My Big Fat Engagement – Engagement Advice & Warnings

Is Casablanca your favorite movie?

Did you spend too much money on the rings? Well, the reception is just one night but your ring is forever! 

Is old-fashioned glamour your image of romance? 

Then a retro-style wedding is perfect for you. 

You don’t need a time travel machine to take your wedding back to old Hollywood.

Here are some tips to help you plan your very own retro wedding:

1. Everything old is new again.

You can buy authentic vintage items and save money at the same time. This will also guarantee the uniqueness of your special day. For example, I hated all of the wedding cake toppers available in my town so I ended up on the Internet.

You can purchase a vintage wedding cake topper that suits your old-style wedding for the same price as those available locally.

(I actually ended up with two and then sold one locally on craigslist.) 

You can search the whole world for the perfect shoes using online auctions like ebay. 

2. Stay out of wedding stores

As soon as something is for a wedding, the price goes up. If you need long gloves, look in a costume store. If you need decorations, check a dollar store first.

We wanted to add palm trees to our reception hall (just like old nightclubs in the movies). We ended up going with a company that rents props to film sets. 

I talked to the manager of a local dollar store and she ordered in a case of the lamps below for me to use on the tables at the reception (I wanted a 50′s nightclub feel). They cost about $3.00 each. 

3. Sometimes buying is cheaper than renting

The rental price for colored table linens was so high that it was cheaper to buy fabric and then my mom just sewed them (see the gold runners above). This also allowed us to get the exact color we wanted – a glamorous gold, which wasn’t even available to rent.

4. Table cards

You can add to the theme at almost no cost by naming your tables after famous performers from the era. Include romantic lyrics from their songs. Ask your best man or master of ceremonies to announce that the new couple will only kiss if the table sings the song at their table. This was one of our favorite parts of our wedding, it really made the night fun (and funny!).

Use a table card template available free online, fill it with the table name and song and print it out. Super easy! 

5. Be your own DJ

Build a big playlist on your portable MP3 player, set it to ‘shuffle’ and plug it into the venue’s sound system. Think ‘Rat Pack’ and similar crooners. Put someone in charge of turning it on and off at appropriate times. This prevents you from having to pay for a DJ. Who knows after all that money you just saved, you might even be able to afford a cool band!

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