Being a vintage junkie I couldn’t be more happy that vintage inspirations in wedding and event design seem to be here to stay! One of the more recent vintage elements that can be seen throughout weddings today are vintage furniture pieces. While some people may be collectors or have pieces that they can borrow from a friend or family member, others may see a small desk that features favors or a rustic farm table for a dessert buffet or a fun vintage sofa perfect for their pictures that they dream of creating but don’t know how to go about finding these key pieces.
Thanks to this trend, vintage rental companies are starting to pop up to meet the demand of brides wanting one of a kind pieces and props that will add unique interest to their big day. I recently started my own vintage furniture and farm table business based out of Oregon. My business was inspired by how I felt when my husband and I were planning our Golden Era wedding. There were so many pieces that I wanted for our wedding decor, but it simply wasn’t in the budget to buy these furniture pieces when I would only be needing them for one day.
Vintage furniture rental companies offer options that the regular event rental companies don’t. Whether it’s a velvet couch perfect for photo ops before the wedding, a lounge area for guests, a photo wall, or the perfect dessert table, vintage furniture can really help to showcase a couple’s style.
Simply having the option of using rustic farm tables rather than fold-up tables that you would normally rent offers much more of a natural and intimate feel. The best part of all is that you don’t have to invest in scouting out and purchasing antique and vintage furniture pieces, you can just rent them for the day!
All furniture from A & B Creative rental line and all photography by Tara Leigh.
Rebekah is a DIY obsessed, wedding and event design wizard who loves hunting her bay area homeland for clever craft ideas, vintage gems, bargain buys, new pieces for her vintage rental line and blogging inspiration. She and her husband live and write in Oakland. Read herblog.
I wanted to get married at the beach (I believe all important events in a person’s life should occur under the open sky), but not on the beach. My favorite color is blue and I love peacock feathers and the 1920s. He likes the color green, fedoras, and not making his groomsmen wear Zoot suits. We had to have red and gold (traditionally important wedding colors for his culture), red and white living flower garlands exchanged during our vows, and a lot of Smashing Pumpkins and Foo Fighters songs played throughout the wedding. I walked down the aisle to Smashing Pumpkins “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness” and our first dance was to Foo Fighters “Everlong.” 
Nearly everything possible was obtained via Etsy. I love handmade things and wanted to support that. I gathered all the brooches and earrings and pins that I’ve obtained over the years, family heirlooms and otherwise, and sent them to my florist to make a gorgeous brooch bouquet. Our tables were named after famous people from history like Dali, Bergman, Gable, Fitzgerald, and Hemingway. 
The head tables were Daisy and Gatsby. We played with our awesome dog Jack (who we forced into a tiny tuxedo) throughout the night. And there were moments where I cried or laughed and the photographers managed to catch me looking pretty regardless. And of course, long after the professional photographers had departed, came the moment at 2:00 a.m. when the bride and groom went NIGHT SWIMMING!
Tell us about the ceremony: We had our sisters read selections from The Prophet by Khalil Gibran, specifically excerpts from “On Love” and from “On Marriage.” We had our hands blessed during a traditional Apache hand blessing reading. We exchanged traditional Nepali flower garlands alongside our rings of precious metal. We read our own vows to one another and there wasn’t a dry eye in the whole audience. And I walked down the aisle to Smashing Pumpkins, and our recessional music was Anberlin’s punk cover of “Enjoy the Silence.”
Our biggest challenge: Trying to fuse so many ideas into a single cohesive theme was essentially impossible. How does one put red, gold, green and richness into an April beach wedding without getting unwanted Christmas vibes? How does one do beach, vintage, Eastern, and semi-formal all at once? In the end we just trusted our instincts and knew it would be beautiful no matter what. (Also, we added TEAL to the colors, and Ta-Da — no more Christmas — it was now “jewel tones”!)
My favorite moment: I think the most meaningful moments of our wedding occurred during the Nepali parts. I wore a gold wedding gown, since white is traditionally a color of mourning in the Nepali culture. Also, I had Mehendi (traditional Bridal Henna) applied to my hands and feet for the wedding, and during the reception we had a traditional Nepali ceremony wherein I became a bride. 
Kris applied three pinches of the red ochre powder, Sindoor, to my hairline, and I blessed his feet with my henna-stained hands. In that moment I joined his family. I’m still proud of myself for maintaining composure (mostly!) during that ceremony. I was so moved by their overwhelming acceptance of me into the Nepali fold.
Was there anything you were sure was going to be a total disaster that unexpectedly turned out great? Originally the Nepali ceremony was meant to take place during the actual wedding ceremony. But at that moment during the ceremony we looked around and Kris’s Nepali family were nowhere to be seen! 
So we moved past it and continued with the next part of the ceremony. Nobody even noticed. Then during the reception his family was ready and we did the whole Nepali ceremony during the reception right on the dance floor. It was so much better that way since everyone had a great view. I can’t believe we lucked into the perfect way to have that ceremony — by accident!
My advice for offbeat brides: I’m sure there were parts of my wedding where my family or friends were befuddled by our choices but everyone was so overwhelmingly positive that it didn’t matter one bit. Be brave! People might be surprised by your wedding but nobody will say anything bad about it to you, so who cares?
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Friends were invaluable in making sure we pulled off the decadent Old Hollywood feel with the infusion of “geek” we were going for on our modest budget. We set the stage with our comic invites (with guest appearances by Link and Zelda, Kanye West, Admiral Ackbar and Shoop de Woop) that were drawn by a friend as a gift. 
Another friend baked our cake which actually looked like cake, which was all kinds of peanut butter and chocolate amazing! 
My funniest moment: During our vows, my five-year-old decided that it was taking too long and demanded, “Just kiss already!” 
Was there anything you were sure was going to be a total disaster that unexpectedly turned out great? The light saber duel had potential for distaster due to the narrow aisle. We were afraid one of the bridal party would end up in the fireplace, but our practice paid off and I loved seeing the photos of all the amused faces.
My advice for offbeat brides: I talked about the details of the wedding to every vendor I encountered. Most of them were so intrigued by the offbeat details that they really went above and beyond to accommodate what we wanted and what we could afford. (Tip: light sabers make people smile!) 
Go with the flow. I had originally hired an Etsy vendor to do six bouquets as my big splurge. Despite all the rave reviews and beautiful pictures, two weeks before the wedding I still had nothing except a photo of something my daughter could have made. I pouted for a bit, and then I dug down deep and found my inner crafter. I ended up really enjoying making the bouquets and the matching boutteneires. I customized each one for the girl that would be carrying it and added a special brooch to each from my own collection.
Have you been married before and if so, what did you do differently? I have been married before. This time around we focused on what we wanted and discarded the rest. The finances were both a burden and a freedom. Since we paid for it all ourselves, we didn’t have to justify any of our choices.
What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding? I should have slept a little more the night before and drank a little less! After all the planning, just try to relax and enjoy the moments of the day. It goes by so fast and, just under two months later, all the details are a little fuzzy.
Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?
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