Country Living

Ideas & Inspiration

Country Living

When faced with designing a wedding befitting a summer cottage on a wooded lake shore, event planner and designer Jayme Galanos of Beyond Elegant Events wanted to avoid the cliche of a nautical or woodsy theme. “We‘ve created a vintage wedding look that one might have seen at a summer cabin in the 1940s or 1950s,” she says. “The movie ‘Dirty Dancing’ was an inspiration, invoking a time where families would go to a cabin for a month or two in the summer to spend time together.”

Instead of heading to the rental shops, Galanos and floral designer Andrea Berto of Fleurishes headed to second-hand and antiques shops for ideas. “We really wanted to appeal to the couple who is all about their family and traditions,” says Galanos. “We’ve incorporated details like vintage linens that your grandmother might have in her closet and Depression glass that she might have collected.” The ultra-feminine theme—featuring pinks and soft greens with Depression-era collectibles—might not appeal to every couple, she admits, but it would certainly create a distinctive mood. “We chose the pinks because that was a very prominent color for that era and the greens for the fact that they are more organic and symbolize nature.”

Rather than renting all of the linens, Galanos chose a layered look and rented one or two base linens and then custom-made the topper, chair covers and napkins. She suggests brides hire a seamstress to create toppers and chair covers if time or skill doesn’t allow her to make her own. To save time, another option might be hunting for vintage tablecloths to serve as toppers, as well as tea towels to which ribbon ties can be added and then tied as simple chair back covers.

This look: An ode to mid-20th century design, the tabletop features pink depression glass plates found at various antiques shops atop china from A to Z Event Essentials, centerpiece by Fleurishes with locally grown English garden roses, ranunculus, saracenia, ferns and lamb’s ear, and hand-sewn vintage-inspired table topper linens and striped seat back covers with sage ribbon ties, paper products and overall design concept all by Beyond Elegant Events.

Flowers were kept whimsical and simple—primarily roses and ferns—to decorate the cake, tabletop and custom made birch cones hanging from trees. 

For this look, Galanos found flowered vintage paper, which she used as the basis for the programs, table number signs, seating cards and invitations. “If a bride wants to create a custom, yet cohesive look, she should find something that inspires her and then run with it.”