1920s Inspired Knoxville Wedding

This bride and I have something in common — we both have a soft spot for Art Deco and the 1920s. Something about this era seems so consistently elegant and opulent, and Dixie Pixel Photography nailed that very something in her photos from Adrienne and Will’s wedding. You’ll be swooning as soon as you see her portraits of the bride, which masterfully mix modern photography with vintage styling and technique.

From the bride, Adrienne: I loved the beauty, elegance and carefree feeling of the Art Deco era. We chose an old Catholic church that was built in 1926 for the ceremony. For our reception venue we chose The Emporium, a non profit are gallery in downtown Knoxville. The building itself was built in 1898 and was perfect for our theme. I chose to have my wedding dress made by Colleen Moore with White Orchid Bridal. Having my dress made was such a special and amazing process. It was so wonderful getting to meet with her to discuss ideas and to watch the dress come to life with each fitting. She also embellished my bridesmaids’ dresses to create a more cohesive look. Fourth Year Studio created the perfect invitation to portray the classic, elegant look of our upcoming wedding. Our caterer, Chef Mark Wischhusen, researched old menus from places like the Waldorf Astoria, The Stork Club and The Plaza on Central Park as inspiration for the menu. It was common to serve a “herbal drink” to aid the digestion of an upcoming meal. Chef Mark took that idea and put a modern twist on it by serving a ginger infused margarita. We also chose to have Pavlova for our wedding cake.

Will’s family has New Zealand heritage and I grew up dancing ballet. The desert was named after the famous ballerina Anna Pavlova when she toured the country in 1926 and it is one of our favorite desserts. We also served New Zealand sauvignon blanc as one of our wines and used New Zealand lamb on our menu. When I was little my father and I loved going to yard sales. One time when I was about 7, I found this small straight pin with a funny little bird on it. My dad told me it was a kiwi bird and he bought it for me. I still had it and had it with me on my wedding day.

I wanted the wedding to be clean and bright. My colors were champagne and other metallics. I used touches of orange-red in my flowers for a pop of color. I wanted people to know the significance of why we chose certain menu idems, so even though we had a buffet I had menus at each place setting that talked about some of the history and importance of our selections. I had purchased different art deco and some art nouveau postcards online. Some were old advertisements for food, fashion, and travel and some were just pictures of people or historical events of that time. I used the postcards as the cover to my menus. I wanted more texture on the table and it was really hard to find art deco fabric or paper that I liked. I ended up finding specialty wallpaper with an art deco print that I cut and placed on the table. And then we come to my stars… I loved the idea of hanging star lights and I found some plain 9 pointed ones online. So then I began to bedazzle them…. and bedazzle them… and bedazzle them some more. I mixed 4 different kinds of glitter together to get the right look and hung smaller stars and beads from them. They were absolutely the most time consumes venture of the whole wedding but I was very happy with how they turned out. I gave extra beads to my florist to hang off the centerpieces to help tie in the look. Colleen Moore with White Orchid Bridal had a giant crescent moon that she let me borrow for the reception. One of my bridesmaids painted it and one of the groomsmen made and stand for it.

See Also

Art Nouveau Elopement At A Historic Bank Wedding Venue

Any advice for couples planning their weddings now? You’re going to fight about the wedding. It’s ok, it doesn’t mean that your marriage is going to be a failure! And enjoy it! You are hopefully not going to ever do this again so enjoy every moment. If you can afford it, get a wedding planner. Get a good photographer!! Your photos will be one of the few things from that day that will last forever.

Wedding Music:
Bride’s Processional: “La Vie En Rose,” Edith Piaf
First Dance: “Young and Beautiful,” Lana Del Rey
Mother/Son, Father/Daughter Dance: “Pure Imagination,” Gene Wilder
Bouquet Toss: “Love is a Battlefield,” Pat Benatar
Garter Toss: “Gold Digger,” Kanye West
I chose to have a string trio for the ceremony music. My husband’s family is Methodist so I incorporated some old hymns for the mothers and the wedding party to walk down to. For the reception I downloaded original songs from the 1910s, 20’s, and 30’s and had our DJ play them during the cocktail/dinner hour and then transition into dance music when the time was right.

Wedding Location: Knoxville, TN / Photographer: Dixie Pixel Photography / Flowers: Floral Designs by Samuel / Ceremony Venue: Holy Ghost Catholic Church / Reception Venue: The Emporium Center / Wedding Dress, Hair Piece, Veil, Earrings: White Orchid Bridal / Groom’s Suit: Suit Supply / Wedding Caterer: Mark Wischhusen Catering / Wedding Cake: Rosa’s Catering / DJ: Jim Ogle of Ogle Entertainment / Wedding Invitations: Fourth Year Studio