Real Wedding: Catie + Ben’s Vintage Inspired Backyard Wedding

Today’s wedding is full of so many great details. Catie planned the whole wedding in 3 months with thanks to her wonderful family + friends for helping with the day. They managed to put together a pretty amazing day on a tight budget. Special thanks to photographer Dana Grant for letting me share this wedding with you guys. Catie was also sweet enough to share some details from the day.

From Catie, I started out with like a 1940’s theme because I love that music and era and then it sort of ended up just being everything that I love shoved into one backyard. I wanted it to have a backyard kind of cute bed and breakfast feel. It did have a lot of 1940’s themed things but it was subtle and I don’t think people knew the era. So, I guess I could call it a real vintage backyard wedding (most of the stuff really was old).

wedding invitations vintage

Catie and her mom designed her wedding dress, then Catie’s mom made it – wow! Her veil and flower in her hair were made by her cousin Hailey (who also made the cake). The bouquets + boutonnieres were by Emily Burton.

billy balls boutonniere

bridesmaids bouquets

Most memorable moment of your wedding day: Ben was soooo cute! When I came around the corner down the aisle I could see Ben standing on his tippy toes peeking over heads trying to see me. When I got to the front his eyes were all teary! Sooo cute! He later whispered in my ear that he about lost it when he saw me come around the corner. My favorite thing of the reception was playing the song “sisters” by Rosemary Clooney and having all my sisters and sister in laws dance. So much fun!

backyard wedding ceremony with old doors

backyard wedding old doors

vintage 1940's wedding

bride with birdcage veil and bouquet billy buttons

old windows wedding reception decoration

Love the hanging old windows! And also, such a great idea with the head table. If you love the idea of having lots of different vintage chairs for everyone, but can’t find enough chairs for all your guests, you can do what they did. Keep that for the head table, and the rest of the tables were simple white chairs – great idea to save on your budget!

backyard wedding reception vintage

vintage lamp shades wedding decoration

vintage soda bar wedding reception

All the amazing styling + decor was by Lettie Peterson, a friend of Catie’s, who also does that professionally. Catie’s brothers did a lot too. They painted and built the dance floor and they hung all the lights up.

wedding vintage reception decoration

wedding guestbook typewriter

vintage picture frames flowers wedding

Catie made the photo booth and was a total hit with the guests. She also plans to rent it out if you are interested. From Catie, I liked how cute it was and that it is real vintage with real vintage dress up clothes unlike some really cheesy ones I’ve seen.

photo booth wedding

wedding cake forks old doors decor

wedding wishes vintage lampshades

vintage clocks wedding table decor

The food was provided by Catie’s sister and a friend. Another friend made all the tarts + brownies and her younger sister did the creme brulee + cupcakes for the dessert bar.

wedding dessert table

wedding bike getaway

Any advice for those planning now?
I don’t know that I’m the person to give advice on this! My whole engagement was 3 months, with a very small budget in comparison with what the typical wedding costs. I spent the most money on the thing that was very most important to me which was photography. That was more than half my budget. The rest was all my friends and family.

Your friends and family did such an amazing job helping with everything – it really turned out beautifully. Thanks Catie for sharing your day and thanks so much to Dana Grant for letting me share this wedding with you guys. There were so many great details from this wedding and she will be posting on her blog.

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