After the Vows | A Union Station Bride

After the Vows returns this week with an elegant vintage wedding at Union Station Hotel. Jill and Logan Hartline were married in January and they have plenty of great advice to share with you, especially about hiring a planner! Something unique about this wedding was that Jill did all of her own invitations and stationery through her business, Lemon Tree Paper Co. Her creativity and style shine through all her wedding details.

Number of people at your wedding: 375

Wedding Colors: I didn't have colors.. my bridesmaids wore black lace and my flowers were grey, cream, and black (berries). Our "colors" were just vintage tones.

How long was your planning process: I was engaged for 10 months, but I procrastinated and planned the whole wedding in about six or seven.

Time of year of wedding: 7pm. In January. It felt like midnight, haha!

Did you use a planner? I did not but I had a friend coordinate day-of stuff. Not hiring a planner was a huge regret of mine.

Jill & Logan from Jake Morgan on Vimeo.

What vendor went above and beyond for you?

My two favorite vendors I worked with were The Bride Room for my dress and Justin Wright for my photography. The Bride Room makes every bride feel like royalty, and treats your dress like gold. I also got my jewelry and veil there, which was a wonderful experience. Justin is a good friend so we loved working with him, and he always does an impeccable job from start to finish.

Where did you find inspiration for your wedding?

A lot of my inspiration came from our venue. We fell in love with Union Station and had already wanted a 1940s vintage wedding, but Union Station helped us really envision what that looked like. I also poured over the Green Wedding Shoes and Wedding Chicks blogs.

Where did you find the vendors for your wedding?

I used a lot of family friends (cake, music, photography, catering, makeup/hair), but beyond that it was really word of mouth. I asked friends and family if they had any recommendations - that's where we found our florist and linens and such. Beyond that, I did A LOT of research. I was dead set on renting antique street lights for our reception and after literally a month of endless phone calls I FINALLY tracked some down.

Did you have a theme for your wedding?

Our theme was vintage, but not the rustic/organic vintage that probably comes to mind. We wanted our wedding to be formal and elegant, but still incorporate Logan's love of history and my love of antiques. Union Station was the perfect ceremony venue for this. We love the elegant feel of the 1920s-1940s and even a little 50s, so we took ideas from that. For instance, my bridesmaids wore tea length black lace dresses with short black gloves. I wore a birdcage veil and mint green shoes... We used typewriters as guest books and packaged our invitations to give the feel of an old office memo or train ticket: string tie kraft envelopes, a perforated ticket at the bottom for parking, and tied with black waxed twine. We decorated the reception with vintage tins stuffed full of flowers, antique street lights, and string lights strung between the street lights. We put rice in kraft paper bags for our exit, gave bottled glass cokes as our favor (Logan LOVES Coca Cola), and left in a 50's Bentley. We also fell in love with how the snowy winter made everything feel a bit more formal. As a testament to our love of the early 1900s, we very much enjoyed reading The Great Gatsby together on our honeymoon in Cabo.

Looking back, is there anything about the planning process or wedding you would do differently?

HIRE A PLANNER. Oh my goodness, I don't know why I just assumed I wouldn't need one, but I wish I hired someone! There are so many details you don't think of (ie: I completely forgot to get a cake topper!) if you're trying to think of everything, so I would have definitely hired a wedding planner.

What was the best part of your wedding?

Although it was nuts, I'm so glad we invited everyone we knew (we sent invitations to 600 people). We had an epic dance party at the reception, and I've never felt so much love in one place at one time. We don't regret for a second inviting the entire town to watch us wed.

Do you have any advice for future brides?

Hire a planner, and don't stress about the little things. It goes by SO fast. You don't think it does when you're engaged, but BAM suddenly you're married and it's already almost been two years! Enjoy the preparation and planning, but just know that even if no one shows up, you will still marry your favorite person on earth, and it will still be your favorite day of your life. OH and get a pair of Hey Lady shoes. You'll get compliments all night long and your arches will love you!