Who doesn’t love an old fashion wedding? You know the kind I mean. They are often held in the backyard of either the bride or groom, or a family or friend’s back yard. The bride wears white, sometimes her mother’s gown, sometimes one made for her by a friend. Often a vintage gown found after a lot of searching. Flowers are everywhere and the music is simple and heartfelt.
But even if this looks to many like a simple wedding, it takes planning to pull it off without a hitch. The weeks before the wedding will be spent in a flurry of planning, problem solving and negotiations. Even a simple thing like finding the sparklers for the evening reception, often by deciding to buy 10 inch sparklers here and ordering online, can be filled with drama. But there are some good reasons why the best planners still manage to pull it off.
Looking for Vintage
Today many wedding planners call this type of wedding, that harkens back to a past decade, a vintage wedding theme. We have all seen those unbelievable costumes in the films from the twenties and thirties and even during the war years in the forties. To take a page from a favorite era is a great way to create a timeless look for your wedding, and still feel connected to your own family’s past.
Start with some research into the era you plan to use. Society pages from old newspapers are a good place, as are fashion magazines from that time. Libraries have this sort of information on microfiche and so spending a bit of time looking through them can yield some great ideas. If you are looking at an era that either your parents or grandparents were wed, you might even want to recreate their own wedding if you have enough pictures from that time.
How Far to Go with Theme?
Of course, when you are looking at vintage wedding themes, the first question is just how far you want to take this theme. You could go the whole way, send out vintage styled invitations, plan the menu around food of the time and ask guests to honor the theme in their clothing. It helps if all your friends are into the same era you are, but it can be done.
The other route is to take some elements from the era, and blend it with modern wedding touches to make it uniquely your own. This tends to be easier on the guests as they can then plan to wear something a bit more contemporary for the wedding. The theme can be played in the wedding with music choices, the bride and grooms outfits and even some party touches at the reception tables. But it will let the guests off the hook for an extensive vintage shopping trip and encourage everyone to just let loose and enjoy themselves.
Venues and Themes
If you have your heart set on an old fashion wedding, then the setting will be a vital part of your plans. Start with places that call that era to mind, such as a city park for an urban pastoral or an old barn for a shabby-chic look. Take your time picking out the venue, you only get one chance to get married.
If you want to include vintage dresses and linens, the net is a great resource. You can source the elements you need through vintage networks online that will help you find not only the perfect vintage wedding dress, but every other element you need to make this day work the way you envisioned.
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