"We have a wedding to plan and much less time than we thought we had. But we booked a place, and set a date, and now we need to come up with the frugal details, and that's where this blog comes in."
Our registry can be found at Target.com, and Sears.com when you search for us in the registry, look up Ellie Sallee, or Kyle Gerlach.

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Setting the Scene for a Vintage wedding (on a dime of course):


While I certainly had not planned on him wearing a black tux, there were a couple of simple accessory items that brought it back in time, he rented his tux from Gino's, not my favorite place in the world, it looks like the 80's vomited in that place and no one ever cleaned up the mess. He was able to have a white pleated shirt, with little black buttons and a vest. We bought the tie separately because they didn't have any vintage ones, and honestly, if it weren't for the tie that we found, it wouldn't have seemed very vintage at all. We were at our last pennies and looking everywhere for a hat the day before the wedding and we ended up getting ours at target for a bargain. I think the other men had the same idea, so it worked out, being as we weren't as coordinated in the time that we had to prepare for the wedding, it was good that he went with black because everyone else was wearing black. 

That being said, we got this historic house for a bargain because we got it on an un-booked Sunday. It is a victorian house that supplied the vintage look and feel that we needed, so our need for decor was small. All of the vases, candle holders and the like were found at goodwill, along with most of our vintage patterned cloths on the tops of the tables. 
 IF THE PRICE ISN'T RIGHT, KEEP LOOKING.
Mom had originally rented some table cloths in colors we did not like, and then she found a shop that sold these table cloths for a fraction of the ones she rented!
We did rent the chair though. 
And by the way, mom antiqued all of the vases herself with a can of spray paint, and ordered all of the flowers from Bloom's By the Box, saving a ton of money!  They turned out gorgeous!
I wish I had a better picture of the card tables, (all tables provided by the facility by the way), but they just have a simple white table cloth, with a square piece of vintage fabric from goodwill, then they have a doily, and a tea cup set, also from goodwill, with a tea light candle inside. As simple as our table settings were, they were perfect. 
 As for the cake, we went to the local college bakery at Sullivan University, and they by far had the best deals. Everywhere, I mean everywhere else in Louisville is charging 3$ per slice of cake or per cup cake now, but the bakery at Sullivan was the one place where the cupcakes were 1.50$ per cupcake. Quite a deal. We bought the stand and transported them ourselves though. We had Strawberry, Marble, and Red Velvet cupcakes. The topper is for us to save. But the caterer threw in a cake for us to cut and it was so delicious! We were greatful! We used a caterer from a small not so well known up and coming business in Louisville, called the Plump Peacock Bakery, and the chef, Liz was just amazing. We found her right in the nick of time and she made us some wonderful high tea inspired finger foods. I have to say though that is the most expensive thing we bought for the wedding. 
 We decided we needed a kids activity, and so the little tuxedo boxes mom found on sale somewhere, and she decided to use them for the kids crayons, and she made a wonderful I-Spy game for the kids below! The kids had a blast!
 Another example of our simple and frugal decor, a small dish from goodwill, with tea lights.

 The location couldn't have been better, with the beautiful pergola, and courtyard, with ballroom just inside, it was perfect, and we were able to have both in the same location. 


The music!: Mom went to radioshack I think and spent 30 bucks on a brilliant audio system that came in two easy to transport, easy to set up pieces, and it filled the place! We used spotify premium for our playlists, I chose some pop songs played by a violin quartet, and everyone loved it. Then for the reception we had made a spotify station with 40's swing music and it was a hoot and a half!




 Our photobooth was a hit! Mom spent the night before the wedding making a paper moon, and I found a bunch of hats at the peddlers mall, plus we had some cut out shapes on sticks, and everyone looked wonderful! Even the people who didn't dress up for the wedding could look vintage in the photo's. 






Conclusion: You don't have to spend a ton of money to have your dream wedding, when there are much simpler ways of doing everything. It helps to choose a location that is already beautiful though so that you only need some accents, and you will over all spend less. Don't be afraid to hit the junk stores! They are full of marvelous treasures. Think outside the box when it comes to keeping smiles on peoples faces! Our little photo booth, and I-spy game kept everyone happy! Plus we had croquet, but no one seemed to play, and it was over before we knew it, but it was great fun and definitely the best day of my life! I hope my tips will help another bride with their dream wedding!


Sincerely
Mrs. Gerlach


4 comments:

  1. Sound system was Bose L1 here: http://www.doowopmusicshop.com/Wedding-and-Reception-Rental-Headquarters_c80.htm;jsessionid=FEFD93088BE52E3AE9F161E602CE5C52.m1plqscsfapp04

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  2. https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-50-best-swing-songs-ever/id722195262

    the music!!

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  3. Yes you are right that the selection of a venue that is already beautiful could save loads of money that you spend on decorations. I also need to rent a space for an event and would definitely follow your guidelines to save my money!

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  4. I am glad that I could help! Thanks so much! Good luck on your wedding, I am sure it will be beautiful!

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