Mo & Chris wedding inspiration came from the 1940’s and the fact that Chris is an old Ska kid. The bride explained, “For our clothes we decided we wanted a vintage feel. Chris wanted to stay away from tuxedos and suits and being an old ska kid at heart he wanted to have a vintage swingers kind of style. He gave the groomsmen their flat caps as a gift, they all picked their own colors, and he wore a black fedora with a feather in it. He told them to get grey shirts and black pants. The suspenders were my favorite part.”
Mo wore a tea length dress with amazing purple shoes which actually set the colour scheme for the entire day! “My dress was actually from David’s Bridal and so were the bridesmaid dresses. I was really set on a tea length dress. I have this affinity for the corporate wedding money machine but didn’t want to buy my dress online. It all came down to convenience. My friends were all different body types and some live in other parts of the country so I wanted to make sure they could all pick styles that made them feel dead sexy. We got a discount on the bridesmaid dresses because I bought my dress there. My veil and feather hairpiece were also from David’s Bridal. The sales lady put them in my hair when I tried on my dress and it made my Mom cry so we got them. That was a smart sales lady.”
“My necklace and earrings were a gift from my Sister-in-law. My diamond tennis bracelet was my Grandmother’s. I have a big Irish Catholic family and it’s tradition for the women of our family to wear her bracelet at our weddings. My Aunt Mad loans it to us on the day of the wedding but there’s hell to pay if she doesn’t get it back afterwards! I pinned Chris’ Grandmother’s brooch to the bow on the back of my dress. The birdcage for the cards is another thing that gets passed around our family for weddings.”
The gorgeous silk ribbon fabric flowers came from JoeNet2 on etsy, “The seller, Annette, was great,” continued Mo. “I told her my ideas and she sent me an envelope filled with color swatches of ribbon for me to choose the colors from. She even threw in a free flower girl bouquet and boutonniere for Chris.”
The decor and reception ideas were all DIY’ed by the couple and their friends & family. Mo explained, “My Dad made his amazing meatballs and my Mom brought munchies for the cocktail hour. My Mom was a HUGE help in organizing set up the morning of the wedding. My Uncle Rich BBQs competitively and offered his BBQing skills as a wedding gift. He BBQed his delicious pulled pork and chicken. Aunt Terry pitched in and made the Baked Ziti with my Aunt Kathy. I surprised Chris with his favorite chocolate cake from Honey’s Sit N Eat. Friends of ours offered their catering skills to manage the potluck table and keep everything flowing. Another friend offered to bar-tend in exchange for a tip jar. We had our favorite Yards beer selections and handpicked the wine. My Aunt Pat donated the coffee and rolls as a wedding gift. My family loves to cook and so do many of my friends so I had no doubt the potluck would be awesome. The rest of the food for side dishes and desserts was all potluck from my guests. We gave them recipe cards with the invitations so we could build a wedding recipe box to keep.”
“Chris’ Mom handmade all the table runners and embroidered the napkin holders with our initials. She is crafter by profession so I gave her full reign to decorate the room any way she wanted. She lives in North Carolina so we worked for months over the phone to plan out what she wanted to do. She came up with the all the ideas for decorations. Mums are my favorite flowers because they bloom in the fall! Chris’ brother Bobby made origami birds of all different colors to hang above the fireplace. Apparently they had a hell of a time figuring out how to hang them that morning but I loved how it looked!”
Huge thanks to Mo & Chris and their photographers Carina & Amanda for sharing their wedding with us today
Photography Credit: Love Me Do Photography
Venue: Ridley Creek State Park in PA
Bride’s Dress & Veil: David’s Bridal
Bride’s Shoes: Endless Bridesmaid’s Dresses: David’s Bridal
Bridesmaid’s Faux Fur Stoles: eBay
Ribbon Flower Bouquet: JoeNet2 on etsy
Rings: Henry at Halloween
