“We were inspired by the ‘no care’ attitude & ‘just have fun’ vibe of the 1920s,” explained Charlene & Rommel. “We both loved the story of The Great Gatsby, and how carefree everyone seemed whenever they’d go to one of Gatsby’s parties. We wanted to create that kind of laid-back, fun atmosphere for our wedding.”
The couple were married at The Dunsmuir Historic Estate in CA. “It was more like a park rather than a hotel banquet hall so it fit the bill perfectly and allowed us to have a more casual feel for our wedding. We encouraged people to just be comfortable; even to sit on the grass on picnic blankets. For our giveaway/dessert table, we wanted people to take home things they might actually want and use, and as far as we know, nobody minded free sodas, cookies, candies and coffee grinds!”
Charlene looked every bit the 1920’s glamour goddess in her Sue Wong dress, which she found on eBay. The groom and his groomsmen got right into the theme too with their 1920’s gangster-inspired look. Rommel explained, “My main inspiration came from Brian De Palma’s “The Untouchables.” I have always adored how dressed up people in the 1920’s and 1930’s were. Even if you were poor, you still looked pretty stylish!”
“Men wore those wool pants or slacks… the vests… the button-down collared shirts… they all just looked so well put-together, and they didn’t really even have to match or anything. We both really liked one of the villain’s all-white suits, so I wanted to go that route since I was trying to dress for my wedding. After lots of looking at 1920’s and 1930’s suits online, we noticed that suit styles haven’t changed all that much since then, so we figured it’d be a safe (not to mention easy!) bet for the groomsmen and I to just get our stuff at Men’s Wearhouse. To make all the groomsmen fit the theme, we just bought them all these black newsboy hats and I wore the standard-issue black suspenders from Men’s Wearhouse as well as the fedora I bought from The Original Stetson(they had the cheapest price I could find). I also opted for the black and white Spectator Shoe, since a similar style was seen in the movie as well.”
Finally, can I just share a lot of love for their amazing paper flowers! Inspired by a post they saw on Wire & Paper, the couple asked her to create the bouquet and boutineers and then they crafted their centrepieces based on her designs, from recycled paper. Just amazing!
Big Love to Charlene & Rommel and their photographer’s Kim & Phil for sharing this gorgeous wedding with us today
