Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

Short Dress

A Handmade Florida Wedding : Mike & Melissa

Kat

May 1, 2012

Working in the music industry it was important to Mike & Melissa that their wedding suited their lifestyle and sensibilities and 1903 Hontoon, a vacation property in Deland Florida, turned out to be the perfect place. "Mike is a local musician and recently I have decided to leave my job and become his manager!" began the bride. "We have been together for almost 4 years now and over the next two we will be setting up our lives to hit the road indefinitely until we find the best place to live! We are too hot here in Florida and always long to be in the mountains. We changed our wedding date 3 times just so that we could have it at this venue, because as far as Florida goes it was pretty hard to find a place that really spoke of who we are. We chose 1903 Hontoon, a vacation property that used to be an old boat & motor repair shot. It has an awesome feel to it. Our wedding is hardcore DIY & hand made - from 1,000 paper cranes to the tablecloths to the bridesmaid dresses and jewelry. I'm extremely crafty so I have been a non-stop force of productivity in creating everything I possibly can for this day. With that being said it is REALLY important to us to have our wedding captured because every detail is so dear to our hearts! The two of us never imagined that we would get married but, love eventually finds you and before we left for our travels it was important to us to share this bond and experience with our families."
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A Scottish Loch-Side Wedding: Wayne & Mac

Kat

April 27, 2012

Wayne & Mac were married at The Lodge at Loch Goil in Scotland. The beautiful venue and epic scenery really defined their gorgeous wedding. Newlywed Mac told me all about their fabulous day. "Rock n Roll Bride was a favourite blog for my when planning my weddings! It was a bit of a godsend actually as all the standard wedding websites and magazines made me feel a bit nauseas with twitterings on about favours and general frilly pinkness. Wayne and I are both fairly scruffy monkeys that don't do a lot of dressing up so we were keen to have a do that catered to us and our friends tastes. We wanted a fairly small wedding with close friends and family to have a chance of spending time with them rather than a quick 5 minutes that some mates had endured at their bigger do's. And we wanted to get some time together! The original plan was poking around a snow wedding in Norway or away snowboarding but the practicalities of shipping 20 plus people north or to mountains proved epic, and Wayne chipped in his 'must haves' of Scotland, bagpipes, and being able to keep his mutton chop sideys. We stumbled across The Lodge at Loch Goil during my many productive hours at work Googling and from our first visit adored it. Alice Gill, the head planner, and her assistant Kelly sorted out pretty much everything from their list of regular bookings - they do in-house catering (even with our veggie and gluten bothering mates), a resident florist and use local staff and suppliers for as much as possible including their own kitchen garden in the grounds."
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The Rainbow Wedding to End all Rainbow Weddings: Jen & Ben

Kat

April 26, 2012

I think most of you will be aware by now that I love love love a rainbow wedding...why pick one or two colours when you can pick twenty seven!? So as you can imagine I squealed like a small child on Christmas morning when Jen & Ben's wedding landed in my inbox. If I was less of a chatterbox I'd say that 'I had no words' when I saw these images...but in actual fact I had all the words in the world flying around my head as I made my selections for this blog post...
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A 1950s-Inspired Shoot with a Brightly Coloured Modern Twist

Kat

April 25, 2012

1950s wedding inspiration isn't going anywhere, but these days I'm loving seeing shoots that have taken from this era but added a modern twist to it. Whether that be with bright pops of colour, modern accessories or quirky details (aren't the bouquets in the shoot the coolest?!) This shoot organised by The Sugared Saffron Cake Company and certainly landed smack bang in the middle of this new-wave of modern vintage styling. I'm thrilled to share it with you today.
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A Colour Pop Bridal Shoot

Kat

April 24, 2012

"Waking up to a dark sky and torrential rain, the day started with two long suffering, bare foot models scampering through puddles and sheltering under crochet blankets", photographer Becky Mitchell wrote. Luckily for all involved the shoot was to be held indoors, in an old school building. The inspiration for this shoot came from wanting to create something simple but delicate, pretty and soft - pastels juxtaposed with a bold and bright and neon edge.
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A Vintage-Inspired Walled Garden Wedding: Carina & Chris

Kat

April 18, 2012

Carina & Chris chose The Walled Garden at Cowdray, West Sussex as the venue to host their March wedding. "It was a fantastic venue where we were really able to personalise for our day," the bride told me. "They were very relaxed and the venue's informal spaces were perfect for us and our guests." "We spent the last year since getting engaged planning all of the details of the day", she continued. "We spent our weekends rummaging in charity shops collecting china and glassware. We spent a long time making all of the bunting, menus, paper flags and lots of other items ourselves and needed someone to make it all look pretty on the day so that I could relax and enjoy getting ready! For this we worked with Lucy at Love Lane Vintage. We met her at the venue and she worked closely with our plans and our items, as well as my many sketches to style the venue! We also hired her vintage china teacups and cake stands to style the table and serve our mini afternoon tea – in place of canapés – for the drinks reception! The macaroons and mini scones looked stunning, as did the piles of teacups and teapots for guests to use!"
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An Eclectic London Wedding: Kate & Jon

Kat

April 17, 2012

Kate & Jon were married in March in London. After a ceremony in Battersea Arts Centre they headed to Balham Bowls Club for their eclectically decorated reception. "The most important thing for us when planning the wedding was that it should consist of things that we normally like to do - reception in the sort of pub we would normally drink in, the style of dresses both I and the bridesmaids would normally wear (although a bit nicer of course!), the sort of food we would normally eat," Kate told me. "This was also reflected in the ceremony, with a reading from Captain Corellis Mandolin (one of my favourite books) and everyone singing along to 'Sunshine of my life' by Stevie Wonder rather than a more traditional song. Also, our first dance was 'You never can tell' from Pulp Fiction - a favourite film of Jon's. It was important to us that it was in London, which is where we and the vast majority of our friends and family live. Like most of the couples on Rock n Roll Bride, we didn't concern ourselves with what was expected of us traditionally and instead thought of it more like we were just planning a big party!"
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A DIY Church Hall Wedding: Zoe & Richard

Kat

April 11, 2012

Sometimes I see a wedding and I literally can't wait to learn more about it and (hopefully if the photographer and couple agree) write it up to share it with you lot too. Luckily for me, in this instance both parties were more than thrilled to share this wedding with us today, particularly because newlyweds Zoe & Richard found wedding photographer Joanna Millington on this very wedding blog. Hurrah! Their DIY, family-central wedding was held at Christ Church in St Albans. "When we were first engaged I asked Richard if he knew where he wanted to get married," Zoe explained. "He said he didn’t want to get married anywhere but Christ Church St Albans. It was my childhood church on the estate where I grew up and where Richard and I went to school. We knew it wasn’t exactly the idyllic wedding venue – a flat-roofed, slightly tired and drab looking carpeted church with very green curtains – but it was home. We had our reception in the same place. Luckily they had just built a shiny new hall attached to the old church building, which was very handy. No one (apart from us) had to venture out into the rain!"
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A Dusky Pink Wedding with a Touch of Vintage: Louise & Paul

Kat

April 4, 2012

Louise & Paul were married in London on 11th February, just a few days after their 12 year anniversary. "Our 12 year anniversary was the Thursday before our wedding!" Louise told me. "This is the reason why we chose this date. We got engaged two year’s previously on our 10 year anniversary! We were lucky enough to find our photographer Annamarie Stepney through a wedding blog and we just fell in love with her pictures. They are so romantic and unconventional. Her photos just tell a story of the day - people who were there can re-live every fab moment and fill in the gaps on the moments they couldn't remember or missed. And those who weren't there, get transported to the day. I've been blown away by all the amazing comments on them!"
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A ‘US Meets UK’ Rock n Roll Wedding: Aaron & Melanie

Kat

April 3, 2012

This is unadulterated Rock n Roll Bride gold and I'm thrilled to share it with you today. The couple, who met in San Francisco while Melanie was there on holiday, were married at the end of January at Old Marylebone Town Hall, London. "We met whilst out dancing at a rockabilly club called the Jay n Bee, and whilst there was instant attraction, I was only on a two week holiday so nothing really happened," Melanie told me. "However, I returned to the USA a few months later for Las Vegas and a three month stay in San Francisco, and that's when we started dating. We continued travelling between San Francisco and London, and got engaged on our 8 month anniversary (which was also Christmas Eve) whilst out dancing at the Southbank Centre in London. We had originally planned to get married in SF, but one sunny day last October, we were laying in the garden here in London, and I said to Aaron 'We should get married in London...in January!' and so we planned our wedding in just over three and a half months!"
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An Alice in Wonderland Tea Party Wedding in Vegas: Tiffany & Ryan

Kat

March 27, 2012

After originally planning a massive wedding for nearly 300 guests, the stress all got too much for Tiffany & Ryan and they were forced to cancel the wedding. When it came to planning it for the second time, they decided to scale it all down and focus on what really mattered - them. "Three years ago I was planning a wedding inspired by what every magazine and television show told me it should be," Tiffany told me. "Like most couples, our guest list had exploded, tilting at nearly 300 people. The stress of pleasing everyone was becoming too much, we were way over budget and the fun was non-existent. My fiancé and I loved each other very much, but we both hated what getting married was doing to us. A few months prior to the wedding we suffered two personal tragedies back to back so we threw our hands up and called it quits. Less than three months prior to the big day we sent out cancellation notices to our guests. We lost nearly $25,000 in the process, and most of our sanity."
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A Multi-Coloured South African Wedding: Mark & Manilla

Kat

March 22, 2012

When Mark & Manilla's colourful wedding landed in my inbox I just about burst with excitement. There's nothing quite like a rainbow wedding in my opinion! The South African wedding was held at The View Boutique Hotel, a glamorous hotel in the heart of Johannesburg. "I felt that the ceremony should be the serious part of the day but I wanted the rest to be a very relaxed and festive carnival style celebration!" the bride told me.
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A DIY Brazilian Wedding: Marcela & Paulo

Kat

March 15, 2012

Marcela & Paulo's Brazilian wedding was a real DIY labour of love as their wedding photographers Frankie + Marília explained, "This bride is a nurse and very busy but she still somehow managed to find time to do everything for their wedding herself. She worked with a dressmaker that her family has worked with for years to come up with her perfect dress. It seems like everyone that has seen these pictures has fallen absolutely in love with it too!"
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Stripes, Pumpkins & Mean Looking Cars: Emma & Ross

Kat

March 9, 2012

Emma & Ross' black & white, vintage themed wedding was, above all, a day to celebrate their love with their friends and family. The couple wanted a relaxed atmosphere and one where their guests would really enjoy themselves. "We wanted our wedding to be personal to us, we didn't want guests to walk in and think they could be at just anybody's wedding," Emma told me. "We have been to a lot of weddings, which were lovely but we knew that traditional just wasn't for us. We just had our day, our way and it was brilliant! It was the best day of our lives so far, I just wish I could do it all again as it went so quickly!"
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