Help on a Big Band Era Wedding Please? :)

Re: Help on a Big Band Era Wedding Please? :)

• LAK011 member

  

  August 2010

  You sound like you've got a great grasp on things already! I will say I'm glad you had luck finding BM dresses at Davids, b/c I couldn't find a thing I liked there that went with the theme. We ended up going to www.stopstaring.com to get the BM dresses. I did get my dress at David's though.

  

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• rikachika member

  

  August 2010

  I am making my own garter and invites using lace & Cameo jewelery.  Mine is 1940s as well.  Iused gold frames and doilies in teh decor as well as vitices trimmed with lace as centerpieces.(it was posted on this board a few months back).  I like your idea for the table "names & numbers" I have not yet thought of what to do.  Pearls will be BM jewlery and NO flowers will be used as I am allergic - so they will carry clutches in white gloves hands.  You can greally save money by visiting thrist shops and the classified boards.  good luck!

  

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• weddingspinster

  

  August 2010

  First, I LOVE your venue!!!  Lucky you, getting to celebrate your wedding there!

  
  

  I noticed that it has music stands for live musicians, like they used to use in the Big Band era.  Will you be having live music?  If so, perhaps you could pretend that their performance is being broadcast over the radio and you could have a host say things like they used to say, i.e., "Live!  From the Starlight Ballroom in New York!" (or whatever!).  If you've never heard those old broadcasts, you might want to listen to Chuck Cecil's show online, Sat. & Sun., 6-9 a.m.  Pacific Time, at www.jazzandblues.org/index.aspx .  He often plays segments from old, live broadcasts.

  
  

  If you're not having live music, then playing vintage songs (at least now and then!) throughout the night is an easy, inexpensive way to add a vintage feeling to your reception.  Again, Chuck Cecil's show is a terrific resource for discovering wonderful old songs and forgotten performers.  And there are plenty of CDs that you can buy that are packed with collections of old songs.  

  
  

  If you want to use those big glasses/pearls for your centerpieces, go for it!  It's your wedding and you should ALWAYS do what's right for you!!  To me, though, they conjure up an image of the 1920s, not '40s.  But that's probably just a personal quirk!  (I DO love your idea for table "numbers!")

  
  

  I was trying to think of a way that you could add a vintage touch to your table without cluttering it with a bunch of old "stuff," and here's what I came up with:  If you're giving presents to your guests (i.e. cookies) in those little gift boxes, perhaps you could print out (on ordinary paper, not photo paper) or xerox old photos and glue them to the top of each box.  I spotted some silver paper boxes at www.jampaper.com/Boxes/SilverGiftBoxes/6x6x4SilverFoilGiftBox -- they're pretty big and I don't know if they're too slick to glue something on them, but I wanted to mention that this sort of thing is out there, since silver is one of your colors.  (Also, I'm wondering how clear glitter would look on the pictures -- enhance them or look tacky?!)

  
  

  If you do something like this, I think using mostly photos of vintage big bands or people dancing in the 1940s would help to emphasize your theme.  I also think that enlarged photos of '40s people dancing would look nice around the room (or, perhaps, in one location), but then you'd have to pay for frames.

  
  

  Potted palms would also add a vintage touch to your decor.  They're not too pricey at Lowes.  If you don't want to transplant them to a vintagey pot, just wrap the plastic container that they come in with fabric.  You can see potted palms being used for decor at this page on my website:

  
  

  www.weddingspinster.com/Al_and_Hildies_1946_Hitch-Up.html

  
  

  Something that would be easy to do, and not too expensive, would be to set up your cake the way they used to, in the past.  People used to surround their cake with either flowers or greenery and flowers.  And, of course, if you order a cake with something "vintage" about it, that will also help to bring the past to life.  Here are a few links to vintage cake pages that I've posted:

  
  

  www.weddingspinster.com/Three_Cakes,_One_Bakery_-_1940s.html

  
  

  www.weddingspinster.com/Cakes_On_Parade.html

  
  

  www.weddingspinster.com/Some_Jolly_Good_British_Cakes.html

    

  Anyway, I'll stop blathering on now.  Can't wait to read more about your wedding as it evolves!  Keep us posted!

  
  

  www.weddingspinster.com

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

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