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. ;)
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