Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

Short Dress

Katherine & Marc’s ‘Non-Weddingy’ Brisbane Celebration

Kat

June 15, 2011

"Your blog inspired me to reach for the stars," wrote newlywed Katherine. "We began our seven month wedding planning journey with no theme and no colours...I did not want to be restricted. We choose wedding elements that we loved...not because they matched or fit a certain criteria and let it come together organically. I love everything whimsical...so it was a natural progression for our wedding to have whimsical elements." The ceremony was held at St Stephen's Cathedral, Brisbane, and the couple rocked up in a blue Cadillac belonging to their friends. "Afterwards, 40 of our family and friends boarded a boat for a twilight cruise on the Brisbane river...it was magical! We chartered a 2 level boat; with an open top deck and enclosed area downstairs where we had a buffet dinner & desert. We walked around with no shoes on, mingled, ate, drank and had a good time! It was so nice & relaxing with just our family and closest friends."
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Katie & Michael’s Glamorous 1920’s Wedding

Kat

June 14, 2011

Katie & Michael glamorous 1920's wedding was held at East Close in the New Forest. The couple knew it was the venue for them as soon as they saw it - they didn't even look elsewhere! Katie's beautiful vintage dress came from Fur Coat No Knickers and she wore it with a marabou feather shrug from Queens and Bowl. The groom looked just as dapper with his bespoke King and Allen suit. Michael even sourced his own vintage buttons for his outfit from Button Queen and a haberdashers in Brighton. His vintage pocket watch was a gift from Katie.
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Uri & Evelyn’s Intimate Islington Wedding

Kat

June 14, 2011

Uri & Evelyn's intimate wedding was held at Islington Town Hall with their reception at The Union Tavern and party afterwards at The Distillers Smithfield. The couple won their wedding photography with My Love Story though a feature they saw on Rock n Roll Bride which makes me totally biased to say I think I love them! Although I love detail-heavy weddings as much as the next wedding blogger, I'm also a huge fan of simplicity and genuine love in the weddings I feature...after all it's the people that matter and the fact that the bride and groom are committing their lives to each other that's the most important, not that the wedding is 'pretty.' Although that's not to say that Uri & Evelyn's wedding isn't pretty, I'm swooning over the bride's simple dress from Coast and the cute as hell wedding cake from Bea's of Bloomsbury!
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Tory & Joel’s Two-Day Vintage & Rock n Roll Wedding

Kat

June 10, 2011

Tory & Joel's two-day wedding makes my heart sing. These two totally different days worked so brilliantly for the couple. Both had a vintage and Rock n Roll vibe and I'm utterly thrilled to share them both with you today. The couple were married at Marylebone Town Hall, London in an intimate ceremony on Friday 27th May. Tory wore a vintage dress by Armstrong Vintage and Joel wore a suit from Next . The couple chose not to have their reception directly after as they were dreaming of eloping, and having the ceremony separate to the reception party gave them this feeling without upsetting their family and friends! "Part of us wanted to run away together and have a romantic eloping story to re-tell but in reality we both wanted our parents and siblings there at the ceremony," the bride told me. "It turned out to be exactly what we wanted: incredibly romantic, very intimate and with our nearest and dearest there to squeeze our hands when things got a bit emotional." The reception was held on the 29th at West End Farm, Bedfordshire and certainly had the Rock n Roll vibe. The bride wore a second vintage dress from Love Miss Daisy and the event was a detail-perfect party for all their friends and family.
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James & Charlie’s Intimate Registry Office Ceremony

Kat

June 6, 2011

You may have seen Andrew's own wedding around blog-land as it was photographed by the awesome Emma Case. Inspired by his own wedding experience, Andrew wanted to try his hand at wedding photography himself...and can I be so bold as to say, for a first attempt he pretty much nailed it! One to watch? I think so! He explained, "Meeting Emma had a huge impact on me. I've always felt quite a creative person and used to be able to channel that through music and film making. That just seemed to fizzle out through my mid twenties and left a massive void in my life. I never took time to fill it. When I met Emma she inspired me to pick up my camera and find a totally new passion. I've not looked back. I am so grateful to her and we still keep in regular contact. I find weddings and couples the most amazing thing to photograph as there is nothing but love and positivity in every frame. I am completely engulfed now and have taken the leap of faith to see if I can follow my own photography path."
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Laura & Rob’s Bowling Alley Wedding

Kat

June 2, 2011

Laura & Rob were married at The Bloomsbury Hotel, London and had their reception in The Kingpin Suite at Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes, London. The wedding was unintentionally a day of two halves, and the bride even wore two dresses for each event. She explains, "As soon as we started planning the wedding, I had already set an agenda - no white, no normal wedding dress. It just so happened that the dress that made me cry like a baby was in Berketex Brides and was ivory! Even though I didn't want to wear a 'normal' dress, I still bought wedding magazines and hoped that I would find something super in there. Out of about 15 magazines, I had dogeared the page of only one dress, but forgot about it. After trying on about 6 dresses, the lady said what about this one - I put it on and couldn't stop crying - it was the one from the magazine."
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Tina & Scott’s Travel Themed Crafty Wedding

Kat

June 1, 2011

Tina & Scott's travel and craft themed wedding took place at The Greenbranch, Texas. It was predominately a DIY wedding influenced by the couple's travels. "It was mostly a do-it-your self peacock inspired wedding with a splash of anything vintage was a blast," the couple told me. "Our invitations were an image of a vintage suitcase with travel stickers of places we have visited. This connected with our first date; a “geocaching date”. We not only wanted to share our journey as a couple with our guests but also encourage them to have an adventure of their own. The wedding favors for the evening were uniquely trackable geocaching coins designed by us."
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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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Pierre & Christine’s Circus Themed, French Wedding

Kat

May 30, 2011

Part two of today's continental invasion comes from French photographer Davidone who sent over Pierre & Christine's Circus themed wedding just last week. Christine is a famous illustrator and Pierre is a photographer himself, so needless to say their wedding was going to be super creative and beautiful captured. Christine wore a Pronuptia dress while Pierre wore Vivienne Westwood. Their fun and quirky nature really does come though in all these images, especially the fun portrait session. As photographer David explained,
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A Sunday Kind of Love – Tobi Hannah Bridal 2012 collection

Kat

May 29, 2011

Tobi Hannah is one of my favourite new designers. Not only is she super lovely, but her (exclusively) short wedding dresses are utterly perfect for Rock n Roll Brides...and just you wait until you hear how affordable they are. Prices start from just £750. Tobi also offers a full bespoke service if you want to design your own dress from scratch. The Bespoke service takes just 5-8 weeks from initial consultation to receiving your dress. Simply fill out her online form to get the ball rolling.
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Aimee & Ben’s Heavily Tattooed, Handfasting Vow Renewal

Kat

May 26, 2011

Bride Aimee and photographer Naomi Kenton connected through Rock n Roll Bride. They both got talking via facebook about some weddings they'd both seen and liked on the blog and so after getting to know each other well in this informal way, Naomi shot her vow renewal to Ben. Can we also just please stop for one minute and share some love for Aimee & Ben's ink?! Seriously...wow. "Tattoos are a big part of both our lives as Ben is a tattooist," explained Aimee, "and we are both really into all things rockabilly, hot rods and VW lovers so that's what we wanted for the day. We are just ourselves and we do things the way we want and are happy as a result."
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Bex & Jinx’s Retro Style Las Vegas Elopement

Kat

May 25, 2011

Bex & Jinx were married in The Graceland Chapel in Las Vegas. They didn't have a reception in Vegas though as only themselves and Bex's bridesmaid's were in attendance. However they had a big party with all their friends and family when they got back home to Australia. Bex wore a reproduction 1950's style dress made by Joy Taylor and leopard print shoes to match the belt and bolero by Diana Ferrari. Her bridesmaid's also rocked the leopard print in custom made 'wiggle dresses' also by Joy Taylor and red glitter wedges from Steve Madden.
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Isobel & Dave’s Vintage-Inspired Budget Wedding

Kat

May 18, 2011

Isobel & Dave's incredible vintage-inspired budget wedding gives me butterflies! I am so excited about sharing all the beautiful personal touches that they put into their day. The whole wedding is a testament to the fact that you don't need to spend a fortune to have your perfect wedding. "The two things we had in our heads from the start were; that we didn't have a very big budget and that we wanted our wedding to reflect us," Isobel told me. "We started by approaching it as a really big party where we’d just happen to get married. The important things for us were that our favourite people were there, our favourite music was playing, and everyone would have fun! We aren’t particularly conventional and there was never any question of following rules or doing things because we ‘should’. I didn't buy a single bridal magazine or visit any bridal shops during the whole process! Rock n Roll Bride and DIY Bride were my only ‘go to’ blogs for inspiration and ideas! We just did things because we wanted to (if we could afford it)! With the little touches – the badges, the teapots as vases, teacups full of sweets, the birdcage for cards and messages, the photo booth (definitely a Rock n Roll Bride idea-steal!), and the bunting – I think we created a wedding that was fun, unique, and best of all, exactly what we’d imagined."
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Vintage Wedding Dresses at Dragonfly Dress Design

Kat

May 12, 2011

Dragonfly Dress Design is an independent Glasgow-based dress studio, specialising in vintage wedding dresses and bespoke bridalwear. This shoot was set up to promote some of their latest vintage wedding dresses. "We take a different approach to weddings," shop owner Lisa told me. "You won’t find any champagne flutes, harassed shop assistants or queues for the changing room here. Instead, we’ll help you get the dress you really want, either by customising one of our unique vintage pieces, or creating it for you from scratch. We believe that every woman should have the wedding dress of her dreams, no matter how large or small her budget.Our vintage wedding dresses range in price from £195 - £575."
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Charlotte & Chris’ Bush Hall, Gig Wedding

Kat

May 2, 2011

Charlotte is the genius and super lovely lady behind Restoration Cake - my favourite cake maker - FACT. She is also someone I consider to be a friend so when she told me she was marrying Chris in March I was so excited. Unfortunately I was unable to attend as it fell on the same day as Emma Case's wedding, but luckily for me (and you!) Charlotte was still really excited to let me share her day with on my blog...and before you ask, yes she did make her own cake! The couple threw themselves wholeheartedly into planning their big day and groom Chris was particularly enthusiastic. Charlotte made me laugh when she would tell me that throughout their planning Chris would constantly email her links to things he liked on Rock n Roll Bride! Charlotte & Chris were never going to have a traditional wedding. Both really into music, a gig wedding at the iconic Bush Hall in London was the perfect idea for them! "We had known for ages that we wanted to get married but could never quite figure out how to do it in a way that was right for us," Charlotte told me."We knew that we did not want the whole traditional nine yards but could not reconcile the idea of a Vegas elopement leaving behind all of our family and friends. In the Summer of 2010, we went to a gig at Bush Hall and fell in love with the venue. We decided that our Wedding would be a gig, with our friends’ bands playing, and a massive party. We booked the venue before we told anyone that we had decided to get married!"
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Teaser: A Sense of Culture – A Photography Exhibition for the Museum of Reading

Kat

April 20, 2011

Not that many people realise this but I'm from Reading, a town about 40 miles out of London. I've never really done that much 'stuff' in my home town as to be honest, pretty much everything happens in London and that's where about 90% of my contacts are. However when local photographer Neil Horne of Eye Imagine Photography called me and asked if I'd like to be included in an exhibition he was putting together for the Museum of Reading entitled 'A Sense of Culture', where he'd be photographing a selection of artists in the town...well I jumped at the chance. Hell, I went to this museum on primary school trips!
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Linsey & Wes’ Totally Rock n Roll Wedding

Kat

April 19, 2011

Linsey & Wes found their photographer Jessica Monnich through a feature on Rock n Roll Bride (yeeey!) so it's only right that it's come full circle and I now get to share their awesome wedding too. The wedding took place in February at Mercury Hall in Austin, Texas beginning with a beautiful ceremony in the gardens. "I was not a traditional bride in any sense (even down to the short dress), so I just kept looking for things that felt like us," bride Linsey told me. "We were always going after more of a feeling than a look, which made it hard, but in the end the feeling was achieved and everything just fell into place thanks to awesome friends and family. It was challenging with everyone else's opinions and being told things have to be done a certain way, but we threw that out the window a long time ago. Working on a budget that we put together from the beginning, we were also able to get more creative and decide what were the most important things for us on that day - friends/ family felt loved for and had fun and that we were able to enjoy ourselves."
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Hannah & Carlos’ Full Moon, Movie-Themed Fancy Dress Wedding

Kat

April 15, 2011

Hannah & Carlos' full moon/supermoon/autumn equinox/fancy dress/movie themed wedding rocks my world. I'm kind of blown away by the whole thing! The couple put so much love and attention in creating their perfect wedding that I didn't want to miss one detail...so, over to the bride... "We had a fancy dress wedding, the theme being movies. A big part of Carlos and my time together has been spent watching movies...we love them! We've shared many hours snuggled up together, going on journeys through film."
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Chi Chi Revolver’s Tattooed Bridal Shoot

Kat

March 31, 2011

"I was really inspired reading the winning entry to your Knot Couture dress competition recently," photographer Bethan of Haywood Jones Photography told me. "It was hard to picture how it would feel to be made so uncomfortable in a shop who were clearly disapproving of you, thinking we live in a properly modern society (!) until it happened to me last weekend (not because I have beautiful body art sadly, but much more because I was dressed a bit scruffily and went into a very posh art shop. They actually got another member of security to stand in the shop while me and my friend walked around!!) It suddenly became clear that you really can't judge a book by its cover and that even though the *mainstream* wedding industry is becoming more accepting of the *alternative* side of peoples wedding creativity and gorgeousness, there are still many blinkered people out there who wont look past stereotypes and make you feel less than worthy of their attention."
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