Rock n Roll Bride - The ultimate guide for alternative brides

Wedding

Laid Back Hawaii Beach Wedding

Kat

July 5, 2010

I think you're going to love Kim & Paul's wedding - its the perfect post for a gorgeous sunny Monday like today! The couple, from Colorado, got married at Ke Iki Beach Bungalows, on the North Shore of Oahu. They went diy crazy and did a lot of the wedding themselves - from the flowers (which they bought wholesale) to the homemade veil. "We really wanted our wedding to be a 'non-wedding wedding' that was as unique as we were and at the same time have a super fun beach party!" Kim told me." We also wanted to involve our family and friends... so thankful we have so many creative people in our lives to help (flowers, hair, make-up, firecrackers!). Even though I didn't buy one bridal magazine or try on any dresses, I definitely perused the wedding-porn online that was tailored for the independent thinking brides. We didn't want to give in to the 'wedding industrial complex' and doing things the way they are "suppose" to be. I think that I've always been a non-traditionalist which is why I chose to forgo the cliche white dress and khaki Hawaiian beach wedding for one that was more colorful, stylish, elegant but still casual enough for the beach. We had an amazing time with all of the special people in our lives in a place that is very special to us."
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A Diy-Heavy, Cotton Candy-Eating, Vivienne Westwood-Wearing, Jeans-Definitely Allowed, Handmade, Carnival Themed Wedding

Kat

July 3, 2010

Jess & Bryan's is my favourite kind of wedding. I love the fashion, I love the style, I love the amazing diy touches and the whole chilled out and creative vibe of the day. "We really wanted usto be present in everything that was a part of our day" the couple told me. "We tried to make, and do, as much as we could for our wedding. This meant enlisting the help of our talented and wonderful friends and family to make paper cupcake toppers, straw flags, escort cards, wooden signs and much, much more! We all got together the day before the wedding to set up the entire tent and yard and then relaxed with a night of BBQing and laughing.
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Scottish, Vintage Loveliness

Kat

July 1, 2010

I'm not one to go back on my promises, so here's the gorgeous Scottish wedding to follow on from Sean & Nicola's 'Great Outdoors' engagement session that I posted last week. The pair wanted a really laid back, family-orientated day and they chose Mugdock Park for their ceremony and The Local Town Hall for their reception. "We only really considered one option for a ceremony venue, which was Mugdock Park" they began. "It is an amazing place at the beginning of the west highland way, and we loved going there for mountain-biking, having barbecues or just strolling around. We met up with the park manager and we had to prove ourselves as fans of the park before they let us go ahead with it, as they have only 2 weddings a year there. Our wedding was set around the old castle ruins, and my younger cousins provided the uplifting music by playing the violin and clarinet."
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“Up” Inspired Beach Wedding (With Holga!)

Kat

June 30, 2010

I'm so excited about featuring Janet & Jim's destination beach wedding. It took place at the beginning of June and was a truly personal, whimsical and joyous affair. "It started out as your basic sandcastle fairytale theme" Janet told me. "However, we have a 2-year-old son, Parker, who adores Pixar films, and one of our family favorites is" Up." I walked down the "aisle" to the theme music "Carl Goes Up." For anyone who's ever seen the first 20 minutes of that movie you know that the true fairy tale is in the adventure a couple has as they grow old together."
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It’s Our Wedding, Let’s P.A.R.T.Y Hard!

Kat

June 29, 2010

Wow wow wow. Kelly & Sean sure knew how to rock a wedding! From an emotional ceremony, to a family-orientated reception to a crazy-fun party, the whole day looks like an utter blast! "The one thing that we dislike about weddings is how they are all alike" they told me. "We understand its tradition and that's how its supposed to be done, but why? why is there a set pattern? We wanted our wedding to be personal to us. We wanted to start our own traditions and do things unique to our style. The theme of our wedding was basically "Things We Love" and it ended up being the perfect reflection of us. We did whatever we wanted and nixed things we disliked. we strived to make it intimate and personal. Our wedding was hands down the best day of our lives, we had everything we loved, surrounded by everyone we love and made sure to marry the heck outta the one we loved!"
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Elegant & Modern with Rockabilly Charm

Kat

June 25, 2010

Erinn & Brandon's Nashville wedding was an elegant and modern affair with a touch of rockabilly and country charm. The couple chose Aerial as the location for their wedding. They had their ceremony and reception on the rooftop, overlooking the city - a perfectly modern backdrop. "We chose Aerial not just because it was rooftop, but because it was above all of the honky tonks that make Nashville what it is" the couple to me. "We wanted it to be elegant, with a glimmer of rockabilly and country in the background. The glow of the city lights and neon from below was perfect!"
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Bunting, Cupcakes & Chickens – An English Village Fete Wedding

Kat

June 24, 2010

OK so I feature a lot of weddings photographed by Emma Case...but the thing is, all her weddings and all her couples are so RAD that as soon as I see the photographs I'm like "Emma Emma Emma send these to meeeee!" You get me right? The event I got so excited about this week was Kelly & John's wedding. Their inspiration came from the traditional English village fete, "where Nan brings an apple pie and auntie Brenda brings the coleslaw" Kelly explained. I love that!! The couple wanted a laid back, casual, relaxed and informal wedding which they pulled off on a budget. "We had two things in mind when we planned our wedding" Kelly told me. "We would not spend silly money and we would do it our way. We wanted a relaxed, informal ‘village fete’ wedding with no formalities and in general, a big knees up! Practically everything was done on a budget but I think it makes you more creative anyway! I think having a wedding with a difference in England is hard work – finding the right people to work with and in particular, sticking to your guns, but it really is soooo worth it. Our wedding couldn’t have been ‘more us’ and it went beyond both our expectations – and the comments we’ve had about the day have been very touching. I just wish we could do it all again!"
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Fabulous 50’s & Multi-Coloured Tulle

Kat

June 22, 2010

As soon as a saw Catherine & Kev's fabulous 50's style wedding, my attention was drawn to one thing - that amazing Stephanie James Couture dress! I have been a superfan of the designer ever since I found and fell in love with this amazing multi-coloured tulle creation and OMG Catherine's had a similar underskirt. She too fell in love with this dress when I featured in a while ago. "My maid of honour, Kirree, found a dress on Rock n Roll Bride made by Stephanie James Couture" Catherine explained. "It was the 'Lustful' or 'Tame Fifi' dress you featured a while back, as soon as she sent me a link to the pictures I knew that was the dress I needed to get married in! I quickly got in touch with Stephanie and asked if she could make me a similar version and she said yes!"
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A Non-Vanilla, Love-Filled, 1950’s Delight

Kat

June 21, 2010

An excitable email from a newly married reader always brightens my day and LeeAnn's may have been one of the most excitable I've received in a while! I just had to share the story behind her and husband David's gorgeous 1950's influenced wedding with you today. "After gorging my eyes on a ga-jillion bridal mags and internet images, I felt I was living a white-out groundhog day" LeeAnn began. "I quickly became downhearted about organising my own BIG DAY, the no-fun casting my eye over "traditional" gowns (this one? no, that one? no, repeat), the vanilla-ness of invites, pink-and-white themes to the power of 42,000! Where did the love go?"
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Quirky English Summer Festival Wedding

Kat

June 19, 2010

This quirky, laid back British wedding with a cool festival vibe was sent over to be last week and you guessed it, I couldn't wait to feature it. Rachel & Dan really did it their own way and I love the idea of a chilled out party in a tent to celebrate a wedding. The couple were officially married at a registry office but has an 'unoffical' church blessing at St Peter's Church, Weston, Suffolk. They didn't make a big deal about the registry office part as they didn't want this to feel like their actual wedding - in fact Rachel was still at work half an hour before their appointment! The reception was held at Marsh Farm which was just a holiday property when they found it. However since the couple got married there and Rachel published an article in The Guardian newspaper about the wedding, the owner decided to change it to a wedding venue.
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City Hall & The Seaport

Kat

June 17, 2010

Courtney & Jon got married at New York's City Hall in February with just their baby with them. Afterwards they headed to The Red Lion in Greenwich Village for a few drinks and some photographs. However this month they decided to have a big reception at Bridgewaters by the South Street Seaport to celebrate with all their friends and family. Courtney looks incredible in her modern ruffled dress - in fact so much so that someone stopped them in the street and asked if they were models or if they were actually getting married! The reception looks like it was a lot of fun - fake glasses, moustaches and lips never get tired!
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Music, Poetry, Green Balloons & Love

Kat

June 16, 2010

I always wonder, when a photographer gets married, how the hell do they decide who to shoot their own wedding? Well Laura & Dave of Blissed Photo had just this conundrum when they got married recently, but chose the amazing One Love Photo as they knew Heather & Jon would capture it perfectly. Being surrounded by all things wedding in their day to day lives, the couple had seen loads of brilliant ideas (and knew some to avoid!) in their own planning. However they still knew what was important to them, music and poetry, and wanted to make sure this was brought into their day. "Dave plays sax in a few bands, so a trio of his best friends played during cocktail hour, and we hired an amazing funk band, Emerald City Throwdown, that had everybody dancing" Laura told me. " We also wanted everyone to mingle, so we skipped the seating assignment and also had couches (from Bella Rugosa) to make the vibe more casual and open. I'm not really a poet, but I LOVE spoken word poetry, so I asked my 3 favorite poets if they would read at our reception. Everyone went nuts because these poets are some of the best in the world (truly- they constantly travel and compete internationally). I surprised Dave with a poem I wrote, and then he surprised me by having a good friend of his perform a new Pearl Jam song, Just Breathe, for our first dance. "
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A Laid Back Brighton Beach Wedding

Kat

June 15, 2010

Becky & Jon wanted to have a laid back wedding with all their closest friends and family at one of their favourite posh restaurants in Brighton, The Ginger Pig. Originally Becky didn't even want to wear a wedding dress but after falling in love with this gorgeous David Fielden number, she soon changed her mind. It even disguised her baby bump pretty well! She paired this with some vintage shoes that had belonged to her Mother. The ceremony was held at Brighton Town Hall which was followed by some quick portraits on the beach - complete with the iconic Brighton beach huts and champagne in plastic glasses!
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Retro Rockabilly & Heart Shaped Sunglasses

Kat

June 15, 2010

I've got yet another bit of retro rockabilly lovin' for you today, in the form of Nick & Jamie's Santa Barbara wedding. The ceremony and reception took place at The Rockwood Womens Club which proved to be the perfect backdrop to their day. Jamie looked stunning in her Maya dress by Michelle Roth, but it had a bit of a story behind it! ""Ohhhhh the dress....it was almost a nightmare! It was a Michelle Roth "Maya" that I bought used on Oncewed. I took it to a local alterations lady who cut it too short and messed up the top! Luckily I have a dear friend in the fashion industry, Denice Dir who saved the day by not only adding the black tulle underneath, sewing in a petticoat and took 45 minutes to carefully seam rip the top and fix what the other lady had messed up. She even made my dog's collar piece out of my dress trimmings and surprised me on the day of my wedding with the special stitching she did inside!"
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Tamanna & Tanveer’s Muslim Wedding Celebration

Kat

June 15, 2010

You don't see enough Asian weddings in blog land which surprises me really as they are so colourful and full of love that one would think they were perfect blogging material. Luckily for me, photographer Tapas Maiti, who specialises in these weddings, send me this gorgeous Muslim wedding last week. I have a couple of Indian friends and I am always intrigued to hear about their epic wedding celebrations and how different they are to the western wedding. They are all about colour, family and fun!
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