A Pastel DIY Wedding
with Thrifted Decor

What started with a few vintage teacups soon turned into months of charity shop and car boot hunting for Aleshea and Stewart’s DIY wedding at The Marquee at Hurstwood, near Burnley.

Aleshea collected almost all of the decor herself, from candlesticks and old frames to suitcases, lace and enough mismatched china for their afternoon tea reception. The result was relaxed, personal and deliberately not too polished, with soft pastel flowers and plenty of quirky finds along the way.

And yes, at one point the collecting did involve bringing home a fireplace. Take a look at how it all came together

Photos throughout from Popsicle Photography

Modern Wedding Style with Pastel Details

Keeping it simple

Aleshea chose a simple, modern wedding dress from Ava Rose Hamilton, paired with a long veil and understated vintage style accessories. Her hair was styled into soft curls by Danielle Jade Hair Design & Beauty and she carried a beautiful bouquet of pastel toned flowers.

Against all the collected decor, keeping her own look simple was a deliberate choice.

“My dress was actually quite simple and modern, which worked really well against all the detailed vintage styling.”

Pastel Bridesmaids

The pastel colours started early, with the bridesmaids getting ready in different coloured gingham PJs before changing into dresses in soft shades of pink, blue, yellow, lilac and green.

It fitted Aleshea’s approach to the whole wedding: don’t get too hung up on everything matching.

“We used lots of different pastel colours, patterns, flowers and vintage pieces and it gave everything so much more character.”

Love pastels? Check out our blog: DIY Rainbow Pixel Wedding

Bring on the Boys

Stewart and his groomsmen kept things relaxed with white shirts, neutral trousers and brown braces. They added a bow tie and buttonhole, for the ceremony but kept open collars for the rest of the day.

A Personal Outdoor Wedding Ceremony

Aleshea and Stewart married outdoors at The Marquee at Hurstwood, with Naomi Koop playing violin as Aleshea walked down the aisle.

“I walked down the aisle to a Bridgerton-style violin version of One Day Like This, which felt romantic without being too traditional,” Alesha told us.

And they saved one of our favourite details for the walk back up the aisle.

“We walked back up the aisle to The Simpsons theme tune played live on violin. Our surname is Simpson, so it felt like the perfect little joke to finish the ceremony with.”

“We wanted the ceremony to feel romantic, but still very ‘us’, and hearing such a familiar, slightly silly tune played beautifully on the violin made everyone laugh. It summed up the whole day really: pretty, joyful and never taking itself too seriously.”

Thrifted DIY Wedding Decor

Aleshea’s DIY wedding decor was a labour of love, and, in her own words, possibly a mild obsession.

“I collected almost everything myself from charity shops, car boots and Facebook Marketplace. We had mismatched vintage china, lace tablecloths, gold candlesticks, bud vases, old books, mirrors, frames, suitcases, lampshades and even a vintage fireplace. Apparently once you’ve bought 60 teacups, bringing home a fireplace no longer feels unreasonable.”

“I loved finding pieces that were slightly chipped, worn or wonky. It made everything feel collected, personal and full of character rather than perfectly styled.”

A Vintage Tea Party Wedding Reception

For the reception, Aleshea finally got the afternoon tea wedding she’d always dreamed of. The tables were dressed with lace, vintage china, candlesticks, old books and small vases of pastel flowers, with framed table numbers amongst the afternoon tea stands.

“I’d always dreamed of having an afternoon tea wedding served on mismatched vintage crockery, with cocktails poured from teapots.”

Diane Collier Catering Services served afternoon tea instead of a traditional wedding breakfast, with sandwiches and a mix of sweet and savoury treats piled onto tiered stands. Guests had their own mismatched teacups and saucers, while cocktails were served from teapots.

Reusing the Wedding Decor

With so many collected pieces to set up, Aleshea brought in Tinglz Events and Decoration Hire, for on-the-day coordination and set-up. They helped bring all those individual finds together on the day.

The decor popped up in different parts of the wedding. The lace backdrop and chandelier from the outdoor ceremony appeared again behind the top table. Later, the lace backdrop became an outdoor photo area, surrounded by vintage frames and furniture.

It turns out Aleshea wasn’t quite ready to give up all that charity shop hunting once the wedding was over. She has since started Aisle and Attic, a wedding styling and prop hire business filled with the kind of vintage finds and mismatched pieces she collected for her own day.

Her final tip for anyone planning their own DIY wedding?

“Save yourself several months of trawling charity shops and hire the whole look from Aisle and Attic!”

Pizza, Ice Cream and Party

The afternoon tea wasn’t the end of the food. Aleshea and Stewart served pizza in the evening, along with a surprise visit from an ice cream van.

There were plenty of treats in between too, with jars of sweets filling a wooden stepladder and bags of crisps pegged onto a vintage-style stand. Even the wedding cake got its own piece of furniture, displayed on an old dressing table rather than a traditional cake table.

Then it was time to hit the dance floor.

Popsicle Photography captured everything from Aleshea’s carefully collected details to the laughter on the dance floor, alongside some gorgeous portraits of the newlyweds in the woodland. Their soft, natural style worked beautifully with the pastel colours throughout the day.