Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

Short Dress

Cassie & Loc’s Multicultural, DIY Wedding

Kat

November 22, 2010

I actually featured a link to Cassie & Loc's gorgeous wedding in Thursday Treats two weeks ago as I'll be honest, with most of photographer Jonas Peterson's weddings, I figured one of the big daddy American blogs would have snapped it up to feature instantly (this dude's work is in high demand!) So you can imagine my surprise and excitement when I received an email from the bride to not only tell me I'd made her day by linking to her wedding, but that she was a huge Rock n Roll Bride fan and that she'd love for me to feature them. Score!
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Shalma & Leo’s 1950’s Inspired Candy Anthony Wedding

Kat

November 18, 2010

Shalma & Leo are what I like to call friends of the blog. Not only did they find photographer David McNeil though a feature on Rock n Roll Bride, but I featured their gorgous A Bout de Souffle engagement session over the summer ANDmyself and the bride have exchanged regular emails ever since they got engaged about all things wedding! So when David asked if I wanted to feature them ...well he didn't have to ask twice!
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Sammy & Ian’s Modern Romantic London Wedding

Kat

November 16, 2010

Sammy & Ian went for a quirky, modern and London theme for their Soho wedding. Being a costume designer, the bride made her own dress based on the late 50's early 60's silhouette of tight and knee length, with a bit of Vivienne Westwood influence. "It was made from red silk Dupion, and the corset was white duchess satin with red silk ribbon stripes sewn on top," she explained. Sammy also designed Ian's unusual and fabulous suit which was made out of venetian wool and was based on a 1960's design.
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Lauren & Tim’s DIY, Budget-Friendly Seaside Wedding

Kat

November 12, 2010

"We both decided that although we wanted our wedding to be amazing, we weren't going to spend a stupid amount of money on it," explained bride Lauren when I asked her about her big day. "We weren't prepared to pay more just because it was labelled as a "wedding product". Plus, most of the wedding-related stuff that's available isn't really "us". I bypassed the usual wedding dress shops and went straight to the high street, and found everything exactly as I wanted at a price I was willing to pay. Tim wore a suit he already had from Next because none of the hire places had slim fitting suits. We wanted invitations with skulls and studs and splattery writing but didn't want to pay a professional to design and make them for us, so I did it."
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Zack & Alene’s Nerdy Board Game Wedding

Kat

November 11, 2010

Zack & Alene wanted a casual, fun and nerdy wedding - something that was perfect for them. "We knew all along that we didn’t want to do a traditional dinner and dancing wedding, and there was never a chance of there being a church ceremony (neither of us has ever attended a church service outside of weddings and funerals)," the couple explained. "We settled on an afternoon of games and hors d’oeuvres because we’re both nerdy, think appetizers are exciting, and I like to go to bed early. It’s not our proudest tradition, but Zack and I go to my parents’ house most Saturday evenings and play games with them – it’s one of the highlights of my week, and we always have fun, so we decided to extend that feeling to our guests. The reception space was filled with couches and ottomans, and then we had a few little tables brought in – it was laidback and jolly, and the games gave even people who didn’t know anyone else something to talk about and bond over."
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James & Kassie’s “Earthy-Vintage” Wedding

Kat

November 4, 2010

James & Kassie got married at Casa Blanca on Brushy Creek, Texas in an "earthy-vintage" themed wedding. The couple chose their venue because they felt it completely reflected the vibe they wanted for their day. "The outside ceremony site, decks for guests to hang out, trees everywhere…..it was just perfect," began the bride. " The venue allowed for simple accents and decorations, which was just what I wanted. The colors were bright and happy, however allowed for that earthy theme to mix right in. Down our aisle I had 1 ½ - 2ft tree trunks set along each side, with simple vintage bottles and daisy’s just to add the earthy-vintage flare. Our archway was designed with lilies and shells, with vines and curly willow, which added that perfect backdrop for our quick ceremony."
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Patti & Frank’s Tattoo-Heavy, DIY-Crazy, Totally Rock n Roll Wedding

Kat

October 27, 2010

Patti & Frank are just the epitome of Rock n Roll Bride! Whenever people ask me what my favourite type of weddings are, weddings like this one are what I describe - tattoos, DIY, short wedding dresses, fabulous bridesmaids and happy, smiling faces! Patti wore an original 1950's vintage dress, awesome shoes by Harajuku Lovers and feathers in hair. "I originally spent $2,000 on a custom made dress which I had designed myself," the bride told me. "Well I had someone who specialized in wedding dresses make it (first problem) and I guess our vision was not the same and I didn't like what she made at all! I went to Cambridge Antique market looking for some vintage brooches to jazz it up and the first thing I saw see when I turned the corner was this dress. I think it had a light shining on it with my name! It was meant to be and just a week before the wedding and it fit like a glove! Oh and the best part? It only cost me $150!"
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Tamar & Jon’s “Hot Mess” Wedding

Kat

October 26, 2010

"Jon & I met in New York City, live in LA, and had our wedding in Toronto - where he grew up and I went to grad school," Tamah, the bride, began. "Our overall vision for the wedding was that it would be urban, comfortable, fun, and very "us". We love music and vintage stuff, so we definitely had some of that style infused but there are so many other weddings out there that are more "vintage" than ours. We're Rock 'n Roll and unique because instead of trying to unnaturally contort ourselves and our wedding into a neat little category, we accepted the fact that we're "all over the place" and went with it. That meant having some traditional elements - a chuppah, wedding party, sit-down dinner, and bouquet toss - with other details that had special meaning to us regardless on whether or not it conformed to a wedding norm." "If there was one thing I was adamant about, it was taking the subway to the wedding (I'm a transportation planner) and making it easy for our guests to our wedding using transit. So we picked a space right in the city that was only a couple of blocks from a busy subway station; even if it would be the only time in our lives that we "should" take a limo. Both Jon & I wore "flair" on our backpacks throughout high school and college so we designed some of our own for the wedding with the Toronto & NY skylines. There were video monitors throughout the venue, which are usually used for wedding slideshows. Feeling awkward about our faces being broadcast throughout the night, we instead screened Andy Warhol's "Screen Tests", which are beautiful and intriguing."
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Sarah & James’ Rockin’ Rockabilly Wedding

Kat

October 22, 2010

Sarah & James 1950's rockabilly wedding was inspired by Sarah's Grandparents who got married on September 12th 1953. "We wanted to get married as close to this date as we possibly could, hence the choice of 11th September 2010," Sarah told me. "My Grandparents celebrated their 57th Wedding anniversary the day after our wedding - the rose tattoo's on my feet (by Sam Ricketts) have their names 'Alice' and 'Mervyn' in recognition of how special they are to me."
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Scott & Ashley’s Incredible DIY Picnic Party Wedding

Kat

October 19, 2010

I loved Scott & Ashley's wedding as soon as I saw it...and I loved it (and them!) even more once I got chatting to the bride and their photographer Jeremy Lawson about all the amazing little details of their day. "Our inspiration came from our love of the vintage," the bride began. "We listen to records at the house, shop for clothes at retro themed consignment stores, and stay glued to TCM. We sort of envisioned a party that looked like a party scene we saw years ago in the movie Mona Lisa Smile combined with the famous barefoot dancing scene from Big Fish in the town of Spectre. We wanted that easy, happy, homemade, and colorful party for our closest friends and family."
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Julie & Chris Sweet ‘n Simple Philadelphia Wedding

Kat

October 15, 2010

Julie & Chris got married on a hot and sunny rooftop in Philadelphia city centre. They handed their guests colourful parasols to keep them cool which they got from their local Chinatown. Following their intimate ceremony they hired out the second floor of their favourite restaurant Noble which they decorated with DIY flower arrangements, sweet treats and vintage style postcards. The bride wore Dolce & Gabbana and the Groom
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Emma & Morgan’s Wonderfully Sustainable & Crafty Welsh Wedding

Kat

October 5, 2010

Emma & Morgan's Welsh wedding has really put a smile on my face today. Everything about the day was personal, was sustainable and was perfect for them. The couple got married at The Hive and Ice Cream parlour in Aberaeron. They actually had two ceremonies through the course for the day. Firstly a smaller and more personal ceremony at The Hive, joined by just close family and friends. Then, once they got to the reception, they had a second ceremony amongst all 120 of friends. Their DIY heavy reception was held in a marquee in "Charlie's Field" that looked out across New Quay Harbour, Wales - the exact spot that Morgan had proposed!
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Lisa & Tyrone’s Windy Wedding

Kat

September 28, 2010

Lisa & Tyrone got married on the South Coast of Kwa Zulu Natal in South Africa. Their bridesmaid and photographer, Jacki Bruniquel, told me the whole story. "Their wedding was a day of such love and celebration. Lis not just my sister she is one of my best friends and Ty is not just my brother in law he has been in the best friend category for long time now. Tyrone happens to be a really good photographer as well! I love them both to absolute bits and pieces and really wish i could just do their whole day all over again."
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Candy Anthony, Cupcake Tattoos & Pink Converse Trainers

Kat

September 27, 2010

Some eagle-eyed and long-term readers may recognise Nicola, who's 'Do It Yourself' wedding I featured way back in May 2009. Nicola decided that she wanted to rock her gorgeous Candy Anthony wedding dress just one more time, so got in touch with photographer Caroline to see what she thought. Luckily, when Caroline heard 'Candy Anthony, cupcake tattoos and pink Converse trainers' she was totally up for it and they planned this fun and fashionable shoot. Caroline also persuaded Nicola to bring a few more outfit changes (does this girl just live in gorgeous 1950's style dresses or what!?) and they were good to Rock n Roll!
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Jill & Neil’s Vintage “Englishness” Wedding

Kat

September 22, 2010

Jill & Neil's wedding is vintage "Englishness" in every sense of the word. The whole day - from Jill's floral Fur Coat No Knickers vintage gown, to the London bus that transported them and the personalised vintage postcards used as invitations and then re-used as the table-plan - was an authentic representation of the theme they loved so much. "We took vintage inspiration from our own families, finding old frames in charity shops for lots of photographs of our parents, grandparents and great-grandparent's weddings," they told me. "These filled the fireplaces of the Lodge and meant we were surrounded by reminders of our ancestors as well as being beautiful pictures. Also, to entertain our guests on our bus trip we had a picture quiz to guess who the couples in the old photos were - with the answers on the back of the original at the venue. These were in bags made by a charity from recycled newspapers from The India Shop and we also included bus related gifts to keep the children amused - mostly from the London Transport Museum, and old fashioned sweets and goodies. On the tables we used luggage labels from the Post Office for place names, which my nieces helped stamp with butterflies and tied to mini jars filled with old fashioned sweets from Hope and Greenwood."
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