Rock and Roll Romance – A Moody + Edgy Fall Wedding in New Hampshire

Rock and Roll is alive and well, baby, and Jessica + Don’s romantic New Hampshire wedding is all the proof we need.

“The vibe for the weekend was “a little bit of country (on a rural preserve of land in the white mountains) a lot of rock and roll (our theme/decor),” says the couple of the celebration’s aesthetic. The Preserve at Chocorua provided a perfectly rustic October backdrop for the day’s rich + edgy design. The couple created a wedding weekend that combined the excitement of a rock concert with the dreamy romance of a Fall wedding in the woods.

“We wanted to bring a fun, non traditional vibe to our wedding, as we love music and going to concerts, and didn’t want things to feel too serious,” say Jessica + Don. “We also love quality fun time with our friends and family, so wanted to make it as relaxed and open as possible.”

Autumn leaves. Iconic rock anthems. These “I do’s” were worthy of rock and roll royalty, and we cannot wait to give you a peek at all of Chris Bennett Photography’s gorgeous pics!

These moody, record-store-ready paper goods were created by Kelsey Donahue.

“I knew I wanted something that had a Rock and Roll vibe and was slightly non-traditional, but still had a bridal look to it,” says Jessica. “In looking for dresses I knew I wanted beaded, no floral, an open back, and long sleeves. I did some searching online and found a beaded dress from Pronovias I kind of liked. Luckily, when I went into the boutique, the gown was on Sample Sale  but it was way off of my size…”

“I found an amazing seamstress, Kim’s Fashion Design, who could work magic on it (it took many fittings, so many beads to cut around!) and brought it to my size, opened up the back, and made the top of the dress sheer. I also really wanted to add a feather train to lighten up the harder geometric lines of the dress,so I took it to Bremelia in Boston to add a train of feathers and a little extra fringe on the sleeves. It ended up being a half custom dress that I was obsessed with when I was done!”

Marissa Ann Artistry created Jessica’s ethereal bridal hairstyle and rock goddess wedding makeup look. Also, how beautiful are those burgundy wedding nails!

Since Don’s last name is Miller, these Miller High Life button-downs made super fun groomsmen gifts.

The First Look

Loving Jessica’s bridal silhouette as much as we are? Check out our collection of all the best long sleeve wedding dresses!

Jessica asked her crew to create looks that featured “mismatched Fall colors but with major rock and roll style,” and they absolutely nailed it. So fun to see a mismatched bridal party with a more laid back, not-as-formal vibe!

The Ceremony

Jessica + Don armed their guest with custom cups of dried flower petals instead of confetti in preparation for their ceremony exit. Such an excellent + eco-friendly wedding idea!

Our Musical Choices
Processional
"Sharp Dressed Man" by ZZ Top, "Fat Bottomed Girls" by Queen, "Sweet Emotion" by Aerosmith, and a mash up of "Seasons of Wither" (Aerosmith) and "Walk This Way" (RUN DMC and Aerosmith) 
Recessional
"You'll Never Walk Alone" by Gerry and The Pacemakers (Group Sing in the Aisle) followed by "Come Together" by Aerosmith
First Dance
"Moondance" by Van Morrison

Lemon & Tulips, Lotus Floral Designs, and Illume Floral all came together to create the day’s moody flower arrangements + installations.

We love a fringe moment!! Check out this glam Palm Springs wedding to see another example of a fabulous, fringy wedding ceremony backdrop.

Very into the velvety texture of Don’s wedding suit from John Varvatos.

“Don is a HUGE Liverpool FC fan,” says Jessica, “so we walked out from the ceremony to their song (You’ll Never Walk Alone) and gave all our guests sheet music to sing alone (a surprise for Don).”

Even these precious pups sported some edgy, concert-ready attire. That faux leather dog jacket! 🥰🤘🏻

An epic album-cover-worthy post-ceremony photo shoot definitely calls for some bridal sunglasses.

Our Advice
Build in some chill private time for you and your partner on the wedding day. We knew that some down time was going to be important for us, so we built in some chill time / self care into our wedding weekend. To do this, we hosted a Thai Massage class the morning before our wedding (one of our friends is a Thai Masseuse), followed by a hike. The evening before our wedding, we hosted a welcome party on the lawn with a chill band, and then followed that with a Sound Bath (Vibrations Sound Studio ) in the tent. It was the perfect way to bring us back to neutral after all the buzz of the welcome party. We then read our vows privately to each other later that evening/ the next morning before the bustle of the wedding day started. It was very special to have that private moment, just for us to share with each other.  We also had a masseuse come to the property and give us massages the morning of the wedding- 10/10 recommend! 

Our Favorite Memory
Jess: "It's a toss up! The last song of the night (Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd). We passed out lighters before and everyone held up the lighters and sang together for the slower/first part of the song, and then we all completely rocked out dancing and air guitaring until the end. Everyone was grabbing the (flameless) candles off tables and waving them around on the dance floor. It was epic. Another close contender would be the post ceremony private drive Don and I took in a Vintage Ford Mustang through the woods to the lake."
Don: "Either the elation of finishing our entrance and first dance and nailing it, followed closely by singing You'll Never Walk Alone in the aisle after our ceremony with all our friends and family."

The Reception

“We designed a TON of custom signage in a Rock and Roll theme, named all our drinks after songs, and covered the grounds with our own custom concert posters inspired by a Led Zeppelin concert poster,” remember Jessica + Don.

We can’t get over how immersive the reception’s rock concert-like experience was! “Guests received tickets (at a will call we set up as their entry to the show (the reception),” says the couple, “and we designed a seating chart that looked like a concert venue map so that guests used to locate seats.”

“All of our table scapes were super unique and creative,” Jessica + Don say. “The decor was maximalist, lots of Fall moody colors, with pops of deep teal and fuchsia, animal print, feathers, and faux fur.”

Showcase Events filled each reception table with opulent, ornate, and edgy decor.

And linens from BBJ La Tavola gave each tablescape its velvety texture + shine.

Guests enjoyed a reception feast from The Farmstand plus food truck-style snacks from Tin Can Co and The Nada Cart.

“During cocktail hour, our guests stayed at the tent where we had a trailer bar, coffee truck from Vagabond Coffee, pool tables, Guitar Hero, a temporary tattoo station, and ping pong table set up,” say Jessica + Don their activity-packed pre-reception cocktail hour setup.

Autumn Nomad created this deep blue velvet + snakeskin masterpiece of a cake as well as other wedding desserts that Jessica + Don’s guests got to enjoy.

“We plastered walls with vintage 60s/70s/80s Rock concert posters and magazine articles and photos that I have been collecting since I was young,” says Jessica. “I put vinyl records out in the sun to give them a cool warped look, and then we hung those on the walls, as well as made a Gallery Wall of Black and White photos of our favorite rock stars in the lounge seating area of the barn.”

“I LOVE Steven Tyler, so we hung scarves (like the ones on Steven Tyler’s microphone stand) from chandeliers in the barn,” Jessica says of the hanging installation that dangled above this animal pint-adorned seating banquette full of furniture from Inspiration Events. “We also installed hanging floral windows, brought in a fake tree which we outfitted in floral, feather, metal, and chains.”

“We also love Star Wars, so we incorporated a Death Star piñata instead of a cake cutting ceremony,” says the couple. “We used the ticket stubs that were pulled off when they entered to raffle of swings at our surprise Death Star piñata (which we lowered above everyone onto the dance floor to the Darth Vader theme song).”

DJ Jeff Erwin from Rethink the DJ and lighting from New England Holiday Light Co. set the stage perfectly for Jessica + Don’s epic dance floor moment: “For our reception entrance, my husband and I did a Slash/Michael Jackson reenactment of a famous concert (with guitars, wigs, top hats, and a back lit screen that my husband surprise-danced the “Billie Jean” dance behind),” remembers Jessica. “Our first dance was a swing dance with lifts, flips, a moon walk, and handstands.”

Congrats to reigning rock and roll royalty, Jessica + Don! Thanks for the backstage pass to your fierce + edgy Fall wedding day! GWS is so happy for you both!