We’re off to Vegas for today’s wedding. But we’re not talking your typical White Wedding Chapel, complete with Elvis celebrant, Vegas elopement! Oh no, Margaret & Christopher did Vegas in a meaningful and vintage (or ‘motique’ = modern + antique) way, creating a passionately personal day full of love, and celebrated surrounded by friends and family……

Of course planning a vintage destination Vegas wedding starts with finding the right venue! “We were married in the orchard at The Grove, Las Vegas.  We knew that we wanted to get married in Las Vegas, not on the strip, and not have our guests have to travel to different places for the ceremony and reception. We wanted as much of an inclusive experience as we could find, and The Grove offered exactly that.”

Whilst finding the perfect venue may have been a challenge, finding THE dress was never a problem! “My dress was the entire catalyst to us having a vintage inspired wedding. My dress has been worn by three generations of women in my family: my Gram, my mom’s mom, saw her dress in a magazine from NYC and placed an order to have it delivered to her in Butte, Montana. She wore it for her wedding in 1948. Next, my mom wore it at her and my dad’s wedding in 1975 and my Aunt Mara wore it when she married my Uncle Bob in 2016.

I knew that I wanted something that had movement, an open v-neck, and ¾ sleeves. Kim Corwin, Mrs. Sew and Sew was an absolute blessing and worked with me to handcraft the dress from no pattern. She truly turned it into our work of art and meeting at her house for fittings was so exciting.

The dress and buttons were made from the old dress and I added a chiffon material overlay. It was very important to my mother that we kept the same vintage buttons. It was one of her fondest memories from her wedding – her mom painstakingly buttoned each individual button! It made for a special moment, wonderful memory, and beautiful pictures. So I added the overlay fabric and a belt from Roseybloom Boutique to the dress, and wore a gold and ivory birdcage veil during the ceremony by Elegance at Hand.”

“I opted to be barefoot for the wedding and reception but did purchase gold and blue jewelled barefoot sandals on Etsy.”

“My Matron of Honor suggested the idea for gold sparkle dresses that ended up inspiring the colors and glam for the entire wedding! It was perfect because I have more sequins dresses in my wardrobe than I care to admit and wearing a floor-length sequins gown was (1) very Vegas (2) glamourous in photos, (3) modern and classic all at once, and (4) a way to ensure that no guest would be confused for a member of the wedding party! Three of my bridesmaids rented their dresses from Rent the Runway and one purchased hers online from Lulu’s.

I also wanted my bridesmaids to carry something other than a bouquet and I tried to think of several ideas that would be both modern and vintage, but also something that would look fitting against the multiple shades of gold dresses. I opted on clutches from Mod Dot Textiles and am so glad that I did! It gave them a place to store their necessities for the day, something to do with their hands in the ceremony and looked wonderful in photos! They were made in the gold angles fabric and with an antique gold frame. The clutches were personalized with four different colors of fabric as the inside lining. I chose the fabric based on the name, names that elicited memories between myself and each of my bridesmaids.”

“My flowers, roses, were provided through the venue. I chose a mix between coffee roses and champagne roses to complement the gold tones in the wedding. The boutonnieres were matching roses with ivory ribbons.”

“The groom and groomsmen wore navy blue suits from the Michael Strahan collection at JC Penney. Chris was dressed in pants, vest, and jacket with a champagne gold bowtie. The best man was dressed in the same pants and vest as Chris but without a jacket. The remaining three groomsmen all had matching navy pants, champagne gold ties, and suspenders. All the men had similar, but varying patterns of navy blue button down shirts and wore their own brown shoes. We wanted to keep the total cost of each groomsmen outfit under $100 and were able to do so with the help on JCPenney’s sales and strategic use of coupons.”

“Chris’s mom passed away while we were dating and we didn’t want to have a father/daughter dance in the reception only as a painful reminder that a mother/son dance would not follow. Instead, I opted to do a ‘first look’ and ‘first dance’ with my dad prior to our ceremony. There is a gazebo on the grounds of The Grove and they were able to pipe in the song for my dad and I’s dance, “Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison. It was perfect.”

“We bought the sign that was on the arch from Mama Hess Painting that we customized with the Ruth bible verse “Where you go, I will go and where you stay, I will stay.” This verse has been true through our several moves to and away from one another. These were also the words that we said during our ring exchange and we moved the sign into the reception area as decoration after the ceremony. It now hangs in our home as a reminder that we move through life together, as a family unit and a team.” 

“At the ceremony, we had wind chimes hanging in a tree in memory of Chris’s mother, Barbara, who passed away in May 2015.” 

“Chris’ step-dad, Dan Hendrix, was our officiant. Chris and Dan walked down the aisle together to begin our ceremony. They were followed by the members of our wedding party, then both my parents and I began our walk, arm in arm. It was important to me that my mother and father both walked me to the aisle, but that I walk to the ceremony arch and to my groom on my own. I wanted both, not just one, of my parents to walk me because they both raised me and both support our marriage.”

“The Nuernburg Wedding Cup has been part of my family tradition since the 1980s. We were stationed (my father is retired US Army) in Germany from 1985-1988 and my parents bought the wedding cup there. They gifted it to my mom’s parents who drank from it and kept it in their China hutch. Both of them have passed away and the cup is now in my parent’s hutch. The cup was used by my grandparents and parents. It was also drank out of by both my siblings the night before their wedding.” 

“The reception was at The Grove and was decorated by the venue. We found gold/champagne sequins tablecloths for the head table and cake table from Fantasy Farbic Designs.” 

“Our guestbook was a canvas that guests signed with a scrapbook pen. The canvas was by Miss Design Berry printed with our names, wedding date, and the three states that told our story: Kentucky, Montana, and New Mexico.” 

“We were pretty stuck on finding a good idea that we both liked for favors. We wanted something fun, but nothing large that our guests would have to pack back as everyone, except two, travelled to Vegas. We decided on bright colored sunglasses from Deal Cardinal with our hashtag #VegasVows2016 on the side. These sunglasses were placed in cloth bags that had gold glitter on them and said “I regret nothing” from Everlong Events. Inside the bags we also put wintergreen Lifesavers breath mints and individual packets of advil.”

We opted for cupcakes with ivory frosting and gold glitter. The cupcakes were provided through the venue baker Cake Couture in Las Vegas

“Instead of a wedding cake we opted for cupcakes with ivory frosting and gold glitter. The cupcakes were provided through the venue baker Cake Couture in Las Vegas and came in two flavors: marble and lemon.”

Pearls of wedding wisdom from the bride…

“Be prepared to feel loved! Everyone talks about weddings as stressful or overwhelming, but I found the love and support of friends and family to be the overwhelming part. Overwhelmingly unexpected and wonderful! So yes, be prepared to feel loved.

I would do a destination wedding, or at least one where you travel outside of where you live or grew up. Everyone travelled, everyone was inconvenienced, no one expected us to entertain them because….Vegas, and everyone was in a vacation set of mind! Everything had to be planned and packed before or it wasn’t going to be involved so there was no last minute panic. If it didn’t get packed, it just wanted going to be part of the day!”

Tell us a little bit about your photographer…

“Not only was Kristen one of the original photographers that I had reached out to, but she came recommended by so many Las Vegas photographers! She was absolutely wonderful! She was in easy going, professional, and prompt in email and phone contact with us prior to our travel to Vegas and met with Chris and me a few days before the ceremony to make sure she had clear notes of the photos that we wanted. I am so excited that your blog is choosing to highlight her work; it is artful and deserving!”

Just so lovely, don’t you think? Those sparkly sequin bridesmaids gowns are stunning, and I just love how many meaningful and personal details the couple incorporated into their day! Do take a moment to enjoy the gorgeous video Pure Light Creative captured on the day too – I defy anyone to be able to watch them exchange their beautifully written vows without shedding a tear!

A huge and heartfelt thankyou to Margaret & Christoper for sharing their wonderful day with us, and to Kristin of KMH Photography for photographing it so perfectly! You can see more of Kristin’s gorgeous work over to her website www.kmh-photography.com, or you can find and follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Amy

x

Contributors & Credits

Photographer ~ KMH Photography // Filmographer ~ Pure Light Creative Our wedding highlights: https://vimeo.com/190187738 // Venue ~ The Grove Las Vegas // Wedding Dress ~ Vintage // Alterations ~ // Belt ~ Roseybloom Boutique // Veil ~ Elegance at Hand // Foot Jewlery ~ FootJewelryandSocks on Etsy // Bridal & Bridesmaid Clutches ~ Mod Dot Textiles // Bridal Jewelry ~ T’s Studio Bridal Jewelry // Hair & Makeup ~ Amelia C and Company // Sequin Bridesmaid Dresses ~ Rent the Runway & Lulu’s // Groom & Groomsmen Attire ~ JC Penney // Sequin Table Linens ~ Fantasy Farbic Designs // Signage ~ Mama Hess Painting // Champagne Flutes ~ Personally Engrave // Guestbook Canvas ~ Miss Design Berry // Favours ~ Sunglasses & Hangover Bag