Weddingbee Blog

Alternative title to this mini series of posts: My Big Fat Eclectic Wedding.

So, I’ve talked about our colors and our venue, but I haven’t shared much in the way of our plan for decorating our reception space. Part of this is because ’my plan’ has evolved and continues to do so as we are making some of our final plans. But one thing I’ve known for certain is that I will be using a plethora of antique, vintage, and pre-loved items to decorate our space. Why did I know this for sure? Well, this is my dad’s house (also where I grew up):

The swans aren’t old, but I find them oddly charming

So many crooked pictures, oops.

And there are other buildings full (literally) of this type of stuff at my disposal (with Papa Pony’s permission of course). I grew up surrounded by antique furniture and collectibles that our family bought, fixed, sold, and collected for over twenty years. Papa Pony’s passion is primarily in primatives (say that 5 times fast), so he has had that painted, peeling, rustic furniture-randomly-sitting-in-a-field look mastered for many years.

Photo by Krista Mason / Event design by A Stunning Affair / Flowers by Peony & Plum Floral Design / Via Green Wedding Shoes

Despite my youthful resistance, I eventually learned to appreciate the history and life of antiques and I’m looking forward to including many in my future home with Mr. Pony and at our wedding. I figured that the easiest, most visible way to include old items would be to include them in our centerpieces.

My first step was to look for some centerpiece inspiration that could translate into antique and vintage finds easily. These two following photos served as my inspiration from day one:

Martha Stewart Weddings

Photo by Justin Lee / Design and Succulents by Lollipop Events and Design / Via Once Wed

Knowing how expensive and sometimes fragile antiques can be, I set my sights on more budget and clumsy-friendly options. I decided to search out green vases to be the focus of our centerpieces, flanked by two milk glass containers to hold our succulents, and surrounded by a bunch of candles to emit a romantic glow. All of this (in my mind) would sit on top of an oval mirror you can buy from a craft store for super cheap. Armed with my lofty plan and 15 months to collect my things, I set our to slowly collect our wedding one piece at a time…

Did you collect things for your wedding? Were you inspired by anything from your childhood?