A quirky take on wedding traditions allows you to infuse your love of all things vintage, glamorous and rock ‘n’ roll into your special day. We had a wedding to remember in 2015 when we got married at the club we’ve known well from the gigs we’ve played there.
On the first night we met, John and I talked about our similar tastes in music and listened to our favourite bands together on his ipad. Having played in our own bands and toured festivals (that’s how we met) we knew the best way to celebrate our union was to have a rock ‘n’ roll-themed wedding.
Before the wedding
Our rock ‘n’ roll theme started with our save-the-date notifications. We created a Ticketmaster style ticket with our names and the date. Once we had confirmed the reception venue we then sent out the invitations in the style of “VIP passes” together with a custom rock wedding flyer. On the day of the wedding we had the flyers blown up to posters like we do for gigs and placed each in a decorated tube so that our guests had some artwork to remember our rockin’ wedding.
The dress
And the dress… the most important detail for me as the bride. My ivory lace wedding dress in a flapper style from the 1920s had black and silver beading along the hip matched with a tiara of black and silver crystals. The ensemble was completed with the brightest red lipstick and pink hair.
John was in top hat and tail coat and looked mighty fine! The boutonnieres had guitar picks in them. My bouquet of silver sprayed roses also included a guitar pick with our names and the date of our wedding.
The ceremony
Our celebrant was amazing in helping us to create a ceremony that felt honest and authentic. Instead of readings, we had our band members perform songs that were meaningful to us, during the ceremony. Our mothers were our ring bearers, our brothers the witnesses and my closest friend the Maid of Honour.
We kept with tradition with our vows. Promising affection (“love, comfort, keep”), faithfulness (“forsaking all others”), unconditionality (“for richer or for poorer”, “in sickness and in health”), and permanence (“as long as we both shall live”, “until death do us part”).
The reception
Each table had an album cover instead of a table number which got the conversation flowing between those who hadn’t met yet. The table centre-pieces were silver branches from which we hung old 45 record discs.
We didn’t go for a wedding cake, but instead had pyramids of doughnuts filled with jam, chocolate or custard. Along with canapes, these were good fuel for all the dancing later.
After dinner, we kicked off the reception with Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock n’ Roll.” Our playlist included a soundtrack of Foo Fighters, Michael Jackson, Nirvana, AC/DC, Queen, Bowie, Nick Cave, and Blondie. We hoped people would dance, and with some inflatable guitars our friends and family flooded the dance floor.
We had very carefully put together a playlist for the night, which covered classic rock, motown, grunge, ’90s pop, and everything in between.
Photographs
We had photographs taken earlier in the day before the ceremony. We wanted time together before the ceremony as we knew it unlikely we’d have time alone afterwards. Whilst some members of the family were disappointed not to witness John’s reaction to my dress, I’m glad that we spent some time out walking with our best man and Maid of Honour. It was calming, fun and joyous. Our photographer caught beautiful moments throughout the day: of family, friends, mad dancing and romantic moments too.
For our wedding, we wanted to be surrounded by the people we love, enjoying themselves with great food and dancing the night away. And it worked. It was wonderful.
