One of my best friends got married last year, a lovely week long holiday in Greece, with the wedding near the end of the week, hosted at the bride’s mother’s Greek restaurant in the mountains, after a ceremony which was put together at an abandoned site of the old village well. It was absolutely perfect, if a bit Mamma Mia.
Another best friend is getting married this summer, and as Maid of Honour I’ve been looking at venues with her (this is the gorgeous selected venue, a converted barn nearby, the owners offering a great deal of flexibility which is amazing!), thinking of themes, visiting wedding fairs and getting generally over-the-top excited about wedding planning! As an unmarried lady aged 28, I am of course getting the bug and can’t help but pick the bits of all the different weddings I’ve seen and start to plan my perfect wedding. This started in my head, but afraid of forgetting some of my favourite ideas, I’ve even been emailing them to my boyfriend. He’s good humoured about it all, but there’s still no ring! Alas, here are my hopes and dreams.
My boyfriend and I don’t have a lot of money, so a wedding would have to go mainly on a credit card. So I will literally be planning all of the ways to achieve something I think is beautiful and special, whilst also scheming to avoid being ripped off or charged ‘wedding rates’.
Venue
The cost of traditional venues really are extortionate, and if I waited until I could afford one of those venues, I would literally never be able to get married – or, I’d have to put it on credit and start married life with a huge financial weight around our necks. Walking home one evening recently I walked past a banner advert on the railings next to the high street – for a local community centre which is available for hire, including weddings. Many of us will have the same disgusted reaction at the thought of using a community centre for the biggest day of our lives. But this particular community centre is just off the road on my route home. As I walked past it I saw the ample green out the front of the venue, and thought, with an outdoor event to welcome people and provide entertainment, and then moving indoors to a decorated hall, really what would the difference be between the community centre and a more traditional venue?
We could take photos out front with the trees and grass and whatever theme we’ve decided to put on. You don’t have to take photos in front of the entrance to the community centre do you! So, for me, I’m pretty much sold on the idea of finding the perfect community centre which has enough of a garden or green out front to be able to utilise, so that we don’t have to spend an extra few thousand pounds for an empty room which would still require decorating!
Vintage Theme
I much prefer vintage and rustic feel weddings, where everything looks loved and not too ‘precious’ – which I’m sure will be a great advantage considering my limited budget!
I’m thinking a stylish and classic fair for the green outside the venue – along the lines of the 1920/30s fair they had in one episode of Downton Abbey! There would be mobile stalls selling old fashioned sweeties, the stalls all styled in 30’s white stained wood, with candy striped ribbons around jars and paper bags to put your mixture in to. There would be traditional side stalls with old fashioned games like hoopla, or hook a duck, or rifle shooting. I’d probably have a photographer dressed in the fashions of the time, with a dressing up box if people want to add a moustache or a cap or bonnet, or string of pearls and fans for the ladies, to get into costume, to take photos of all the guests.
For favours, we’d provide a men’s area and a ladies’ area, with cigars and whiskey and high backed chairs for the men, and why not some costume shades if you can find some cheaply enough – to add to the photos of the day. Over in the women’s area there’d be a chaise lounge or two, some traditional cocktails like a sidecar, pink lady, or whiskey sours, and a bucket of parasols to shade from the sun and look very ladylike – again great for photos.
We could have sack races and egg and spoon races etc, all very cheap to put on, and rope in an uncle or friend of the family to be in charge of the games. Or how about petanque, hoop rolling and croquet!
We wouldn’t want to fill anyone up too much prior to the Wedding Breakfast which would be the evening meal indoors, but so that people are free to enjoy the fair for as long as they liked we would have some traditional snacks. We’ll probably do a variation on traditional afternoon tea – rather than having everyone seated and served, we’ll have various host stations around the green with white linen table cloths and tiered serving plates with a variety of sandwiches cut into oblongs, and some little fancies and other small bites, with floral napkins or paper plates to minimise expense and washing up! Of course there’d be a home-made lemonade stall as well, for anyone who didn’t want to drink or just fancied some traditional refreshment.
To decorate the green I’d put up some home-made wooden stand-alone signs with directions and funny phrases, and make my own bunting – I’ve seen suggested somewhere that you can make classy looking bunting quite easily from paper doilies! Pastel colours and simplicity is key, but balloons are ok here and there, and if you’re struggling to fill the space, why not find old fashioned posters from the time to put around and really drum home the theme.
For practicality – I would suggest that you provide some sheltered area even for outdoors, so whether a party gazebotent or 2 from home, or whether you hire a small marqueewith open sides which would offer both shade if the weather is roasting, or shelter from the rain if the weather looks to be unpredictable. The beauty of side stalls is that in the worst case scenario you would be able to move them indoors fairly easily.
The Vintage Bridal Look
Vintage bridal is really fashionable at the moment, and as everything can be learned on youtube, you may well be able to save some money by doing your hair or makeup yourself. Especially with vintage looks as they are simpler than a lot of modern looks – because people didn’t have as much to work with in the 30’s as they do now. Obviously you’ll want to properly cleanse, tone, and moisturise your skin, and then apply a primer. Liquid foundation really does work best for flawless coverage, if you’re not used to using it, ask for a lady on a makeup counter to match you up and they’ll often be happy to show you how to apply it also. Add a cream blush, and then to ensure your makeup lasts – don’t forget to use a setting powder!! This can be a normal loose foundation powder, or you can buy rice based setting powders which are great for people who are likely to get a bit more shiny or oily during the day.
Add some dark eyeliner & mascara, fill out your eyebrows, and using a lip pencil in a bold red, outline your lips, and then fill in with lipliner before you then add your lipstick. Thelipliner helps the lipstick to hold in position.
Check out vintage hair rolls, these may require some practice but again, with youtube you can get great tips and then practise for months in advance, or rope in a friend to help you.
Have you considered instead of an expensive tiara, creating a flower wreath? It may sound silly, but done simply enough you’ll look like Maid Marian or Braveheart’s wife. I’ve seen it done recently and the bride looked so beautiful but so natural.
I once found a dress by accident looking for a dress to wear to a work event, I wish now that I’d kept it, but it was inexpensive from an online retailer, the body was crocheted and from the waist down it was layers of fairy-like meshyfabric (tulle, perhaps?). It would have been so perfect for a Vintage styled wedding – people would think it was different whilst still being beautiful, and upon seeing the reception theme it would all slot in to place! And it was £60. I just googled it again now, it’s sold out, but if it were on sale I think I’d buy it now!
The main reception later would be something different all together, but I’m keeping this one secret until the day, when hopefully it’ll be a huge surprise to everyone.
Bio: Hannah writes on behalf of http://gigtent.co.uk/
