Sweet Tea and Linen aims to bring rustic design and a traditional touch to wedding planning in the Montgomery area.
The business is a warehouse filled with old-fashioned teakettles and antique chairs, said owner Carolyn Mills, a vintage wedding designer.
“A lot of my pieces belonged to my own grandparents and are things I have been seeing all my life,” Mills said. “Tradition is a big part of weddings to me. Even in the more modern weddings we have, [our clients] still want to bring in tradition.”
The business started as an interior design and remodeling service in 2008. After meeting a local wedding venue owner while selling custom linens at a Montgomery craft market, Mills switched her focus to wedding planning and decor rentals in 2013.
Today, Sweet Tea and Linen designs weddings and other events that appeal to clients who seek a vintage motif, Mills said. The business also offers event coordination, which involves managing vendors and festivities.
Mills has collected antique furniture and decorations over the years that are available for rent as well.
“I’m an interior designer by trade,” Mills said. “I have always sewn my own pillows and curtains and those sort of things for the homes I used to decorate.”
Mills said she no longer offers sewing as a primary service but will sew custom linens for special wedding items such as monograms. She said her interior design background influences her attention to scale and balance.
“I like to take an antique French piece and maybe pair it with an industrial piece,” she said. “I like to make things kind of funky and different but still cohesive.”
Mills said she often starts working with clients based on their Pinterest board selections.
“A lot of brides will want me to just do what is on the board, but I try to personalize it for them and tweak it just a little so that it’s theirs,” Mills said.
Other than witnessing the love and happiness the clients express at the weddings, Mills said working closely with her husband, John, and mother, Kathy Myers, is the biggest perk of her job.
“You are there for the most important day of their lives,” Mills said. “You take a bride’s idea and vision and make it a reality. Then to see the look on her face and have all her family and friends say how beautiful everything is—it’s pretty rewarding.”
15885 Hwy. 105, Ste. 3, Montgomery 281-513-8413 www.sweettea-andlinen.com Hours: Mon.-Sat. by appointment only
