So, What is a ‘Vintage Wedding’? Has the term become too overused? Have Your Say…

There's no doubt about it – it seems the whole world right now is experiencing an explosion of interest in vintage weddings. Indeed, this very wedding blog was established partly to showcase some of the beautiful weddings out there that have taken inspiration from a vintage era.

But what actually is a 'vintage' wedding?  

I don't and never have claimed to be an expert in such matters – I simply have an eye for a certain 'style' of wedding that appears to be appreciated by many other Brides out there planning their beautiful wedding days – and more often than not, my eye tends to wander towards those weddings that have been styled with various elements that make references to a bygone era. I ALSO enjoy featuring weddings that have absolutely nothing to do with vintage.  For me however, it's usually a vintage wedding dress or vintage replica wedding dress that draws me in initially…

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2010, Joanna Brown Photography

Joanna Brown Photography...

But here's my confession – I do find myself wondering how to categorise my wedding features at times. Does wearing a vintage replica dress mean I should categorise the wedding as a 'vintage'? Does the elegant vintage china tea set the Bride hired mean her wedding was 'vintage'? Indeed, does the photoshop processing technique used on the photographs to make them look 'aged' or 'retro' make it a vintage wedding?

I also wonder whether the term 'vintage' has become over-used and if the whole trend for vintage weddings right now is placing unnecessary pressure on Brides to make them feel they have to 'go vintage' on their wedding day, simply in order to adhere to a trend – and in the process, missing out on an opportunity to style a wedding that truly DOES reflect the couples personality.  If that was the case, then I'd be sad, because weddings, I feel, should always reflect the true personalities and loves of the couple tieing the knot – whether that's minimalist and elegant, budget, lavish, rustic, city chic, vintage, or completely nothing to do with 'vintage' whatsoever!

Tiffany Grant-Riley, Vintage Wedding Planner, debates the current craze for vintage weddings and has obtained the thoughts of several high profile UK Wedding Industry representatives along the way…

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2010, Sakura Photo
 
Ashlee Carter of Sakura Photo...


There’s been something on my mind for a while now, slowly eating away at me to the point of which I need to let it out. When I launched Grant-Riley Weddings back in 2007, I was very much a loner in a niche called ‘vintage’. Yes, there were vintage inspired bridal accessories and something in the way of dresses, but if you were to try searching for a vintage style photographer, stationer or wedding planner (eh hem) you’d struggle-believe me, I looked whilst planning my own wedding.

In the beginning I had plenty of interest from the bridal media who thought it was a novel idea, although on the flip side, I also had negative reactions from industry pros and couples alike who felt that what I did was likely to end up looking like a fancy dress party or thereabouts. “What makes you a vintage wedding expert?” people would ask, “did you take a degree in history?” No, in fact I trained as a stage manager working in the world of theatre where, on many occasions, when the theatre brought a period play onto the stage, part of my job would be to research this period and source/make the props and furniture to be as historically accurate as possible (budget allowing). I also have an insatiable obsession for 20th Century home front history, for the lives of real people (not politics or warfare) and fashion and weddings make up much of this passion for me. I regularly read historical references for pure pleasure (I’m currently reading ‘Bright Young People’) so yes, I’m proud to say that I have extensive knowledge about 20th Century life and weddings.

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2010, Sara Thomas – See the full wedding feature here

Sara Thomas Photography...

Fast forward nearly four years and vintage is EVERYWHERE and whilst I’m loving the fact I can find vintage inspired table dressings, attire and other details without having to raid antique fairs every week and break the budget, I think I’m beginning to  tire of the fact that the label ‘vintage’ seems to get so easily attached to anything made to look a little old and ‘pre-loved’. There are many cases of blogs featuring weddings that are classified as ‘vintage’, which I’d rather call something more along the lines of ‘shabby chic’ or ‘eclectic country’ as I prefer to call it – don't ask!

The defining factor of weddings in the past was that the day’s celebrations weren’t the focus – the focus was the marriage itself.   Unless it was a society wedding, budgets were small and you’d be lucky to find more than a handful of photographs, many of which were shot in a studio afterwards if not by a guest lucky enough to own a camera. Nowadays we need to compensate for the change in our attitude and approach towards weddings-it’s an entire industry catering for all tastes and styles and budgets.

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2010, Robbins Photographic

Robbins Photographic...

♥  In a new age of austerity is it the charm of a simple wedding that makes the vintage style so attractive?
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Is it because we’re tiring of mass produced items and yearn for hand made, home grown touches?
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Do couples feel pressured into having a vintage inspired wedding – purely because it’s the trend of the moment?
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What do YOU think classifies a wedding as vintage?

I asked a range of wedding industry professionals their opinions….

 

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Debs Ivelja and Eliza Claire want couples to be true to themselves…

Debs Ivelja Photography
www.debsivelja.blogspot.com

“I have started to notice more and more recently that so many weddings today have the tag 'Vintage' added to them, even when it may not necessarily be quite right.  My personal view is that a wedding is first and foremost about the couple getting married – their relationship, their personalities, their interests, how they think and what they do. If a couple have an interest or love for all things old and an obsession for items from a bye gone era, they may want to reflect this in their day. I tend to find that a wedding that is classified 'Vintage' is often more original and unique when the couple themselves are so obviously at the heart of it, rather than just a theme or a tag.
 
Personally I think 'Vintage' weddings are beautiful when done well and with originality. Given we are all British and we have the heritage, we will always have beautiful English weddings that have 'vintage' accents; roses, old buildings, tradition. But I am not sure if these make a wedding 'Vintage' or just beautiful English? Personally I think 'English' is just as awesome! The Americans seem to do 'rustic' or 'urban' really well and the Aussies 'beach' or 'bush'  so we can totally rock the tea cup when its fully embraced!”

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2010, Photographs of Your Wedding

Photographs of Your Wedding...

Eliza Claire Photography
elizaclaire.com

“One thing I'd say is that it HAS to be authentic. It's so easy to spot when people are theming their weddings based on what's trendy or in vogue, and in those cases, it tends to feel ‘cold’ somehow. The very best weddings are the ones that truly reflect your loves, your passions. My most memorable wedding this year was on a tiny budget, the reception was in a café and the groom wore jeans, but it was so right for them. 

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2010,  Danielle Benbow – view full wedding feature here

Danielle Benbow Photography... 

 

Wedding Photographer of the Year Lisa Devlin thinks photographers need to have more creative integrity to bring out their own style…
www.devlinphotos.co.uk

“I do think that we are in a highly creative niche with some very motivated suppliers and clients. To me it’s quite significant that the winners of the 3 major Wedding Photographer of the Year awards were Rosie Parsons, Julia Boggio and me. We are all producing work that is heavily Vintage influenced, and isn't it exciting that we are at the forefront of a new movement within our industry? If you are a supplier or client who is not creative then yes, the easiest thing to do is copy what you see.

We should all take it as a compliment but it does annoy me when I see images of a wedding that is nothing to do with Vintage and the photographer has added a photoshop effect, because they think it is something they should offer. It looks dreadful on an ordinary {and otherwise beautiful} wedding, especially if they have mixed it in with standard colour images or as I have seen recently on a wedding blog, a bit of spot colour thrown in too. This ends up looking as if they just threw everything at it, hoping to encompass all tastes and not committing to anything.

Over lunch with Kat Williams of Rock n Roll Bride recently, we had a conversation about how much the word ‘vintage’ is used now in relation to weddings. We felt that maybe the word was overused and often out of context – and we decided maybe 'Modern Vintage' was a better term for what we are doing.”

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2010, Devlin Photography

Lisa Devlin Photography...

Lisa Devlin Photography...

 

Lucy Ledger, stationery designer thinks authenticity is the key…
www.lucyledger.com

“When I first started my company I received a gift -a scrapbook full of greeting cards from 1860s-1920's from my grandmother and that's what inspired me to start and inspired my style of design.

 I have also been guilty of over using the word vintage in my designs but I feel I have been pushed into this as a result of it's huge overuse – the bottom line – it works in Google searches and is good for search engine optimisation!

 It has always made me cringe a little though;  my designs have a feel of nostalgia in them and I pride myself in doing a great deal of research into a certain era of popular culture but the resulting design is always my personal 'take' on it therefore not authentic.

This brings me to the point. Vintage is historical, an item or style of its time and a lot of what is referred to as vintage is most definitely not. These days even using sage green and dusky pink on an invitation can be referred to as vintage!? Maybe we have to rethink the term and although our yearning for nostalgia doesn't look like it's going to fade anytime soon, the word itself should perhaps be left for use by the experts…”

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2010, Emma Case

Emma Case Photography...

Charlotte&Owen-47

 

Samantha of Spriggs Florist asks, what’s your vintage style?
www.spriggs-florist.co.uk

“Vintage.  What on earth does this one small word mean – it has so many definitions and interpretations.  For me vintage is from an era when they made do and made the most of what was to hand.
 
We have a flower shop and have been helping brides create their dream day for 30 years.  When a bride and groom mention the word ‘vintage’, I’m not sure whether to be joyous or to run from the building screaming.  Is it the colour – washed out pinks, creams and green?  Is it the containers which are to be used – tin cans, cups and saucers, tea pots etc., cold pressed glass, jam jars and bottles?"

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photograph Copyright (c) 2010, Joanna Brown Photography

Joanna Brown Photography2

We love a challenge.  So to work with a minimal but realistic budget is not an issue, to use seasonal flowers and work with the couple to produce the arrangements that they want to create their dream wedding is what we are about.  Bring on the car boot purchased jugs filled with hedgerow type flowers, glass bowls ‘borrowed’ from friends and relatives filled with summer garden blooms.  Chinaware overflowing with strawberries and roses in striking shades of pink and red.
 
All of the above sounds wonderful, but it could have all been described without the word ‘vintage’.
 
Don’t get me wrong, I love vintage in its true sense, I even have a large collection (over a hundred at the last count) of vintage hats, all original from the 1940’s to 1960’s, I love tea dresses with candy coloured cardigans, cupcakes and afternoon teas and flowers at home in my great aunt’s milk jugs.
 
So this takes me back to my first question and the question that I now ask my clients – what is your ‘vintage style’?  Work that one out and then we can do floral magic.”

Love My Dresss Wedding Blog – Photograph Copyright (c) 2010, Juliet Lemon

What *IS* a 'Vintage Wedding'?

 

Lauren Grove of U.S blog Every Last Detail believes a vintage wedding should be fully immersed in the era…
www.everylastdetailblog.com

“Everyone loves vintage in some way or another, but the thing that constantly plagues me is what *actually is* vintage. I'm HUGE about using descriptive words in the correct manner, which is why I created the Style Dictionary on my blog. According to the dictionary, vintage is defined as "of old, recognized, and enduring interest, importance, or quality; dating from the past". In going with this, I believe that a vintage wedding is constituted by using items in the wedding that are old in some aspect. They could be vases, they could be pictures, they could even be the bride's dress and shoes.

However, I think for a wedding to actually be *called* vintage, there should be several elements that are classified as "vintage" throughout the wedding, not just one typewriter used as a guest book. A bride and groom having a vintage wedding usually even live a somewhat "vintage" lifestyle. Vintage weddings are truly vintage, almost to where you can even smell that oldness of the items in the room.”

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photograph Copyright (c) 2010, Joanna Wilkinson Wedding Photography – See Part 1 and Part 2 of this wedding in full.

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…as does Kerry Smith of Vintage Simplicity…
www.vintagesimplicity.co.uk

“Having heard the word ‘vintage’ used as so many different meanings and through total frustration of witnessing various ‘vintage’ events I thought it was time to set up my own company – Vintage Simplicity – Inspirational China Hire. Its name speaks for itself really and is what it says – simple vintage. It means taking the simple elements from each era and putting them together to truly recreate that particular time in history.

So many think of vintage as merely putting together a few pieces to create what they deem as ‘vintage’. I recently saw a wedding where vintage china had been used to create a ‘vintage wedding’. Having looked closely at the images captured on the day, I was shocked to see that much of the china had merely been collected together and had been hired out as vintage – there were the angular shapes of the art deco period mixed together with the floral designs of the 1940’s as well as 1970’s retro pieces. Surely that is not the meaning of vintage?

Brides, Grooms and their families should have the opportunity to talk through with each of their suppliers about what ’vintage’ theme they want. This could be a 1920’s flapper theme through to a 1970’s street party look. But in my opinion, never ever should this be allowed to be mixed together. We as a country have an incredible history, one that we should be proud of and each particular era has it’s own magical style.”

Love My Dress Wedding Blog –  Photograph Copyright (c) 2010, Fo Photography

FO Photography...

Of course, it doesn’t have to be authentic. I work with couples serious about getting a specific era right and those who just want an overall feel and that’s fine. I also work with clients wanting a non-vintage day, which can be a real breath of fresh air! Getting married is about declaring your love and commitment for one another in front of family and friends, the rest is just a bonus and quite frankly, when I’m sat there at gone eleven at night trying to source over 100 champagne coups I too wonder what the point of it is!

But if you honestly do love the charm of a bygone era, collect antiques or enjoy wearing vintage, then make it a part of your day if it’s a part of you. Do the research-trawl through old photographs, watch old movies, read about it, ask your grandparents, and visit a museum or two. Enjoy the process!

Vintage applies to something that is anything from 30 to 100 years old (beyond that is antique) and doesn’t necessarily apply to something covered in lace, pearls and diamante.

Perhaps it’s time to put aside the obsessive use of the word ‘vintage’ and put it into context. Why don’t we coin a new phrase?

And now I’m opening the floor to you, the bride.  Do you agree with the points made?  Are Brides under too much pressure to confirm to vintage (and other) trends these days?  Are you a vintage enthusiast and if so what do you think to the trend for 'vintage weddings' and is this trend here to stay? Don’t be shy!

Tiffany Grant-Riley
Vintage Wedding Planner – http://www.grantrileyweddings.co.uk

 

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Thanks Tiffany!

Some really interesting points there – and you've certainly got me thinking about how I use the word 'vintage', what a vintage wedding is and the impact and influence of the current trend for vintage weddings!

Love My Dress is a place for Brides to be inspired – and honestly? If a Bride or couple are inspired by just few elements of vintage and wish to incorporate that into their wedding, then that is absolutely fine with me! Whether I end up categorising such a feature as a vintage wedding however is something for me to think about 🙂 Perhaps my new blog category could be called 'A Hint of Vintage'…..hehe! 🙂

In all seriousness however, I do sympathise with the wedding industry professionals who work really hard to ensure genuine vintage styling, and to the couples whose genuine retro and vintage style lifestyles are reflected in their weddings  – when all about them the term vintage is used so loosely.

Do leave a comment, it would be great to generate some discussion from Brides and Industry professionals alike…

Much love,

Annabel xXx

Annabel

Annabel View all Annabel's articles

Founder of Love My Dress. Passionate Podcaster and Editor. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters and menagerie of furry hounds. She loves photography, meditation, walking, being outdoors and star gazing. She is fierce when it comes to championing talent within the wedding industry and when she's not working on Love My Dress, she supports her husband Philip in the running of the family's sustainable flower farm and floral design business, Moonwind Flowers. In 2013, she became a published author.

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