We don’t feature styled shoots that often here at Rock n Roll Bride any more, far preferring the real details involved from your gorgeous wedding days, but when something this dreamy lands in our inbox, we can’t resist! Husband and wife team The Chamberlins have longed to shoot a celestial-themed set-up for a long time; Celle is obsessed with all things starry and both her and Will feel a deep spiritual connection to the heavens due to their faith. They told us; “we wanted to celebrate the beauty, the freedom and the vastness of the skies by arranging a celestial-themed styled shoot.”
Heidi and Louis met while in the cast of Romeo and Juliet with the Shakespeare Institute Players. Heidi was Romeo, Louis was Paris – she killed him nightly for the love of Juliet. A standard romance, then! A lot of people asked the couple if their wedding would be Midsummer Night’s Dream themed, but they just wanted to have colour, whimsy and a sense of play. Shakespeare just happened to show up a lot!
Bridesmaids have been getting a bum rap recently. A modern bridesmaid wears many hats. Party planner, counsellor, keeper of secrets… Let’s be honest, they’re basically a one-woman version of the Queer Eye team, and for that, I fucking salute them!
But when did these close friends go from ladies who turn up to the church on the day in a nice dress (exactly what our mother’s bridesmaids would have done) to pre-wedding slave friends? Emotional punching bags that organise everything from strippers to destination getaways, people who by some people’s measures are expected to go into debt to pay for a dress and talk you off a ledge when the napkins that you ordered are delivered without the lacy imprint?
I am hoping you aren’t that kind of bride (of course you aren’t, you’re a Rock n Roll bride!), but the evolution of the bridesmaid has been swift, and I think rather brutal.
In ye olden times, a large group of bridesmaids provided an opportunity for showing off the bride’s families social status and wealth – the more you had, the higher up the ladder you were. The bridesmaid tradition originated from Roman law, which required ten witnesses at a wedding to outsmart evil spirits believed to attend marriage ceremonies (otherwise known as your future mother-in-law! Boom-tish! Sorry). The bridesmaids and ushers dressed in identical clothing to the bride and groom, so that the evil spirits wouldn’t know who was getting married. So, it has a bit of history.
The eagle eyed among you may recognise this couple today; we originally featured Emily and Joey’s wedding in 2016! “While we had our wedding in 2016, we actually got married at the courthouse the year before,” the bride told us. “So with 2020 being our fifth wedding anniversary, we decided to do an intimate vow renewal trip.”
Carly and Shawn met through their local music scene. They’d been acquaintances for a few years when they ended up crashing a random Christmas party together one night and realised that they were a hilarious team. After denying their feelings for a few more months they finally decided to “ruin” their friendship and start dating.
When an events planner gets married, you just know it’s going to jam packed full of details and thoughtful touches! “Joe and I have always had a very specific personal style,” Nora explained. “We wanted everyone at our wedding to understand who we are as people and what our relationship is like!” They were inspired by the Sunset Strip, Norah’s great grandmother’s vintage style and the warehouse space that they were working with. “We wanted the space to feel like a lush rock star afterparty! We kept the traditions we loved and ditched the rest.”