I love this couple. Not only is their wedding just beautiful, they also seem like loads of fun. So much fun in fact, that they stopped at a carnival while driving to take photos in the lovely city of Austin. Any bride that wins a bean bag toss in her wedding gown is OK in my book! My party hat is off to this duo and their vintage meets romantic meets super fun wedding by Three Apples Events. For even more, check out the full gallery!
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From Three Apples Events… Lesley and Paul’s wedding inspiration was vintage romance from start to finish. The fashion was a big part of their day. The top of Lesley’s stunning dress was covered in lace and beading with removable lace cap sleeves to wear for the ceremony. The bottom of the dress was exposed tulle. She wore a birdcage veil for the ceremony with a feathered pin to hold it in place. For the reception, she changed to a larger floral piece. To customize it, she completely changed the corset back to one with a zipper and added her grandmother’s wedding dress buttons from her 1935 wedding. Lesley’s grandmother recently passed at age 100, so it was really special to her. For her garter, she had her seamstress create one from lace off of her mom’s wedding dress. Her mother-in law lent her her lucky sixpence, and Lesley placed it in her shoe for the walk down the aisle. She did have one modern piece – blue sparkly shoes… her “something blue.” Her bridesmaids wore navy blue dresses with black lace at the top and pretty vintage feather fascinators that included the wedding colors of peach and white. Paul and his groomsmen all wore coats with tails, striped pants, vests, cravat ties and top hats – a nod both to the vintage style as well as Paul’s British background.
After a beautiful Catholic ceremony, the newlyweds headed out in a 1960’s white Bentley to take photos around Austin. They happened to drive past a carnival and decided to go play! Some of their favorite pictures of the day are of them playing carnival games in the middle of downtown Austin in full wedding attire!! Lesley won the bean bag toss, but who’s counting? Definitely something they will never forget!
The reception décor was a continuation of the sweet vintage look with a romantic feel. Lesley and Paul have traveled all over the world together and wanted to incorporate that love for travel into every piece of the décor. Instead of a traditional guest book, we set up a mailbox with stacks of postcards – they asked their friends traveling to Austin to bring postcards from their hometowns – and had everyone leave them a postcard for when they returned from their honeymoon in the Maldives! To tie in the past and both of their families, we set up photos of their parents’ weddings next to the mailbox. And to keep in with the travel theme, for the guest favors, everyone got a luggage tag saying “Enjoy the Journey”…one of their favorite mottos.
For the table numbers, we gave each table the name of a city that they’ve traveled to together (along with a photo taken while they were there), from Prague to Tokyo, Cozumel to Budapest. For the centerpieces, instead of doing a standard large piece, we decided to collect various mismatched vases from thrift stores all over Austin, along with tin cans and mason jars. For each table, I tied raffia on some of the vases and cases, and set clusters of soft, romantic peach and white flowers like roses, tulips, calla lilies, and freesia. Every table also had an ivory lace topper and lots of candles. The head table was really amazing with a long lace runner down the length of the table covered in vases, cans, and jars of white and peach flowers and interspersed votive candles.
The evening started with a live performance by Jeffrey David Goldford singing during the cocktail hour and the dinner as well as the couple’s first dance (“Arms of a Woman” by Amos Lee – so sweet!). He’s an old friend and flew in from Chicago to perform for their wedding day! Later in the evening when Lesley, Paul and their guests were ready to really get down, the DJ took over. The entire night, pretty much everyone was on the dance floor!
Instead of a traditional cake, they opted for cupcakes! Yum! Scattered around the cupcake display were homemade “Love” tags, and the cake topper was the topper from Lesley’s parents’ wedding cake in 1970.
Since they had so many friends come into Austin from all over, they wanted to make sure to get a lot of fun pictures with everyone. The photographer set up a photo booth-style area and took lots of fun group shots. Let’s just say the top hats saw their fair share of photos!
At the end of the night, instead of an exit in a limo, Lesley and Paul decided to make a thoroughly Austin exit and rode off in a pedicab! What a fabulous day!
Wedding Photography: Jake Holt Photography / Event Design & Planning: Three Apples Events / Wedding Ceremony Flowers: Central Market / Wedding Reception Flowers: Three Apples Events / Wedding Ceremony Location: St. Austin Catholic Parish / Wedding Reception Location: Palm Door / Hair: Urban Betty / Makeup: Rochelle Rae / Wedding Dress: Maggie Sottero / Bride’s Shoes: Nine West / Bridesmaid Dresses: Eliza J / Cupcakes: Cakemix Austin / Bentley: Antique Limousines / Band: Jeffrey David Goldford / DJ: Erik with ATX DJ