{Guest Post} Planning a Unique Vintage Wedding

Art Deco Gal’s Guide to Planning Your Unique Vintage Wedding 

Once upon a time, the ‘something old’ in that familiar wedding adage may have meant an inherited brooch sparkling on a shoe teamed up with a brand spanking new, budget-busting, blingtastic dress. More recently, a global trend has taken place with more stylish brides choosing to reject the shiny new and instead rediscover the charms of the past with a full-blown Vintage wedding theme. Vintage, it would seem, has become the new black, evoking the beauty and glamour of days gone by.

Photo by Simon Clubb

For me, styles of yesteryear offer a timeless elegance that some modern weddings would find hard to beat, so I decided to go vintage and opt out of a big fat white wedding.  I also felt hypocritical going traditional with my wedding; the virginal white dress, a veil covered face just weren’t me. Once we meet “the one”, are we suddenly expected to change our personalities and care about a big expensive ring, an even bigger white dress and spend a fortune because it’s our ‘big day’? 

Well, it would seem that we sistas are increasingly doing it for ourselves and turning towards alternatives – vintage weddings, arty, thrifty, personalized affairs,  DIY weddings, or a small service somewhere obscure, all seem to be exploding back into fashion. And going vintage could range anywhere from Rockabilly 50's to the Roaring 20's, Art Nouveau to Art Deco and everything in between!

Photo via One Wed

Whilst researching for my wedding, I did find myself combing through far too many cute, froufrou sites urging brides to spend the equivalent of a mortgage that seemed to dominate the wedding blogosphere. Thankfully, vintage wedding blogs are now appearing in droves, offering women a real alternative to the traditional budget busting white wedding. This can only be a positive move away from the traditional glossy magazine shoots, with the perfect decorations and reception, piling even more pressure on the bride. 

Here are some top tips for organizing your own budget vintage wedding that I discovered while planning my own celebration! Imperfections and all.

• Decide on a general theme and colours: Art Deco focuses on bold colours, strong outlines and geometric designs for example. This lends itself well to a striking motif for a wedding. The Fifties/Rockabilly styles call for lovely bright candy cane colours and cherry reds.

I love the Rockabilly boldness, the red pops and the hairstyles ROCK!

Photo via Sad Man's Tongue Rockabilly Bar & Bistro

• Pick your Location: Try to find a building from your time period, as it will act as a perfect backdrop for your wedding/reception. You could start by researching historical cinemas, cafes, restaurants, hotels or bars. It doesn’t have to be an expensive hotel or castle; sometimes there are little gems right under your nose! The right place will most likely still have internal architectural details from the period including designs on the walls and floors.

Union Train Station in Santa Monica, CA 

Photos via Ruffled Blog

• Design your Wedding Stationery: The wedding invitation sets the tone for your celebration, so you want it to be overtly linked to your vintage theme to prepare guests for the style of the actual event. You could select a simple invitation portraying signature designs of the era, or a single image of a person or people dressed glamorously in the clothes of the time.

A perfect example of classic an Art Nouveau wedding invitation suite.

Photo via Invitation Crush

• Be creative with decor- For my Art Deco wedding, I opted for a few relatively cheap decorations such as peacock feathers, mirrored vases, faux pearls, calla lilies, vintage handheld fans, paper parasols, old photographs of past family weddings in black and white supermarket frames and some retro champagne posters to name the tables, printed and laminated myself. Try vintage postcards or luggage labels as name tags.

Photo via WeddingBee

• Make a statement with your wedding cake: Use the cake to reflect your theme in an unmistakeable way. To save money, I would avoid going to an official wedding cake shop and go it alone;  t can be so much fun! You could simply buy or bake some lovely cupcakes and then add a fabulous unique topper.  My husband and I love cheese and opted for a black and white tiered wedding cake made entirely of fine cheeses from Somerset in England. We decorated it with peacock feathers and pearls and it was a real talking point, costing a fraction of the price of other cakes that had we had seen. Also look for period textiles or unique patterns of the times when choosing cake decoration.

An Art Deco Cheese Wedding Cake - classic!

Photo via Art Deco Gal

• Dress up! For a 20s style, look for drop waist wedding gowns with vibrant patterns or geometric designs. Designs can be sleeveless, have capped sleeves or long sleeves narrowing to the wrist for a slim fit. For that 30s look, at the end of the art deco period – women’s dresses were a bit more figure hugging, with a narrower waist but wider sleeves.

If your man wants to get into the spirit, he can wear a double-breasted suit with suspenders underneath! Also, a hat of some description is a must. If going for a 1950s style wedding, which is very popular – wear a short wedding dress (much cheaper too ☺) and groovy bright shoes – the possibilities are endless and your unique style can really shine through. Head pieces were very popular in the past, so go with a bird-cage veil, flowers in your hair or peacock feathers- a nice alternative to a princess tiara.  

Itching to get started? Why not create a wedding mood board? They can be a super useful thing to send to florists, photographers, the bridal party and you can make your own online at the Dessy Group website or on Pinterest. This is after all, your wedding, and not a fancy dress party. Make sure to include little touches that only you and your partner hold dear for this is what will make your special day unique. 

When planning our wedding, we decided to make it all about us, incorporating some old and new traditions that fit our Celtic heritage but also embraced my love of Art Deco. I wore a gold satin dress and a peacock feather headpiece. We drank whisky out of a Quaich during the ceremony and had a cake made entirely out of cheese. We served up bacon rolls at the evening Ceilidh dance, where the men looked great in kilts. I did not agree to obey my husband, we didn’t have traditional pretty candy favours – instead we donated money to a cancer charity. No top table; just lots of small, round, sociable tables. A small rebellion, but it was our rebellion nonetheless.

Photo via Art Deco Gal

My final thoughts; when planning your vintage wedding - stay true to your ideals, don’t worry about mixing elements of the past with modern things you love. Just remember your strength as an individual, your love as a couple and your priorities; it is your life and your choice after all.

Happy Planning!

Art Deco Gal

PS. You can find out more about Art Deco Gal on our Guest Blogger page. Also remember to Like us on FACEBOOK and follow us on TWITTER for all the latest good stuff!

Guest Blogger - Miss Aimee, An Engagement Tease

So Lovlies, I want to introduce to you to the newest member to the deLovely family, a bride-to-be with sass, style and a vision all her own.  She and her sweetie are the very definition of modern day multicultural couple...they are young, cool, making their way in the world but also proud their background.  I am so excited that Miss Aimee has agreed to let us into her own wedding planning world...with all its ups and downs, joy, laughter and love.  She will be guest blogger her way to aisle and we couldn’t be more excited for her.  So without further adieu, I give you our very first Guest Blogger and a sneak peak at her out of this world engagement shoot...and seriously folks, check out those shoes....to literally die for...literally.

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Hey everyone, I’m Aimee and I’m a bride to be but even more than that I am someone who was lucky enough to find their soul mate. A wedding is just one day within the many days you are about to share with your significant other, something I pride myself in remembering each and every day. Beyond that I thrive on being a bit of a domesticated diva at home and strive to always life live as I wish as opposed to the “norm” of society. I love to do anything that allows my creativity and desire to be anything but cookie cutter shine through. I treasure life for exactly what it is and look toward the potential of the future. I believe giving back to others, is more important than being the one on the receiving end. I am lucky enough to have met the person who not only exudes those same values but is one of the most selfless, caring and amazing people I have ever met.

How did you meet? Believe it or not the actual spot we first met was demolished, Goodtimes Emporium, in Somerville and is slated to soon be an Ikea. It doesn’t hurt that we both love the Swedish home products company so we will surely be back for a nostalgic visit. It was a simple meeting of the minds (and an insatiable love for live music shows) that brought us to the once live music venue to see some local bands back in 2004. And the truth is I don't remember the bands but I do recall exactly how handsome Jason looked as he walked in that night and exactly how much my heart skipped a beat when we first spoke. And as they would say, the rest is history…

How did Jason propose? That little part I am going to keep a secret, but needless to say Jason organized a little thing in my favorite little spot and of course I said yes...nuff said. Over the 7 yrs together, we have prided ourselves in being anything but the norm. When you see what others are doing, why want to be like them? Take a hold of your own life’s reigns and dare to be different! At a young age we all grow up seeing the movies where the man scatters rose petals, there is champagne and maybe some violin music rolling over the credits to some that may be romantic but to me it’s just ordinary. One of the things I love most about myself, my fiancé and my relationship is we have never been another carbon copy of what a couple is and neither was our engagement. I will say that it was something so very “us” without all of the fluff that countless couples before us have done. It was unique, original and completely encompassed the past 7 years we have been together.

Tell us about your engagement shoot: Our photographer is the amazing Nikki Lanoue. She was not only professional but a complete joy to work with. It's great to have someone working with you who not only understands your concept but has a true excitement for your vision. The shoot was basically a culmination of everything we encompass. We love to be different yet take inpisration from those before us who not only did it their own way but did what made them happy regardless of society. James Dean, Rita Hayworth, Elvis Presley, Veronica Lake were people who exuded such amazing style, confidence and originality, we had no choice but to gather our shoot inspiration from a retro point of view. We are both truly old souls who find these eras not only exciting and inspiring but truly capture the simple essence of what mattered in life, the people and the feeling. I mean just look back at those amazing Hollywood kisses many stars shared, pure passion.

So with all that, I am looking forward to keeping people on their toes. I am excited to be as non-blue print wedding as possible. For me it’s one day before the rest of your days together, so why not make it entirely original? If I’ve seen it done before, I don’t want to do it-creativity is key! And I can't wait to share it with you!

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Stay tuned because over the next week we will be featuring more of Aimee and Jason's engagement shoot! I can't wait!  You can also check our her blog When Me Becomes We , where she chronicles her life with Jason as a couple, their two story fixer upper, and what it is really like to become a WE. Not to be missed, I promise!

If you could be born into any era, which one would it be?

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Have a deLicious day!