife design team based in Portland, Oregon, USA. We create wedding invitations that have a dark, clockwork or otherwise retro/vintage flavor. Through a subtle and sometimes anachronistic combination of shadows, textures and vintage illustrations, we aim to convey a sense of eras strange and forgotten. Sea monsters mingle next to robotic ravens, and gentlemen scientists have tea with rockabilly rebels. Simply stated, we offer unconventional invitations for unconventional people. Who/what are your biggest influences? Who do you really admire? We primarily create designs that aim to capture a theme or mood. Our influences vary wildly -- from vintage fashion & science journals to odd finds at antique stores. Now, if you mean visual artists that we follow and appreciate, here are a few names off the top of our heads: EMEK, Alex Gross, George Tooker, Gregory Crewdson, Joe Coleman, Irving Norman, Guy Burwell, Wayne Douglas Barlowe, Michael Michael Motorcycle, Toni Frissell, Chris Ware, Guy Colwell, R. Kenton Nelson, and Jeremy could stare at Todd Schorr's "The Spectre of Monster Appeal" for hours. What is the ethos and idea behind your business? We want weddings to be cool. We want to change the way people think about weddings and offer alternatives that speak to their personal tastes. About seven years ago, a number of friends who were getting married began coming to us to design custom invitations since they couldn't find anything that epitomized their rockabilly, goth or other non-traditional wedding themes. So, we started to make invitations that were outside of the normal, plain, anemic styles that we were (and still are) seeing everywhere. More and more couples are insisting that their weddings reflect their personal styles instead of conforming to traditional wedding styles, structures, colors and attitudes. We want to contribute to their big party and help them have the weddings they want. How do you come up with invitation ideas? Often, our designs are sparked from a book or artifact on our shelves like a first edition of H.G. Wells' Star Begotten, an Edwardian glass eye, or Liz McGrath curios. Jeremy's been deep into Victorian pulps and I'm obsessed with mourning buttons and early 20th century advertising and science imagery. We're inspired by the stories of retro technology, old movies, textures of old paper...the look of outdated fonts...some crazy ornate border flourish. The combo of the different worlds usually leads to some interesting aesthetics. What is your most popular design? It seems to change every month, but 10/6 is always up there. I think that's because it's so versatile and has its own interpretation for each couple. Do you offer custom work? Of course! We offer unique "from scratch" custom designs, as well as custom design changes to our readymade invitations. Tell me a little about your favourite invitation you created and why. Hmm…I like Coney Island 1896 because I'm a big fan of old sideshow posters and I've got a soft spot for cephalopods. I think it just looks great printed -- and it really sets an undeniably quirky and fun tone. Jeremy likes Vintage Rock because, well, it's a symbol of vintage rock: Viva Gene Vincent and Wanda Jackson! Do you have any advice for people looking for invitation ideas? Really spend some time and look around for the right invitation for you. Your wedding invitation is a great way for your guests to get a peek at all the fun that's to come. And if you don't see what you're looking for, it never hurts to ask! What has been the highlight of your career so far? Really, just doing this full-time is a blast for us. But if we had to name a single client that we were flattered to work with, it might be Voltaire. We were so honored he chose us to create the invitations for what looked to be an awesome goth wedding. Name a couple of bands/songs that are on your stereo at the moment? Music plays a huge role withregard to who we are and what we do (or, maybe, just how we do it). We actually met when we were both living in San Francisco and our first date was basically one big argument about music (but it was great!). We genuinely enjoy a huge range of music: I grew up loving bands like Bauhaus, Ministry, Joy Division, Clan of Xymox, and The Smiths while J listened to stuff like the Misfits, Neurosis, Hawkwind and Einstürzende Neubauten. These days, we're still all over the place! Recently, shows we've seen include Earth, Stereolab, Marissa Nadler, The Raveonettes, Vagabond Opera, King Khan and BBQ, the Horrors, Thrones, Atlas Sound, the Ghastly Ones…We haven't even mentioned Jeremy's love of early Americana (Harry Smith is a big influence) and my collection of hard bop and sad bastard vinyl. What can we expect from you in 2010? We're always working on new designs and will soon be offering matching programs, table numbers and other wedding accoutrements on our website (currently only available by special request). Also, our New Year's Sale is still going on: we put 5 designs on sales the week of New Year's. To contact Aerin & Jeremy about your wedding invitations, go check out their fabulous and inspirational website and drop them an email to hello@royalsteamline.com If you are a photographer or wedding vendor and are interested in being featured in a future ‘Under the Spotlight’ post then drop me an email for all the info.
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Gothic Glam – The Wedding

Kat

January 12, 2010

So you loved Omar & Junela's gothic engagements right? Well you are going to go doolally over their wedding. Words can not describe the work, passion and love that must have gone into planning this day. The details are spectacular and the bride's dress, designed and made by Filipino designer Joel Escober...well it literally made my heart skip a beat. Thanks again to the amazing Jomel Gregorio for sending these to me. I am so over the moon to be able to share them Credit: Jomel Gregorio Photography
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