Vintage Sixties LA Wedding

We’re kicking off the week with a charming and witty vintage wedding captured by Melissa of Fresh In Love Photography. Emily’s vintage wedding dress, veil and makeup evokes her perfectly adorable bridal Twiggy from the 1960s. The groom, James, designed their wedding stationery, from posters to invitations. If you think that was plenty of cute for a wedding, check out their pooch Oliver as the ring bearer. It may or may not have stolen the show.

James and I have known each other for 14 years, and although anyone close to us could have told you that we were a perfect match, it took 11 years for us to finally go from “just friends” to “couple”. James is originally from Tokyo and moved back for five years to go to art school. We always kept in touch, though, and it didn’t take too long after he moved back to the States for us to finally get together. The wait was worth it. We wanted our wedding to be a relaxed, warm, personal affair. We really wanted it to reflect our personalities and feel like a big party. We found the venue first and let the style go from there. We chose Los Angeles because we both love the city (I’m a born and raised Angeleno) and for a while we lived not far from the venue.

Things really came together after James designed the invitations. I have a pretty crafty family and spent a few days with some great ladies making the decorations. My mother had a giant basket of vintage lace she inherited from my late great aunt, and the pieces became a unifying design element. Our invites and the sign in board were inspired by our habit of leaving little drawings and notes on post-its for each other. Anyone who has been to our place has seen them randomly stuck all over the place. We didn’t have a bridal party, but we asked my brother to walk our dog down the aisle and stand up there for us. The photo booth was something we really wanted as well, we knew that we would get some great shots of friends and family, and it added a bit of fun to the reception.

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My advice for brides is to start small and let the inspiration go from there. Pick a fabric or one design element you really want to incorporate and things will blossom. Ask for help! People like to help and often have great ideas. I thought I could manage the whole thing but no one can. We didn’t get an event planner, but we did have someone coordinating the day, which was a tremendous help. You really won’t have time to oversee it all on the day of. Take time to pick the right venue, finding somewhere you really love makes all the difference. Pick a photographer whose work you love, too. The big day is such a blur that you won’t have time to really appreciate all the little details you worked so hard on, and seeing wonderful pictures after the fact feels amazing! Above all else, stay true to yourself and your idea of the perfect day. You will feel overwhelmed and stressed and worried but just remember that nothing that can go wrong can ruin the most important part, you are in love and getting married to someone who loves you! OH – and have fun!

View all photos from this wedding

Wedding Vendors (Los Angeles, California):

Wedding Venue: Huron Substation / Site Management: TACT Event Management / Valet: Jeffrey Valet / Rental: Party Unlimited / Photo Booth: Magnolia Photo Booth Co. / Caterer: Gus’s Barbecue / Vegetarian Catering: Auntie Em’s Kitchen / Bride’s Dress and Hat: Made by Mother of the Bride / Groom’s Suit: Thick as Thieves / Wedding Photographer: Fresh In Love Photography / Officiant: LA Wedding Woman / Vintage vases: eBay / Fabrics: Warm Biscuit Bedding Company / Invites: Designed by groom, printed at Indie Printing / Flowers: Purchased at L.A. Flower Mart, arranged by Aunt of Bride / Wedding Favors: Botanical Paperworks / Wedding dress: vintage / Makeup: Jayme Kavanaugh

Fresh In Love Photography is a member of Blue Label.