Why Have A Vintage Wedding?
The vintage ‘theme’ strikes up various likenesses to the early 1900’s. The images of these eras have inspired weddings with the vintage theme and have grown increasingly popular. This has much to owe to the gentle, romantic, bewitching and classic setting this theme offers – with the delicate, textured, laced and ‘dusty’ fabrics. The ‘antique look’ is elegant flows naturally, whilst still being simplistic, to create a more memorable ‘I do moment.’
With the rise of all-inclusive hotel wedding packages, it seems that many modern weddings are very predictable. There’s the ceremony, the champagne reception, the vintage photos, the wedding breakfast, speeches, cutting the cake, and a first dance… They even provide you with a master of ceremonies to announce each stage of the day as it progresses (watch out for the black-suited woman with her hair in a bun and a monotonic voice). Perhaps you’d like something different.
Enter the vintage wedding world!
In fashion and style, vintage is BIG. It’s eclectic, unique and most importantly, individual – exactly what you want for your wedding day, where it’s all about you.
How do you go about making your wedding vintage? Here’s a few ideas:
1. A Vintage Wedding Dress
If you’re opting for a vintage themed wedding – the bride’s wedding dress should be a portrayal of that. After all – the dress will set the day’s mood from the start. A vintage wedding dress recounts the allure and elegance that once was. Such a glamorous dress will embrace the natural and feminine, with soft colours and plenty of lace. Although you could have your own unique vintage dress made, you would get a much more genuine and sterling look from a real vintage dress, worn during the apex of this style.
It could be authentic, or an imitation of a vintage style from the 1920s – 1970s. Check out the vintage clothing boutiques near you, and there’s an array of choice online too. You could opt for a classic, Empire-line dress from a high street retailer for an inexpensive alternative to the current trend of strapless corset-with-meringue dresses.
The most important aspect of a vintage wedding theme is the bride’s wedding gown. There is no way to pull off a vintage theme without the gown being something truly classic or Victorian looking. A vintage inspired dress looks like it’s one of a kind, it usually has intricate details and a lot of trim. This type of wedding dress can either be second-hand, passed down through generations or made to look the part. Lace and pearls are very common decorative pieces for vintage dresses.
2. Accessorise
From your hair piece to your jewellery, vintage accessories don’t have to be expensive, but can look stunning and unusual. A lacy bolero or beautiful shoes could really make your outfit complete. If you’ve gone for a cheaper dress, why not splash out on your accessories for an indulgent finish?
3. Vintage Wedding Venue
choose a venue that isn’t a generic hotel, but has something historic or Romantic about it. The ruins of an abbey, or the beams of an old lodge, could give your wedding a real sense of atmosphere, and make for some fabulous photography!
4. Vintage Wedding Cars
Hiring classic cars for transport can add the finishing touch to your vintage look. Make sure the chauffeurs dress appropriately, and ask your photographer to experiment using the windows of the car for different effects, such as mirroring.
5. Chintz and glamour
You can add vintage colours, prints and patterns using fabrics (perhaps for napkins), tableware (you could use vintage cups and saucers as candle-holders) and favours; the possibilities are endless! Colours are an important part of making this theme work. Without the right colours, the theme will not be able to convey what it is supposed to. Ivory is a staple color of the vintage wedding theme. The perfect vintage wedding dress is something that is ivory with other light or pastel colours as accents. Bright colours that are too loud or vibrant are not a good fit for this theme, because those types of colours have more of a modern feel.
6. The Right Décor
Another key feature that should be included in your wedding planning is lace – lots of it. Lace gives that authentic antique feel and works splendidly with up-cycled decorative pieces. Include such items as burlap table runners; fine bone crockery; candles; vintage silverware and elaborate old-fashioned silver and gold ornaments. Placing a few antiqued furniture pieces here and there to create comfortable seating areas, adds an extra touch. Use items such as Persian carpets, vintage couches and wooden side tables or even a dresser as the gift table.
Anything that appeared antique could have been used for the decoration of the ceremony or reception. There are many places to get ideas for the decor. Try to check out a few flea markets in your area, you might stumble upon some great finds to be used as a focal point of the theme. Since vintage weddings are quite popular, there is no shortage of inspiration. Just check out some bridal magazines and you are bound to find some great ideas.
7. Lighting is Essential
You can never go wrong with adding fairy lights at a wedding – and even more so with a vintage theme. They create a wedding setting straight out of a fairy-tale and are less harsh – which means great things for your wedding photos. Other options for subtle lighting, that offers gentle, muted tones, are vintage glass bottles, silver candlesticks and chandeliers.
Now take all these elements and put them together under the roof of a Bedouin-inspired stretch tent. Stretch tents have fluid flowing organic lines, natural fabric colours and their exceptional elegance and beauty will make the perfect canopy for your vintage themed wedding. Your guests will be transported into another world, in another time and you will have the special day you have always dreamed of.
8. Vintage Wedding Flowers
A vintage wedding can not be without flowers. When choosing the types of flowers to use, remember to rule out ones that are too colorful or vibrant. Look for classic flowers in shades of light pinks, yellows, blues or purples. Peonies, roses and hydrangeas are perfectly suited for this theme. Instead having extravagant bouquets or huge floral centerpieces, try to keep things simple. Use a few flowers for your arrangement and place them in reusable jars or containers to capture that old rustic feeling.
9. The Music
Your theme would not be complete without matching vintage music so go ahead and ask your grandparents or your parents about the music they played during their younger years. Looking for very old church pieces can be a problem if no one can sing them during your wedding. If this is not possible then settle for the traditional church hymns but make sure you have old pop songs playing during the reception. Better yet, find a good band that can recreate a stylish play list for you.
10. Vintage Wedding Photography for your wedding
Tell your photographer that you’re planning a vintage theme, and then they can produce some images with retro colouring: milky shadows and smoothed shades. A vintage wedding could give you the distinctive stylised day you’ve always dreamed of, and be nostalgic and enchanting for your guests.
Vintage photographs are fascinating: They reflect our past, the changing styles, news, family life, and so much more. Dating a vintage photograph requires an understanding of the period. One typical way is to compare a photograph to known ones of a period. A well-known collector like the Family Chronicler would normally have a range of dated photographs, which can be checked out to establish a date of the photograph.
In the past, photographs were taken on formal occasions, so people would wear the latest outfits and their best clothes before a photograph was taken. These could have been taken in a studio or at home, but they would always be significant events. Hairdos, neckties, clothes and frills, and background curtains are good indicators of the time period.
Vintage Wedding Photographer Sheffield,Yorkshire & UK
Here at Nathan M Photography, we shoot weddings in Sheffield, Yorkshire and other nearby areas including Derbyshire. If you are getting married and looking for a local wedding photographer, enter your details below to download our wedding photography packages.
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