Tag Archives: inspirational

A 1940s Tiara And An Arm Of Tattoos – Dave & Tracy [Tattooed Bride UK Wedding Blog]

THIS is the wedding that got me connected to amazing wedding photographer Andrea Ellison back in October, to which birthed the fantastic Marry Me Ink promotional shoot with three other fantastical ladies in Manchester.. Remember it??

Anyway! Back to the wedding! I love the feel of these pictures – so fresh, crisp and natural. I love how relaxed the whole day looked for Dave & Tracy (Whose sleeve is awesome!).

I’m going to hand straight over to Tracy and let her share a bit about her tattoos with you!

Ooow how exciting! I love this ’cause I rarely get the opportunity to talk tattoos, so forgive me if I ramble! 

Well I’ve always loved all styles of tattoos, I just love the idea that your body can become a canvas for amazing art. When you think about it its crazy! Any piece of art from oil paintings to photography can be put under your skin with superb detail to the original and become a part of who you are till the day you die. All forms of art create an emotional response in us but to me the art of tattooing is just that little bit more special, you commit to that piece of art for life.

“I love the Japanese style tattoo’s so I knew that’s what I wanted and I really liked the idea that the dragon and tiger represent yin and yang, so these are prominent in my sleeve. The yin and yang theory is something I try to live by, we all need balance, I just think it runs through the fabric of life.

So really my tattoo represents life in all its parts good and bad.

“I did think about my wedding day when I got my sleeve, but it wasn’t something that worried me, it was just a question I asked myself to make sure I wanted my tattoo, along with the question ‘Will i still like it when i’m 70 and my bingo wings are hailing buses for me?’ the answer was always the same, ‘yeah, because this is who I am.‘ It may not be the classic bride look but what is that anyway?

“People are individuals, you’ve got to look like you on your wedding day.”

 

I’ve always wanted a traditional wedding, basically what my mum and dad had. Beautiful church, confetti, lots of family and celebrations. But I added a slight vintage look with our vintage rose flowers and my 1940’s inspired side tiara. It was important to us to keep the wedding laid back, comfortable and fun. Because basically that’s us, so the groom and ushers wore nice but comfortable suits and my bridesmaids wore flattering dresses I made sure they were comfortable in.

“I probably subconsciously got my inspiration for my wedding dress off my mum. As a child I loved looking at their wedding album, my mum wore an a-line lace dress with a veil – She looked stunning! It also just wasn’t my style for a big princess dress, I wanted to be able to dance the night away! When I saw my Benjamin Roberts dress in Cheshire brides in Frodsham, I just new it was the one. The most beautiful lace under soft tulle, I had straps added with pearls and crystals on because I felt more comfortable that way. Topped off with my side tiara from Bellissima Weddings and my veil from Ebay! 

“I love the fact that my tattoo’s are shown in all our wedding photo’s and so does my family, as long as you get the right tattoo for you, you’ll be happy to be a tattooed bride!”

Doesn’t Tracy look amazing! The dress is beautiful and that tiara is just gorgeous!

Do leave Dave & Tracy some love in the comments below and huge thanks to Andrea for letting me blog this wedding!

LETS GET READY TO FROCK ‘N’ ROLL!!

Hello! Today I’m going to bring your some fabulous retro dress designs from Emma of Frock ‘n Roll Dresses!

“Hi my name is Emma Amies owner of frock n roll the online shop.

I make handmade vintage inspired clothing and accessories with a rockabilly twist. I am a self taught dressmaker and have a real passion for what I do. My garments are all unique and made using unusual and vibrant fabrics sourced from allover the world!
My love for the 1950s is captured in my creations and are all made to flatter women of all shapes and sizes. Recently I loaned some clothes to the lovely Coco Fierce who wore my dresses for a photo shoot which will be featured in a rockabilly magazine!
I also love tattoos and have ten myself! with more plans for more in the very near future!
Some pieces are total one offs while others are available in a range of sizes. I can make to order and frequently add new items on my website.www.frocknroll.biz
Aren’t they fabulous pieces?!! Leave some love for both Emma and Coco Fierce – they look fabulous! (My personal favourite is the leopard print!)
Also – Coco Fierce is currently competing to become Miss Tattoo UK and has reached the top 20. You can vote for here here: www.design4lifetattoo.co.uk/ltc/content/coco-fierce
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
(Photography credit: www.davidmcgathan.co.uk)
 

Honeymoon Tattoos – Laura & Tom

Good afternoon! I hope you’ve had a splendid weekend? I certainly did at the Wedding Carnival, but that’s for another day!
Today I have a fabulous pair of honeymoon tattoos on such a wonderful couple!
You may notice Laura as Mrs Lou Pops or even the Bonfire Night Bride. Yep – They were married on bonfire night! How awesome?!! You can read more about the wedding over on Bonfire Night Bride, but I’m going to hand straight over to Laura now to talk about the tattoos she & Tom got whilst on their honeymoon!
Enjoy!
“Tom and I were married on November 5th 2011 at the stunning Danby Castle in North Yorkshire and we honeymooned on the Queen Mary 2 spending a week in luxury, crossing the Atlantic from Southampton to New York. We then spent five days in New York living it up at the Soho Grand and two days in Boston at the Nine Zero hotel on Boston Common. My husband and I are both BIG tattoo fans, mainly brightly coloured traditional style but we appreciate all good work. Saying that, I do also have some pretty crap tattoos too but we all make mistakes! We went travelling in 2009 and both had tattoos in San Francisco as a reminder of our amazing time away so we decided that from then on, any big holiday we have we’ll get a new tattoo and what trip away is bigger than your honeymoon?! 
We both adore the work of Valerie Vargas, based at London’s Frith Street Tattoos and so we used the links on her website to find an NYC based artist. If she’s a fan then that artist is good enough for us! We soon came across Sarah Schor at King’s Avenue Tattoo, a shop owned by the mind blowing Mike Rubendall, and we didn’t look any further. Her style is exactly what we love. We emailed the shop and they really couldn’t have been any friendlier and more helpful. We carried out all of our consultations via email and when the time came for our appointments what Sarah had drawn up for us was perfect! 

We both wanted something to resemble our wedding day so as it was a Bonfire Night wedding we both went for the phrase “remember remember” as a nod towards the 5th November. The book and inkpot on my tattoo resemble the wedding register. I wanted something brightly coloured somewhere only my husband would see it and as I have nice hefty legs, my right thigh was the perfect canvas for it!

Tom had a Statue of Liberty with blue eyes as my ‘baby blues’ as he calls them, are his favourite part of me!”

 

Aren’t they amazing tattoos? Leave Laura & Tom some love and be sure to swing by the Bonfire Night Bride site and read Laura’s updates! They’re fabulous!

Tattoo Portraits & Vintage Makeovers with Alt.Studio Manchester [Tattooed Bridal and Wedding Blog]

Simon of Alt.Studio, Manchester had been uploading sneaky peeks of all the tattoo portraits and vintage makeovers on the studio’s Facebook page and I was just itching to feature them! It didn’t take much convincing when Simon asked me if I’d like to nip in one Saturday and get a feel of what it’s like to be photographed in the studio. I gave a big YES and one sunny Saturday I travelled to Manchester’s northern quarter with a suitcase of goodies – ready to meet Simon and  Nikki Armstrong of Make It Up.

(Did I mention that my hair colour for the shoot was a total accident the evening before?!! I kind of liked it. Therefore, the red is staying!)

Right around the corner from the awesome Afflecks Palace, Alt.Studio is so welcoming! Greeted by a huge hug off Simon and then chatting away with them both about which eras of Vintage we were going to get rolling with. I chose 50s as I took my fabulous Unique Vintage one piece and then we took off with a long silk dress from Thunder Egg for a glamorous trip back into the 20s.

I am SO pleased with how the images turned out – I seriously cannot recommend Simon and the rest of the team enough! The day was SO MUCH FUN! And I would totally recommend it! An afternoon of fun!

For a limited time only, Simon is offering the vintage makeover shoots for FREE. Yes, FREE! Be sure to head on over & “Like” Alt.Studio Facebook page and message the page for more details, quoting “Marry Me Ink”.

Below are more images from various other vintage makeovers and tattoo portraits that Simon has photographed recently. Take a look through and do leave Simon and the other lovely faces some love!