How to Plan Your Vintage Wedding

With people spending much less money on their wedding days these days, a vintage theme can tick both the stylish and budget boxes as well as reflecting the personalities of the happy couple. So how do you go about picking out those vintage details that will make up your theme whilst not overspending? Here are some tips on how to get started as well as those clever details that will complete your vintage look…

Pick a Vintage Era

One of the great things about going vintage is that you have a whole range of decades to pick from – heck, you could even go for an 80s-themed wedding if you so desire. The more popular eras are the 20s, 40s, 50s and 60s, because they’re the most stylish and iconic and consequently, there are plenty of items available that fit these looks. Just one more piece of advice – don’t mix your eras or your wedding photos could end up looking a bit of a mess.

Choose a Dress to Inspire

You probably don’t need any encouragement or excuse to go out and start searching for the perfect vintage wedding dress, but as the first vintage item you decide upon, it can also provide inspiration for the rest of your theme and day. Lots of lace on your perfect dress? Add lace detail to the table dressings too. Or perhaps the shade can provide the basis for your colour theme. Literally so many sensible reasons you should look for your vintage wedding dress first, apart from the fact that it’s one of the most exciting bits of wedding preparation. And if you’re struggling to find something to suit in your chosen era then Rock My Vintage voucher codes let you search for dresses by the decade as well as give you an 8% saving on your final choice.

How Far Do You Want to Take Your Theme?

Well, as far as you want, obviously. It’s your wedding day, after all. But what we mean here is do you want your guests to follow suit too, or are they free to wear whatever they want? If you want a few suggestions on how to approach this potentially thorny issue, take a look at our post on wedding guest dress etiquette. Another thing to consider when going vintage is your wedding list – they’re by no means compulsory these days, but if you love a bit of retro, you might want to go for a list with a vintage specialist, or put together a collection of vintage-inspired items with your favourite department store.

Vintage Decorations and Accessories

Apart from the dress buying, this is probably going to be the most fun part of your vintage wedding planning and one that you can save a lot of money on if you get creative. The great thing about vintage themes is that they don’t have to be uniform in every aspect – in fact, many of them look even better when everything is mismatched. This also fits in well if you have to stick for a strict budget because you can plunder your local charity shops for lots of trinkets to dress your tables with. Here are some vintage dressing and decoration ideas you might want to consider:

• Small vintage jars filled with retro sweets for wedding favours
• Vintage jugs or vases as centrepieces for tables
• Old family wedding photos for decoration
• Mismatched small china plates to serve wedding cake on
• Vintage jewellery attached to your wedding and bridesmaid bouquets

Vintage Wheels

Ok, so this one probably doesn’t quite fit into the ‘budget’ remit, but bear in mind that whatever era you choose for your wedding theme, there’s bound to be a car which you can travel to the ceremony in. And sometimes not even a car – if you’re planning a 60s-style wedding and know someone with a Vespa then why not? On second thoughts, the helmet might mess up your vintage ‘do somewhat.

Yes, wedding planning can be stressful, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Adding a vintage theme means you can indulge your creative side and bring a bit of fun into the proceedings, and that’s what planning a wedding should be all about.

By Anna Scott, 9th May 2017