Get Inspired By The Sentimental Details of This Couple’s Vintage Yet Modern Nuptials!

Lauren Megerdichian
January 25, 2022
Categories: Real Weddings, Romantic, The Blog

We love a vintage touch – especially when mixed with subtle contemporary elements and meaningful DIY details! The couple contrasted the modern feel of their venue, Slate, with Charleston-inspired charm – a city close to the couple’s hearts! They blended the ambiance of two cities with an escort display of vintage St. Louis postcards, an antique cake table, and celebrated their shared love for music with a Taylor Swift quote! The couple captured their romantic day with a photo-booth, florals by Olive And Gene Weddings, all set with props from our Shop – such as our most popular backdrop banner! See all the special and sentimental moments of this day, planned by Olive And Gene Weddings in the full gallery from Sarah Harvey!

From The Bride… I am a fine art film wedding photographer, so I was so excited when my now husband proposed and we could start planning our own wedding day! It was so fun planning our day alongside vendors who are also friends! Our photographer was a bridesmaid and my hair and makeup artist was my maid of honor.

We wanted the design for our wedding to feel very romantic and whimsical with pops of color (slate blue, blush pink, and mauve) and vintage touches. We wanted a more modern venue, so I loved the idea of bringing an organic garden-inspired vision to a more modern setting! I lived in Charleston, South Carolina when we first started dating, so I wanted to include the kind of colorful, vintage charm that has always inspired me in Charleston! We also wanted a modern city feel that represents St Louis. However, we were on a budget.

One of my favorite details was the vintage St Louis postcards we used for the escort card board. We love antique shopping, so this was a great budget-friendly way to include a detail that was also personal to us. We visited antique shops all over St Louis for a year to find vintage cards perfect for each guest. We hand-tied silk ribbon to each postcard and hung it on a board hand-crafted by our now brother-in-law! Guests then got to keep the postcard as a keepsake from the day.

We alternated the cards on the board so that you could see both the beautiful images on the front, and the writing the cards have on the back from the original senders! Some of the cards were over 100 years old.

The table we used for the cake was also a vintage find! We now have the table in our living room. This is now such a special piece that we have in our home, and was a great way to add to the design of our reception while staying on budget!

We kept the guest list very small and intimate. We had 80 guests! This made the day so special, and more budget-friendly.

Instead of hiring a photo booth, we had polaroid cameras complete with a Style Me Pretty backdrop and Style Me Pretty props! We also skipped a DJ and made our own playlists on Spotify. We borrowed disco balls from a local dj company for reception lighting! All of these choices helped with our budget and made for the most fun party!

We included romantic, vintage details throughout the day from our stationary on handmade paper, to our cake with delicate sugar flowers and handwritten calligraphy. We love Taylor Swift, so the quote ‘you and me forevermore’ was a nod to our shared love of music.

We wanted to also include our pets (a cat and dog) so we had custom napkins made with illustrations of them, and I gifted Brian custom cat and dog cuff links on the day to wear with his tux!

We also wanted to include special touches in memory of my grandparents who passed away that year. The necklace I wore was the stone from my grandma’s wedding ring, and I had it set with a chain of hers as well.

Our stationery designer was amazing at working within our budget! She created a full keepsake suite for us to have, and then we mailed out just the invitation and details card to guests. For some of the reception signage, she created the digital designs, and then I printed them myself on handmade paper I bought off of Etsy. This was a great way to make sure everything felt cohesive and was also within our budget!

Our florist (and coordinator!) was also so accommodating to our budget. We went with organic, petite bridesmaid bouquets with snapdragons and blush roses to compliment my bouquet. She created low, organic centerpieces for every other table. For other tables, she used simple florals in bud vases surrounded by candles.

For my gown, I knew I loved Leanne Marshall. I was lucky enough to find one of her beautiful gowns off of the rack after taking a road trip to Bride KC, hoping to find one of her gowns at a discounted price there. I then had the gown altered to better fit me which is why the top is customized!

Overall, we wanted our wedding day really to represent what is special to us vs. leaning on the more traditional side of things! For example, we had tacos served for dinner and margaritas as our signature cocktail! We absolutely love how everything came together, and I feel so lucky to have so many incredible friends as vendors who helped make the day possible!

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