Vanessa and Tony’s vintage inspired wedding ceremony took place on the beautiful grounds of the historic Plummer House mansion. These two lovebirds infused many DIY and personal touches into their wedding. Along with help from their family, the couple undertook many projects from the branch wedding ceremony arbor decorated with a flower garland and letter banner to the childhood photo table numbers. The bride graciously shared details about the many DIY projects and other elements to personalize their wedding. See the details from the bride after the photos from their darling wedding.
From the Bride:
Details and Inspiration: My husband proposed to me in November 2011. We knew we wanted a vintage-inspired wedding from the start. We also had to be budget concious.
Venues: The Plummer House was an easy decision as far as a ceremony venue. We luckily were able to snag the last Saturday available in 2012, September 22nd. We quickly found the perfect reception in the Kahler Hotel Elizabethan Ballroom. Due to the limited capacity at both locations (100 at Plummer House, 150 at Kahler), we had a very intimate/small ceremony and reception which was perfect for us.
Ceremony: We decided on an outdoor ceremony in the lower gardens of the Plummer House. The ceremony itself was very cold… a mere 55 degrees! Despite the cold, everything was very beautiful.
Officiant: Our officiant was Rev. Angela Conley. We wanted a spiritual ceremony, rather than a religious one. Our officiant was wonderful, and the company we went through was very professional and helped us create the ceremony we wanted.
Love Locks Ceremony: During our ceremony, we wanted to do something different than the standard Unity Candle or sand. I researched and discovered LoveLocks. Essentially you say your vows and close a lock to “lock your love” forever. This idea was well received, as one of my bridesmaids is now doing this at her own wedding in August. We plan on hanging it up in our home as a constant reminder of our love.
DJ: I had a friend who used to DJ and he recommended Elegant Affairs DJ in Mankato, MN. The owners met with us in their home and spent a good 1-2 hours on all of the details for our wedding. They also encouraged us to use their extensive lighting equipment. They were very professional and I knew I had made a good decision. At our reception, we had Mike M as our MC and another DJ at the booth. They were amazing and everyone told me that our DJ was the best! Not only did they play great music, they incorporated good ideas for our grand entrance and were on top of the itinerary for the evening. We also played a few games at the reception which were well received!
Photographer: We booked our photographer, Emily Boughey, right away. She had done some photos of us in the past that we really really enjoyed so she was the obvious choice. We were definitively not disappointed. She did an amazing job and was able to get a lot of great photos in a limited amount of time as my husband and I did not see each other before the ceremony. If there is one thing I would recommend to future brides, it’s to get a great photographer. The wedding day itself goes by in a flash and it’s hard to remember everything! It’s wonderful to look back at the day in pictures.
Dress: I highly recommend going to Mestads. The staff there are wonderful and extremely helpful. The dress I ended up buying was my first choice.
Groom/Groomsmen Attire: Continuing the vintage theme, we decided on vests instead of suits and I wanted them to all be different. We found a shop on Etsy that allows you to give them sizes and they send you a vintage set of vests that are different but also go together. They were perfect. The guys bought pants to match the vests as close as possible and they purchased the same undershirt at Kohl’s. Their shoes/belt could be whatever went well with their outfit.
Bridesmaids Attire: I never had set colors so I told my bridesmaids they could pick soft pinks, peaches, and cream colored dresses. I wanted them to be knee length or above, but other than that it didn’t matter what they chose. I think they turned out great. I know one dress was under $15 which was fine with me! I didn’t want my guys or gals to spend a fortune on something they were only going to wear once. Their shoes were up to them as long as they went with the outfit. I was very pleased with the outcome!
DIY projects: My dad helped me out with my wedding arch. I wanted it to be made out of tree branches and flowers. If you haven’t noticed by now, I love flowers and anything floral. My dad made my arch for me and basically nailed everything together. I painted the wooden letters and my husband glued them to the string. We hung fake flower garlands from Hobby Lobby around the arch and nailed the stringed letters up. I think it made for a great backdrop for the ceremony.
Another DIY project was my shoes. I purchased $17 white shoes from Payless and bedazzled the heels with rhinestones from Hobby Lobby. I also cut out lace and glued it onto the shoes. I added flowers to the sides of the shoes and voila! They turned out okay, but they were trashed by the end of the day. I’m glad they were only about a $20 investment!
My husband decorated mason jars for candle holders. We draped lace on them and tied a ribbon around them. This was very time consuming but turned out to be pretty.
Our table numbers were an idea I saw online. We took photos from our childhood at age 1, 2, 3, etc.. and made them our table numbers. Our photos were side by side with a number like, “five” written on them. My Grandma especially loved the idea. She walked around to every table to look at the photos!
Along with table number photos, I also printed old family wedding photos, put them in vintage looking/assorted frames, and set them on the escort card table.
For our wedding favors, we had vintage candies in fabric baggies. My Grandma made all 140 of the cloth baggies in vintage fabric. They turned out great and were really inexpensive!
Reception: The Kahler Hotel Elizabethan Ballroom was better than expected! The decorating crew there did an amazing job with everything. I also rented the Lord Essex which is an old-timey pub connected to the ballroom. That really made the reception pop. They served drinks in the pub to give more room in the main ballroom. It all worked wonderfully.
Photography: Emily Boughey Photography | Ceremony Venue: Plummer House | Reception Venue: Elizabethan Ballroom at The Kahler Grand Hotel | Floral Design: Flowerama | Catering: The Kahler Grand Hotel | Cake: Hy-Vee | DJ: Elegant Affairs DJ | Makeup: City Looks | Hair: City Looks | Flower Hair Clips: Hart Felt Art on Etsy | Transportation: R & S Transport | Bride’s Dress: Disney Bridal from Mestads | Bridesmaids’ Dresses: variety of stores including Mod Cloth | Groom’s and Groomsmens’ Vests: all different vintage vests from Bright Wall on Etsy | Groomsmens’ Shirts and Pants: Kohl’s | Save the Dates and Invitations: Nostalgic Imprints on Etsy
MN Wedding 