Tattoo

Rennie & Joe are the coolest. The couple, who have known each other for 19 years and were first loves, still felt marriage was important to them even after all that time. “Most would think that it must be boring to marry after such a long time and that we might just be going through the motions,” Rennie told me. ”On the contrary, our decision to marry was not because we felt we “had to” – we decided to marry after all this time because we are more madly in love than ever and still best friends. We created our ceremony around our wishes to deepen our commitment to each other and profess our love in the presence of those who are most important to us.”

The couple both adore all things vintage and so they fashioned their wedding around this vibe, with an edge of Rock n Roll to suit their quirkly style. They did a lot of the wedding design themselves too. “Joe bought a nice suit and had the entire thing re-cut to look like a mod 1960′s suit,” continued the bride. ”I ended up making my dress from a vintage pattern, as well as three flower-girl dresses. We emptied flea market vendors of their milk-glass and record selections (don’t worry – we only chose the records that were too scuffed to play!!) to make the table decorations. It was a lot of work, but we loved all of it… it was wonderful to have so much control over our plans.”

“Joe was very good about participating in the plans – he definitely had a vision for the wedding. Our ‘get-away-car’ was a 1973 Norton Commando, which he spent the past two years restoring. Music was especially important to both of us – we had an incredible mix of soul, rock n’ roll, punk, old country (it is Nashville, after all) and reggae from our own personal record collection.”

“Joe and I walked down the aisle together – I’m close to my Dad, but at 30 years old, I am definitely my own woman. We chose Otis Redding’s “That’s How Strong My Love Is” because it has a lot of significance in our relationship. I would not have predicted myself to be a crier, but when we began our walk down the isle, I just bawled. In fact, about half of our guests cried tears of joy right along with me, so at least I wasn’t alone!”

“Because most of our guests came from several hundred miles away, I wanted to spend as much time with them as possible. With that in mind, we hired help for the perishable portion of the wedding. Our caterer took care of everyone (vegan, veggie and gluten-allergic guests) and our baker made unbelievable vegan & gluten-free cupcakes. The florist did a lovely job using locally grown, seasonal flowers.”

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