50s Retro Brunch Wedding Ideas

Personally, I fell in love with this photoshoot as soon as I saw the mini waffle towers. Seriously, how perfect is that? I love the idea of presenting food underneath an apothecary jar! This shoot of real-life couple Tabitha and Cynthia was made possible by a list of ridiculously talented vendors, including Amanda Doublin, Sweet Emilia Jane, Sweets Indeed, Christa Rose Florals, and Lovey Bridal just to name a few. Thanks to such a great team for sharing your work with us! Be sure to check out model Tabitha’s aptly titled blog, Ms. Awesome, here.

From the stylist, Emilia: I have a soft spot in my heart for intimate at-home weddings of yore that usually took place morning or mid-day. Think of Father of the Bride… no, not with Steve Martin… the original with Elizabeth Taylor. They were on their way out the door for their honeymoon by dusk! I would love to see the mid-day wedding make a comeback. You’ll save oodles by just serving mimosas or a fun build-your-own bloody Mary bar instead of a full bar. Plus brunch food is the best – pancakes, waffles, donuts, loads of syrup! I could seriously eat brunch all day long. That is where the inspiration for this shoot first started.

But I didn’t want to create a shabby chic, pastel-hued brunch wedding… I wanted it to be a little rock ‘n roll and a lot of fun. We used a ’50s diner as inspiration and brought in bright colors like magenta, teal and coral. Gold tones brought a little elegance to the vintage doo-woppy decor. Sweets Indeed put together an amazing brunch table with mini-pancake and waffle stacks, french toast, donuts… it was all so delicious!

For a cheap decor element, I used loads of tissue paper for the fringe wall, confetti and the homemade popper favors. Head on over to Wal-mart after Easter (or any major holiday) and you can find packages of tissue paper in a every color for super cheap. And it doesn’t take that much at all to do a lot. My favorite element were the poppers that I made by cutting paper towel rolls into thirds, filling them with confetti + taffy and wrapping them up in paper. Super easy and super cute! Plus they really pop!

Christa Rose put a spin on the carnation… a poor flower that gets a bad reputation… by mixing various shades with craspedia. She even spray-painted the white carnations gold which looked really awesome! I loved the look of the carnation clusters in the more modern IKEA vases.

See Also

Chic & Colorful Rooftop Celebration in Houston

I know this might seem obvious to some people but a fast way to stay within budget is to stick to a small guest list. So many of the major elements – catering, rentals, flowers – are based on the number of guests or at least the number of tables. Keeping the guest count small will keep the bottom line small. We imagined an at-home wedding for about 35 people. Even though we created a tablescape, you wouldn’t even need to have set tables. Create little lounge areas with the already existing furniture and let people mingle and sit where they’d like. You’ll be able to spend more time with the people you love and have more money left over to splurge on something that is really important to you.

View more images from this shoot

Wedding Vendors (Los Angeles, CA):

Wedding photographer: Amanda Doublin / Wedding stylist: Sweet Emilia Jane / Desserts: Sweets Indeed / Wedding flowers: Christa Rose Florals / Wedding dresses and accessories: Lovey Bridal / Wedding Makeup and Hair: Faces of California / Models: Cynthia and Tabitha

Amanda Doublin, Sweet Emilia Jane, Sweets Indeed, Christa Rose Florals, and Lovey Bridal are members of Blue Label.