Today Facebook memories reminded me that at this time four years ago I was in the midst of a wedding planning frenzy. Despite setting our date for a year after when we got engaged, it always seemed there was so much to do. My head was spinning with venues, caterers, florists, photographers, DJs, and obviously my many DIY project ideas (my husband would say I did that one to myself).

Of course with me it couldn’t be as simple as just picking out colors and purchasing everything (seriously, where is the fun in that?!) I wanted our wedding to be a reflection of the slightly quirky fun loving couple we were (and still are). I also wanted to show appreciation for our family and friends who had always been there for us. My various crafting projects allowed me to make our day OURS without breaking the bank for decor.

Without further ado, here are the details of our retro wedding day! I hope they provide some inspiration as you plan your own!

Red and Teal Flowers

I’m starting this post off with one of my FAVORITE elements from our wedding, the flowers. We were extremely lucky to work with an amazing florist who understood the retro vibe we wanted for our wedding and went as far as collecting glass coke bottles and milk glass vases to make sure everything was perfect.

The Bride’s Bouquet

My bouquet consisted of red and white Dahlias, Roses, Hydrangea and Carnations, however what made my bouquet truly stand out were the painted succulents! They offered the perfect contrast to the red and white and truly tied our wedding colors together!

The Bridesmaid Bouquets

The bridesmaid bouquets were filled with Dahlias, Roses, and Carnations all in shades of red. Personally I loved that the monochromatic color scheme allowed the various textures of the flowers to truly shine!

The Decor Flowers

The outdoor flowers were kept to a minimum due to that all important bottom line, however our venue was gorgeous so  they weren’t really needed. However we did have a few loose wrapped rose stems lining thee aisle and a few carnation bouquets as well.

Inside the reception hall was where the flowers truly shined. We had two large milk glass vases on the head table as well as mason jars to place our bouquets in (which is an extremely smart idea). The guest and display tables had varying centerpieces all in red and white with a few teal succulents to tie everything together. The florist also provided the flowers for our cake so that everything would match.

Retro Wedding Attire

The Bridesmaids

The bridesmaid dresses were by Alfred Sung (Style D644) and were in the color fusion. From what I can currently see that color may have been discontinued which is really a shame because it was BEAUTIFUL. It was Teal but had red thread woven throughout it as well so the dresses had a red shimmer which tied everything together so beautifully (yes I’m kind of a stickler for matching). However the Caspian color looks truly beautiful as well.

This dress was extremely flattering which was important because my bridesmaids ran gambit on body shape and I wanted each to feel like the gorgeous confident women they were (and still are).

For shoes I let them pick any red shoes their heart desired and that they would be comfortable in! I bought their necklaces and earrings as part of their bridesmaid gifts ( simple pearl flowers from Etsy).

The Guys

We opted for traditional suits in slate grey for the groom and groomsmen. My husband chose bowties over traditional ties because he felt they played into the retro theme. My (now) husband wore silver accents (vest and pocket square), while the groomsmen had teal accents to compliment the bridesmaids.

My Dress

I won’t lie I did not end up with the dress I initially envisioned. I originally had my heart SET on a Stephanie James Couture 3/4 length dress however the local store which carried samples didn’t have the one I liked and the one they did have was unfortunately not flattering on me.

I planned on reaching out to see if I could procure a sample of the dress I desired but then I walked into another bridal store and fell in love. The dress had a beautiful neckline and I loved the lace detailing throughout the skirt and best of all I felt like a million dollars in it, or actually I felt like a BRIDE!

Of course to top it off I needed shoes and I picked up some gorgeous red pumps which remain largely unseen. One bit of advice though, don’t forget your veil should you choose to have one because I so totally did!

For make-up I chose a natural look for the ceremony but before the reception my MUA did a quick change to something more dramatic (red lips and all!)

Retro Wedding Details

This part was another one of my favorites because I LOVE DIYS, it was also probably as good as premarital counseling to determine whether my husband could deal with me and my scrapbook paper mountains.

Some of my DIYs’s included a pinwheel backdrop for behind our cake (to was extremely time consuming but so worth it! I also made at least 6 chalkboard signs utilizing my handy chalkboard lettering hack (because I so don’t have pretty handwriting). The table numbers were made using scrapbook paper, Mod Podge, and wooden numbers from Hobby Lobby. Finally our seat assignments were displayed on record disks hanging from the rafters.

One project I planned on doing myself but ended up delegating was making custom table runners out of a gorgeous white fabric. It ended up being far-cheaper and time-efficient to pay a much more experienced seamstress to complete them ( never be afraid to get quotes you might be pleasantly surprised). They worked perfectly with our aqua table cloths and allowed for the flowers to truly shine.

One of the most sentimental areas for me was I included photos from all the weddings in my family over the last three generations. To see my grandparent’s wedding photos made me feel like the ones who couldn’t be there were still there celebrating in spirit.

We filled in our decor with signs and knick knacks from mercantiles and craft stores. One thing I did consider when buying things was the ability for them to be repurposed into decor for our own home. Finally for our favors we found mini gumball machines for a spectacular price and used washi tape and stamps to decorate the gift tags.

My wedding day was all I could have asked for and so much more. Hopefully you’ve come away with a bit of inspiration from this post and I hope your planning goes smoothly and your marriage is happier than you dream it can be.