More and more brides (and grooms) are opting-out of the traditional “cookie-cutter” wedding and choosing to personalize their special day with fashion, rituals and décor that more accurately represent their personal style and taste.
Such was the case with the recent wedding of our daughter, Devinē (pronounced Dev-uh-knee– I have to tell you that because it’s my fault she’s cursed with a name that folks always mispronounce when they first read it!) & her fiance, Darian. Devinē and I are the mother & daughter team behind gloryBdesign.etsy.com, a shop we fill with re-purposed and re-Glorified vintage furniture and home décor.
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| The couple designed their invitations using Photoshop and retro style images purchased online from retroclipart.com. A CD of the playlist from the wedding & reception was given as a favor to guests. |
When Devinē and Darian decided to tie the knot, they knew they wanted their ceremony and reception to reflect their unique personalities. They knew they wanted to the make day memorable, but they didn’t want anything too formal or fussy. They also knew they wanted Darian’s six-year old daughter, Annalisa to be very much included. The couple’s love of vintage design and music shaped the choices they made for everything from the wedding invitations to their recessional music and wedding favors for their guests (Devinē’s full-time job is teaching Spanish at a local high school, and Darian owns BlueChair Studios, a local music recording studio). They chose the lawn at Devinē’s grandfather’s farmhouse as their venue, and decided to mix vintage and handmade items to give their day the look and feel they desired. With their busy schedules and limited budget, moms, dads, brothers, sisters, in-laws and friends were all recruited to lend a hand in pulling the event together.
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| Devinē & Amanda, her Maid of Honor. |
Devinē’s favorite vintage era is the 1950’s. The bride also chose for her dress and her brides maids dresses to be reminiscent of vintage 1950’s prom dresses, with full skirts and yards and yards of tulle! I made the dresses using a mix of new and vintage patterns, some of which were purchased from MissBettysAttic.etsy.com (a fellow vestie!).
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| Here’s Annalisa (our new Grand-daughter!) and Suezette Rose looking completely adorable in tulle tutus. I handmade wands for them and adorned them with butterflies and streaming ribbons. They looked and felt completely magical! A truly “inspired” idea was to provide them with vintage children’s chairs! It really helped keep them from fidgeting and from tiring out during the ceremony! |
It was important to Devinē to include mementos from loved ones that are no longer with us. Her paternal grandmother passed when Devinē was very young, and we lost my mom, Rose, and a good friend, (and fellow vintage-a-holic), Kathy, in just the past few months. Devinē and I both wanted them to be a part of this day, which we accomplished in various ways. When it came to the her bouquet, I fashioned it using some of Devinē’s favorite brooches, including ones that had belonged to both of her grandmothers as well as ones that once belonged to the mothers and grandmother’s of close friends. Other brooches came from our E.P.C. (extensive personal collection, a.k.a – hoard).
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| Devinē’s vintage necklace and earrings were handed down from her paternal grandmother.Her vintage brooch bouquet included something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. |
To begin the transformation of the lawn, and to define the wedding area, we used vintage doors as a backdrop with wrought iron arches, and sections of Victorian iron fence panels serving to frame the ceremony area. Vintage Italian Tole sconces were hung from the doors with lit candles. A vintage wire plant stand topped with glass served as a pedestal for the unity candle. Vintage metal lawn gliders, with cushions made from vintage chenille blankets formed the first few rows of seating for the immediate family members. Katia’s mom and her sister made slipcovers and jeweled tulle bows that transformed folding metal chairs into suitable seating for the 100+ guests. That’s what you call true friends!
Devinē’s brother, Ryan, painted a large canvas with the image of a vintage turntable. Guests were asked to write a message to the couple on the canvas and sign it, rather than using a traditional Guest Book. Tori (Ryan’s girlfriend) sewed yards and yards of colorful fabric buntings that were hung to help define the space and add a touch of whimsy. (Don’t tell anyone – but we think Tori is a keeper!)
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 A proud mom sheds a few “happy tears” as dad Matt drives his daughter in his 1957 Chevy Nomad station wagon. |
When it came time for the bride to make her entrance, her dad drove her up in his 1957 Chevy Nomad, which just so happened to be turquoise, one of the chosen wedding colors! Just before sunset, as the ceremony concluded, the wedding party danced down the aisle to the tune of the Isley Brother’s hit “Shout!” rather than the traditional bridal recessional. It seemed to surprise the guests at first, but it didn’t take but a second until they were all smiling and applauding! It was a unique finish to a beautifully unique wedding!
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| Above clockwise: 1)Devinē gives her grandpa a kiss! 2)Pausing for photos after the ceremony. 3)Anna had a blast! She said, “Best wedding, ever!” 4) Katia helps Tori decorate the Nomad for the Bride & Groom’s getaway! (Katia and Devinē became friends when Devinē was her “Big” in the Big Brother/Big Sister program, over ten years ago!) 5) A beautiful sunset at the close of the ceremony! 6) My sweet dad was overcome with emotion. Center: the happy couple! |
For the reception, we used another set of vintage doors draped with personalized buntings to provide the backdrop for the cake table that was set under a huge oak tree that my mom planted several years ago. A collection of vintage birdcages holding candles, along with dragonfly twinkle lights hung from the branches overhead and provided just the right amount of light for a soft and dreamy ambience.
Two tents sheltered tables dressed in an array of vintage table linens (another one of our E.P.C.’s!). Scattered along the table tops were vintage vinyl LPs and 45s that Devinē and Darian’s niece melted to form flower-shaped bowls (after we checked and made sure they weren’t anything we needed to collect!), vintage blue mason jar candles, vintage soda bottle vases filled with gerbera daisy bouquets, and vintage soda fountain glasses filled with gum balls and lemondrops. A chalkboard made from a vintage French provincial frame announced the variety of treats we were offering our guests, including barbecue pork and chicken, farm-raised corn-on-the-cob from Grandpa’s garden (my dad grows the best corn in the world!), potato salad and fresh fruits, all of which was prepared by friends and family. Ice-cold fresh squeezed lemonade served from a vintage lemonade crock and bottles of Jarrito’s fruit sodas helped our guests stay cool and refreshed on a Southern August night. We had been so concerned about the weather, as we have been in an extreme drought all Summer, with many days of 100+ degree temps. But we were blessed by a cool down and absolutely perfect weather! Thank you, God!
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| At the head table, the bride and groom were seated in vintage metal lawn chairs with “Mr”. & “Mrs.” buntings draped across the back. |
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| Tori makes one last check of the reception area. The colorful fabric buntings that she made added color and whimsy to the space! 2) The wedding cake topper featured Darian, Devinē and Annalisa figures that I handmade. Sewing that tiny sport coat of Darian’s was real challenge! |
All in all, it was wonderful day, filled with the love and fellowship of dear friends and family! A day we will never forget! Sure, it was a lot of work, but for my part, it was all worth it when I received a text from Devinē the next morning saying, “everything was perfect!” For those of you, that would like to see more, our son Ryan made a short video of the day, that really captured the spirit of the whole event. You can view it here: Devine & Darian Tie the Knot
Thanks to the Vesties for letting me share our family’s special day with you all!
To see our etsy shop click here: gloryBdesign
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| Let them eat cake! The wedding cake was a layer of strawberry, a layer of chocolate and a layer of pineapple! The grooms cake was made to look like a vintage record player. |
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Devinē, &Teresa of gloryBdesign.etsy.com |
Submitted by Teresa of gloryBdesign.etsy.com
I love that the color of the Chevy matches the wedding colors! The use of the doors is very fun too. Looks like it was a great celebration.
so many good things! what a beautiful day!
OH my this is so adorable, it brought tears to my eyes, how sweet. The bride is stunning and I love the idea of the painted canvas as a guest book, very creative!! Going to check out the video! Congrats and best of luck in the future to the happy couple!!
Oh my gosh — this is fabulous! I so love vintage wedding. You guys did an awesome job. Congratulations!
Thank you all for your sweet comments! You guys are awesome! And a very special “thank you” to the Vesties for inviting me to do this guest post!
This is soooo adorable! Love all the details!