A Shabby Chic Wedding with Vintage Touches: Hannah & Andy

Kat

January 25, 2012

“Joyfest 2011” A Weekend-Long Festival Wedding: Jen & Rob

Kat

January 18, 2012

"A weekend of celebration" was how Jen & Rob described their festival wedding to me, and that couldn't have been a more perfect description. Stokes Barn, specialising in self-catering group accommodation, in the Shropshire hills played host. "We knew we wanted something different," explained the bride. "We wanted to celebrate with the special people who enrich our lives and who share and understand our values and beliefs. We had the idea of a festival type celebration where we could create a magical, memorable and warm weekend (whatever the weather!) of celebration, relaxation, much merriment, Peace and Love!"

A Pop of Neon: A 50s Meets 80s Styled Bridal Shoot

Kat

January 17, 2012

When wedding blogger and stylist Sonia of Want that Wedding send me this neon inspiration shoot I fell in love immediately. I'm a bit of a colour fiend (no duh!) and neon is a trend that I'm love love loving on the high street right now. I'm super excited to see it filter down into bridal styling and I'd love to see some real Rock n Roll Brides rocking out this look on their wedding days. What do you think? The shoot took place at the beautiful One Marylebone, London. Their bright white 'galleries' room made the perfect backdrop for the shoot. The white setting really makes the neon accents pop! "The inspiration for this shoot came about during a brainstorming session with Kat Hill of Kat Hill Fotographie," Sonia explained. "We were discussing various themes for a shoot when this idea just suddenly popped out ‘how about a 50s shoot with an 80s twist?’ I’m not even sure who said it first but we both fell in love with the idea."

A Quirky East London Pub Wedding with a Nod to the 1940s: Becca & Dan

Kat

January 16, 2012

For Becca & Dan, a formal wedding was never on the cards. "We wanted the day to be about our guests not all the attention on us," the bride wrote. "There were no formalities, just tea & cakes followed by pie & mash then a good all knees up in an east London pub with Billie Holiday playing & a free bar all night!" Becca got ready at Zetter Townhouse, a really stylish house with quirky vintage decor & stuffed animals. It proved to be the perfect place for some pre-ceremony snaps with her bridesmaids and really set the tone for the rest of the wedding day.

A Vintage Tepee Wedding: Gemma & Giuseppe

Kat

January 12, 2012

There's quite a story behind Gemma & Giuseppe's gorgeous wedding, and one that I hope might ease any of you stressing about your wedding venue (I know Roo had a bit of a similar drama last month, she'll be writing about it for you soon). "Our reception took place in tepees, at Oatlands Park Hotel, Weybridge (who, p.s. were AMAZING)" Gemma explained. "We had always wanted a tepee party, but our original venue to pitch them fell through with just 8 days to go! Oatlands Park Hotel came to our rescue and then some. They turned everything around so brilliantly - nothing was a problem, and they accommodated everything from the tepees to my 100 vintage teacups for the arrival champagne. After it all went bottoms up, major panic ensued for approximately half a day before I gave myself a stern talking to and set to work! I have to say that despite all of the last minute worry, the day went like a dream, and it just goes to show that even the biggest disasters don't mean that your special day is ruined!"

A Retro, Kitsch & Cherry-Themed Southend-on-Sea Wedding: Heidi & Jim

Kat

January 11, 2012

You can't help but fall in love with Heidi & Jim's Southend on Sea wedding. The cherry theme is just so cute and perfect for a retro, quirky and kitsch seaside wedding. "Our inspiration was most definately ourselves, our loved ones and where we live, sunny Southend on Sea!" Heidi explained. "We wanted a wedding that was totally personal to us, that involved everyone close to us as much as we could and that was totally full of fun and unstuffy. We knew we wanted good food and a venue that was ours, where we could do what we wanted, decorate it how we wanted, drink the drinks we wanted and eat the food we wanted!"

A Black Prada Dress, A Neon Sign and a Very Unconventional Wedding: Katie & Patrick

Kat

January 10, 2012

Katie & Patrick wanted a local wedding, one that reflected how they live their lives. They love Stoke Newington and so wanted to use local suppliers and to keep the wedding as close to home as possible. After proposing on Waterloo Bridge, Patrick presented Katie with a beautiful piece of costume jewellery from Kat and Bee. Katie always said she didn't really want a wedding ring, as she explains, "I'm not keen on having a ring that I have to wear every day for the rest of my life, I wasn't sure about the whole wedding ring thing. I did say though, that I would absolutely love a suffragette ring and, whilst I might not wear it everyday, I would definitely only want a wedding ring if it was one of those. They are about as rare as hen's teeth. But Patrick has a reputation for resilience! And he managed to find one..well, actually, he managed to find two! So I am now the proud owner of two suffragette rings, one of which is sort of my wedding ring."

WIN Free Wedding Photography with Rebecca L

Kat

January 9, 2012

I'm utterly thrilled today to share with you a brand new competition. Rebecca Litchfield of Catwalk Wedding is very generously offering a free engagement shoot to TEN Rock n Roll Bride readers and then free wedding photography to her favourite of these ten couples. We all know weddings are expensive things, so how awesome would it be to get your wedding photos (and great wedding photos at that!) for absolutely nadda!?

A Locally Sourced & Relaxed Wedding: Kelly & James

Kat

January 9, 2012

"Love, laughter, friends & family" said Kelly when I asked her about her wedding theme. "Through all the help and support we had leading up to the day, we knew this would be our 'theme'. It was important to us to make sure everyone enjoyed themselves. For us, it wasn’t about having a particular style or colour running through the flowers – it was just about being true to us as a couple and a family." Kelly & James were married at Braziers Park School in Oxfordshire, "I guess the inspiration for the day was making it about us and the things that are important to us which is basically family, friends and good food," Kelly continued. "I am a big believer in things happening for a reason and so many things leading up to our wedding seemed like they were meant to be and felt so right!"

A Vintage Inspired Shoot for A Most Curious Wedding Fair – 2012 Dates Announced

Kat

January 6, 2012

A Most Curious Wedding Fair is going into it's second year with events being held at St Andrew's Hall in Norwich on the 11th February and in York Hall, London on the 31st March. To celebrate, organiser Becky got together with the amazing Joanna Millington Photography and some of the other suppliers exhibiting at the shows to put together this beautiful, vintage inspired wedding shoot.

A Fashion Forward London Wedding: Courtney & Charles

Kat

December 27, 2011

Courtney & Charles were married at Marylebone Town Hall followed by a reception at The Union Club in Soho, London. The fashion forward bride wore a short wedding dress by David Fielden and incredible gold shoes by Charlotte Olympia. Not only do I love that she had a bridesman as well as bridesmaids, but I'm going gaga over his shirt and bow tie combo, made in the same Laura Ashley fabric as the girls. Doesn't it look fabulously chic?

An Eclectic & Colourful DIY Wedding: Amy & Andy

Kat

December 20, 2011

As a regular Rock n Roll Bride reader, Amy booked some of my ultimate favourite wedding suppliers for her October wedding to Andy. Annamarie Stepney photographed the day and the bride wore a Candy Anthony wedding dress with the gorgeous 'cherry' Vivienne Westwood/Melissa shoes. She also dressed her lucky bridesmaids in Vivien of Holloway dresses. "We looked at lots of wedding blogs to find a photographer and saw lots of examples of some beautiful and really cool photos but when I saw some of Annamarie’s work on Rock n Roll Bride we just loved them," Amy explained. "After meeting her knew she’d be great. She made the day go really smoothly too so it was a good choice!"

A Autumnal Vintage Cinema Wedding: Holly & Robert

Kat

December 20, 2011

Holly & Robert were married at The Electric Cinema in Birmingham. After walking down the aisle to Billie Holiday 'It had to be you', the bride with her groom, headed to Kitchen Garden Cafe Kings Heath for a casual and DIY reception. "Rob asked me to marry him in NYC in October last year he got down on one knee in Central Park and gave me a beautiful 1920's pearl engagement ring," Holly wrote to me. "It was the happiest day of my life everywhere was just bursting with Autumn colour, strolling through the park was so romantic I wanted to capture the feeling of that day at our wedding."

An Intimate Wedding of Just 16 Guests: Jasmine & Piers

Kat

December 14, 2011

Jasmine & Piers had only 16 guests for their intimate wedding which meant they were able to have a really relaxed and personal celebration. "We wanted it to be simple and pretty, and most of all...relaxed," the bride told me. "We didn't really have a theme, but if I had to pick a work to describe it, I say Love. Everything involved in the day are things (or people) we love. Piers had his Father as his best man, which was very sweet. One of my very dear friends, and her boyfriend, from NYC spent the morning with me, helping me get prepared. During the ceremony, our friends and family sat in a circle around us in the "Lady Chapel" of All Saints West Dulwich. It was exactly what we invisioned and felt so special. We all had so much fun. I don't think either of us have ever smiled that much in one day!! It was perfect."

A Blue Burlesque Wedding with a £900 Budget: Sally & Mark

Kat

December 13, 2011

To say that I'm excited to be sharing Sally & Mark's wedding with you this afternoon would be an under-exaggeration of HUGE magnitude. Not only is their wedding freakin' awesome on so many levels, but they pulled the whole thing off for £900! Let me repeat myself to make sure you got that, because I didn't quite believe it when I read it on Sally's submission either - the whole wedding cost just £900!! "We had approx 6 weeks and a budget of around £900 for our wedding," Sally wrote. "Where we could we handmade items or got friends to help us out. We were lucky that our photographers, performers, DJ and cake makers were all friends so did us special deals. We were also able to get both our venues (the afternoon reception was held at William Steads Pub and the evening afterparty at the Tap and Spile Pub, Darlington) for free as we didn't hire them exclusively."

Giant Teacups, A Homemade Bouncy Castle & Elvis – A DIY Wedding to the Extreme!: Caroline & Stuart

Kat

December 13, 2011

Caroline & Stuart were married at St. Annes Church in Littleworth Common, Burnham. They held their reception in a field right opposite the church. Their wedding was a super creative affair with them making and styling the whole thing themselves, they even renovated some giant funfair teacups!

A Very London Wedding: Naomi & Chris

Kat

December 12, 2011

I was hanging out at Fur Coat No Knickers a few weeks ago catching up on my vintage fashion/wedding industry-based gossip, when in breezed an excited girl who had just got married in one of their beautiful wedding dresses. Naomi had popped back in to show Laura & Emma some of her wedding photos and as soon as I heard the words 'wedding photos' I immediately jumped out from behind the dresses to have a nosy myself (Poor Naomi, I must have given her a heart attack...turns out she was a regular reader of this little wedding blog throughout her planning!) Anyway I loved the photos Naomi showed us on her phone, so when I received the submission from her photographer Sarah Lauren I was thrilled that I would be able to share them with you too!

A Rockabilly, Psychobilly Wedding: Claire & Lee

Kat

December 8, 2011

I love weddings like Claire & Lee's. Not just because the rockabilly theme is awesome, but because they put their heart and soul(s) into creating a wedding that reflects how they are in everyday life. "We’re both very much in to the whole rockabilly and psychobilly scenes and have been for quite some time, so it only seemed natural to extend this to our wedding day," Claire told me. "One thing we set out to do from the very beginning was to make our wedding day for us. It seems all too often that people try and tailor their wedding day around their family and other guests, where as for ourselves we tailored it around us and guests had to fit in; which they did wonderfully."

An Origami Wedding: Ceri & Terry

Kat

December 7, 2011

Ceri & Terry didn't really plan to have a theme for their November wedding, however once they started with the origami they found it hard to stop! Ceri told me all about their beautiful wedding, "When we first started planning the wedding, we were determined to do our best to be relaxed about the whole thing. We decided that, if we could find the right venue then even if everything else went wrong, we'd be ok - we could turn up in jeans and order pizza, if necessary, as long as we could get all our loved ones in the right place. After a couple of months of looking, we found it: Great Wilbraham Hall Barn. It was perfect - big enough for our guests, fairly isolated, licensed for weddings (we wanted everything in the same place), ideal for the winter months with lots of warmth and character, and within 30 minutes drive of Terry's grandparents."

Under the Spotlight: Neil Thomas Douglas Photography

Kat

December 6, 2011

Glasgow based photographer Neil Douglas of And Do You Take Photography prides himself on his composition and use of light. In fact he cites his main inspiration as Martin Parr, a social photographer, who is well known for his exaggerated style. "I love the way he uses colour and composition to really bring out the personality of his subjects," Neil writes, "Henri Cartier Bresson is also massive influence for me - his candid photography really paved the way for us who favour a reportage style."