Modern Speakeasy Wedding Ideas

Oh me oh my, do we ever have a treat for all you readers today! Desiree Dawn Events and Shea Christine got together to create this styled shoot inspired by a modern speakeasy, with touches of herringbone and days of yore at every turn. We adore this elegant take on a couple who met in a bar over cocktails and decided to embrace their first meeting through an intimate, humble elopement. Not to mention all the incredible paper goods from Make Merry!

From the event designer, Desiree: I think what inspires me the most is looking at old photographs of weddings, fashion, and era-specific details. Then, what I love to do is find a way to make them new again. That being said, move over trendy Chevron pattern, it’s time for your bigger, bolder brother to make way into the wedding world: Herringbone. You can find this delicious pattern in a lot of menswear, especially suits with a 1920s nod. It was a feature in our paper goods from Make Merry! and carried out through our groom’s hat, lamp shades, his bow tie, and the beautiful handmade garland that graced their table.

For more prohibition era inspiration, I looked for elements that gave that, “we met at a bar and fell in love over cocktails” vibe. A modern speakeasy is what we came up with. Imagine seeing your lover for the first time on your wedding day as he presents you with a celebratory shot to get you ready for your big day! We asked the craftsmen behind Bar-Lab to come up with two old-fashioned cocktails with a modern twist. I love the whimsy of a groom’s shot being called a Floral Garden. More so, with old-fashioned weddings, you’d get married, have drinks and eat cake. So simple.

After a luscious portrait session and a short exchange of vows, the Mister and his Missus sat down at their vintage table with a very colorful and modern tables-cape. We used a combination of vintage rentals and mod rentals. The vintage cake cutter was made unique by ‘dipping’ the handle in copper paint, another one of our vintage DIY touches brought to life. Copper is such a swanky color, it gives you that shimmer that so many long for but still has a solid, industrial feel. We hand foiled the place card holders with copper and continued with that sparkle very subtly on the cake, in the flowers, and in our brides accessories.