This garden wedding, at Greenville Country Club, has just the right balance of traditional elegance and vintage charm. A 100-year-old lace gown with ribbon sash. Soft roses in antique silver tea kettles. It’s the perfect design of old meets new, and thanks to MK Photography, it’s all sitting pretty right here.
Our table numbers were maps of places Connor and I have traveled to or lived in together – like Crested Butte, CO (where we lived during summers in college); Burgundy, France (where we went on a cycling/wine drinking tour); and Philadelphia, PA (where we bought our first home). The flowers were set into vintage family silver pieces.
It was fun to see my grandmother’s cocktail shaker on one table and Connor’s grandmother’s tea set on another. It reminded us that the wedding wasn’t only about us, it was also the joining of two wonderful families together.
We had a display set up on the piano with pictures of everyone who had worn the dress before me – my great-great-aunt Margaret, my great-aunt Sissie, my aunt Trish, my mom and a picture of me too. My mom also had a small book made detailing the history of the dress that our guests could read. It was pretty amazing that the dress has survived so long so we wanted to highlight that. I wore a vintage wedding dress that my great-great-aunt Margaret Costello made in 1906. She was an apprentice for a Parisian designer in Philadelphia, and she imported the lace from France and sewed it together herself. The dress was passed down through the family – I was the fifth person to be married in it! When the dress was originally sewn, it had long sleeves and a large collar around the neck. By the time my mom wore it, the sleeves had been shortened and she added a piece of ribbon around the waist.
The most memorable moment from my wedding day was probably the exchange of rings. The jeweler had recommended that we size the rings up to be sure they would slide on easily the day of the wedding, but I wanted it to fit snugly (I have a tendency to lose rings easily). When Connor went to put the ring on me, I could see in his eyes he was afraid it wouldn’t fit – but it went on fine, and he gave a Tiger Woods-esque celebratory gesture with a loud ‘Yes!’ Everybody laughed, and it brought lightheartedness to the whole ceremony.
Photography: mkPhotography | Floral Design: Sweet Peas Of Jennersville | Hair And Makeup: Salon 828 | Venue: Greenville Country Club | First Dance: "Just The Way You Are" By Billy Joel | Music: CTO Dance Bands