My Super Awesome and Unique Automotive themed wedding reception!

When my husband proposed marriage in 2017, the hardest part in deciding on what kind of wedding we wanted to have was figuring out our guest list. When we realized that we would be having a rather large gathering and traditional reception, we knew we wanted it to be easy for us as well as fun. Matt made one joke about burlap and lace and my face immediately revealed that our wedding would have none of that. Instead, I looked to the sizeable collection of model cars in our living room and said, “These are our decorations.”

 It may have seemed odd to anybody who didn’t know me, but I like to do things my own way. I will follow traditions, but add a something unique to make whatever it is mine. In this case, I chose a less than traditional wedding reception theme, reminded myself to K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid.), and to really focus on what makes Matt and I such a strong pairing. Then we jumped into planning and preparations.

 I shared some ideas with Matt for decorations and things that I wanted to make. He made them happen. Any time I came across an item that was considered a standard amenity that we needed to figure out, we went back to our theme and brainstormed together. It was a ton of fun to plan my wedding to my best friend and companion, with my best friend and companion. You really want your guy to help out, pick something he’ll get excited about! (Kind of kidding, but it’s true!)

 Some of the big items we made include the three-tiered cake stand and the single tiered stands with pistons and rods for legs. These were my brain-child and Matt’s masterpieces. Matt’s Grandma let us borrow the grille from the Ford Model A in her shed, which I carefully crafted into our dinner menu. I had a small toolbox dressed up for cards. There was an empty tool box with paper that had wrenches on them, so that guests could “Give us the ‘Tools’ to a Happy Marriage!” We built a wooden “Tailgate” that we affixed a spare classic FORD truck emblem to so that guests could sign this as our guest-book.

 Matt also collected some spare scrap parts over a few months and we created a handful of candle-holders and interesting centerpieces with them. We also made flowers from valve stems and worn turbo wheels that we placed on the interactive tables. I also got on e-bay and acquired over 250 hot wheels, matchbox and other small cars for a low overall cost. We placed these cars at every table. The best part was seeing the kids respond to them and play with them throughout the reception.

 We had all sorts of cars pictured on the walls, and car parts everywhere. We even made drainable tubs from old racing slicks for the drinks! I found wrench shaped bottle openers and even had tiny wrenches in the boutonnieres! My dream Corvette dangled from my bouquet. My shoes were even cars! Matt’s wedding ring is made to look like a piston, and has a black diamond above the rings (which he is not obligated to wear at any point because it’s dangerous in his line of work). I even planned the music and the reception to go with the theme. Serapes on the hay bales and good old classic tunes that take one back to the American automobile era. Chuck Barry, Louis Armstrong, and Elvis: you get the idea.

 We had so much fun and our guests loved it. And I genuinely mean it when I say that the kids of all of our friends and family made our theme that much more fun. Their faces and intrigue at the cars everywhere was priceless. We announced after toasts that everyone was welcome to a matchbox sized car and then we watched as the adults quickly claimed a car too! Everything was wrapped up before 9 PM. It was wonderful. Check out some of the pictures I’ve included. And yes! I chose a non-white gown and married that skinny guy you just can’t believe works on heavy machinery. ;)