Rachel and Ryan’s wedding was a unique celebration that focused on analogue elements in a world dominated by technology. The couple filled a former YMCA with physical music, photography, homemade quilts, vintage Valentines, and a coffee bar.
Guests arrived an hour before the ceremony for coffee from Slow Hurry Coffee, where Rachel and Ryan had worked with owner Kaylie to create two custom drinks for the day. The coffee cart stayed open through cocktail hour, providing sober guests with an alternative to mocktails and soft drinks.
The Ceremony
The ceremony took place in the hotel’s ballroom and was led by Ryan’s aunt, certified Life Celebrant Irene Kane. Rachel and Ryan walked down the aisle with their parents and had decided against a wedding party, instead spending the morning together and taking their couple portraits before guests arrived.
Their photographer, Nellie Bradford, shot the entire day on both film and digital, using 35mm, medium format, and Polaroid, while the wedding film was captured on Super 8. This was a dream come true for Rachel, who had always wanted to have her wedding filmed on Super 8.
The couple brought photography into the ceremony, taking turns photographing each other with Rachel’s Canon AE-1 before exchanging their vows. The resulting images captured what each of them saw in the seconds before they said “I do.”
The Reception
After the ceremony, an original built-in divider opened to reveal the bar and food on the other side of the ballroom. The floral ceremony backdrop was then turned into a portrait station, where around 90% of the guests stopped for a professional photograph during cocktail hour.
The reception was held in the hotel’s original gymnasium, which already had a 1970s school dance vibe with its wooden floor, high rafters, and disco ball. Rachel and Ryan pushed this theme further with soul, disco, and all-vinyl DJ sets from friends.
“We collaborated with DJs who are great friends of ours, and specialise in spinning all vinyl sets”, they said, “All of the music that was played was from the 1950s to 1980s except for one Outkast song towards the end of the night. Disco and soul were the prominent themes of the night.”
Related Post: Couple restages wedding photos for better results
Rachel also edited over six hours of footage from programs like Soul Train, The Cher Show, and The Ed Sullivan Show, which was projected onto the gymnasium wall behind the DJ booth.
The analogue theme carried through the details Rachel and Ryan made and collected, including handmade quilts, vintage Valentines, and a refurbished print vending machine that dispensed unique prints representing their relationship and lives together.
As they looked back on their wedding planning experience, Rachel and Ryan noted that working with independent businesses gave the day much of its character, but also required a significant amount of time and energy to coordinate.
They had created a 20-page zine for the wedding programme, introducing both sides of the family and including spreads about their parents, poems, and their pets. For the guest book, they used a 2026 calendar and asked everyone to leave a message on their birthday.
Dinner was served as a buffet, which helped keep costs down, and dessert came from Piebird, a Pittsburgh business the couple knew through farmers’ markets and pop-ups. Sheet-pan pies were served instead of wedding cake, and the couple was able to spend the whole cocktail hour with their guests, rather than disappearing for photographs.
Rachel had taught herself how to quilt and created two patchwork quilts, one of which hung in the stairwell leading to the ceremony space and said R + R.
Guests were provided with quarters to use in the vending machine, and they were encouraged to take a few prints as mementos of the day.
Personal Touches
Rachel and Ryan also thrifted vintage Valentines that were placed on the cocktail hour tables and throughout the guest tables in the gymnasium for the reception. This was a special nod to Ryan’s birthday, which is on Valentine’s Day.
