There are so many things that you can do with your wedding. There’s a lot more to it than just picking a dress for the bride, a suit for the groom, and food for the guests. A lot of couples decide that they’re going to start with a theme, and there are lots of paths you can take from there. You could base your idea on a particular country, period, colour or something else. One theme that’s particularly attractive is a vintage wedding, which often takes inspiration from the 1920s through to the 1960s. If you think a vintage wedding might be for you, use this guide to plan your perfect day.
Pick a Period
There’s no such time as “vintage”, so it helps to pick a period to focus on. There are lots of features you could include that will give you a generic old-fashioned feel, but if you want everything to come together it helps to focus your aims. Have you always loved the flapper girls of the 1920s or are you obsessed with the full skirts of the ’50s? Think about the books, movies and fashion that you like to start getting some inspiration. You might think about different countries too. Do you want something classically British, a bit of an American feel or something else altogether?
Stationery
One of the first things you’ll do is send out save-the-dates, invitations and RSVP cards to your guests. If you want to kick off the vintage theme right away, you can take the opportunity to have some beautifully-crafted stationery made. Try researching typefaces from your desired period, a swell as printing styles. You can look at old books, newspapers and magazines to get a feel for it. There are some fantastic examples of vintage invitations on the Paper Themes website, where you can see some quirky and stylish designs. You can continue the style at the wedding, with order-of-service programmes, placeholders and menu cards in the same designs.
Ceremony and Reception Venues
The way you decorate your choice of venue will be a significant part of the vintage feel of your wedding. The choice of venue isn’t quite as important, but you might want to find somewhere for the ceremony or reception that reflects your chosen period. Perhaps you could elect to have the reception in a 1940s town hall, for example, in the style of a tea dance. You could research food and drink from the time, and perhaps give them a more modern twist. For a classic British feel, you can’t go wrong with bunting as decoration, but you can look for more inspiration too.
Fashion
Of course, there’s the dress to think about too. You can try to find one that reflects the time you’ve chosen, or you could have one custom made. Don’t forget to address the groom’s outfit too, because tuxedos and suits aren’t all the same.
There’s a lot more detail to go into when you organize your wedding, but these are good starting points. If you ever need more inspiration, just look at the literature or other media from the time, or check out some other people’s wedding photos.
