This Florida wedding is so full of lovely vintage inspiration, it just might be my absolute favorite. The bold punches of color are complete perfection. But wait till you here this – ALL of this fabulousness came together because of a wonderful vintage headpiece that the bride picked up at an antique shop. How is that for inspiration? For more of those tropical hues, check out the gallery filled to the brim with wonderful photography by Pezz Photo.
see more fab vintage details here!
From the bride:
Jeff and I wanted to have a small casual wedding with family and close friends–more of a great party than a traditional wedding. I grew up in Florida and Jeff grew up in North Carolina, and we both now live in Minneapolis. Florida seemed like the perfect location, the nice weather a bonus for all the guests who had to travel. My parents own a lovely piece of property on the bay and it with the beautiful views and mossy oak trees, it was an ideal spot for the event. Right after we settled on the location, I took a trip to Florida to visit my family, and went vintage shopping with my mom and sister. We found this amazing showgirl headdress (with giant sequin oranges and leaves) which I fell in love with. Between the headdress and the old Florida feel of the site, I had my inspiration for planning. The citrus orange was the main color I used to tie the decorations together.
For our ‘Save the Date’ cards, I ordered a bunch of vintage Florida postcards online and had a custom rubber stamp made with the details. I also used vintage postcards as the RSVPs in our invitations. Since so many people were traveling to our wedding, Jeff and I thought it would be nice to use postcards from the location of each guest, which we then displayed at the wedding. I made the invitations as well–I designed a simple graphic motif inspired by a modern take on oranges that was repeated on the menus, signage, and the design for the playing cards that we gave as favors. The centerpieces were a group project–my mom, sister, Jeff and I worked on them the day before. I ordered a flat of succulents that we planted in vintage ceramic vessels found at thrift stores. The candle holders were glass vases (also from thrift stores), which I sprayed with silver spray paint on the interior to replicate mercury glass. Orange tulips and ranunculus (also ordered online) were arranged casually in yet more thirft store vases (this was Jeff’s project!). For place cards, we pinned paper leaves with each guest’s name to clementines. The playing card favors were wrapped in pretty paper and displayed at a front table to greet the guests and function as escort cards. Each box of cards had a sticker on the back with a vintage citrus crate label that designated the table where the guest was seated. My favorite part of the centerpieces was the fabric. I found two patterns that evoked the vintage feel I wanted and had orange as a major accent color: my mom and I sewed the fabric into large squares which were the base for each table display and looked great with the orange napkins.
Mason jar lanterns (again, another one of those many craft projects!) were set up to create a path for guests that led to the site. A table was set up where the guests were ‘greeted’ by Jane–she was the mannequin head I found online (a woman in North Carolina makes them from actual vintage mannequins that she collects) and she looked perfect in the citrus headdress! We organized lawn games during the cocktail hour and served Key Lime martinis, Greyhounds, and appetizers. A brief ceremony on the lawn was held before we gathered everyone in the tent for dinner (I wanted everyone to settle in and enjoy themselves before the ceremony–so we flipped the traditional order of events). Rather than a traditional wedding cake, I wanted a variety of cakes in different flavors. Inspired by a painting by Wayne Thiebaud, I had 11 cakes made to match the painting, which was one of my favorite parts of the whole event (though we were eating leftover cake for days!).
Photography: Pezz Photo / Dress: ‘Anju’ by Monique Lhullier from Ultimate Bride in Chicago / Alterations: Studio One Eleven / Shoes: ‘Lady Dragon’ Vivienne Westwood for Melissa, from Zappos / Cakes: Beautiful Cakes by Ron / Catering: Libby’s Cafe / Bar: The Crow’s Nest / Hair and Makeup: Marmalade Salon, Sarasota / Mannequin head: Marge Crunkleton / Playing Cards: Customized Playing Cards / Succulents online: Cactus Limon / Flowers online: American Floral Distributors
