BIGBAND WEDDING THEME
Swing was in and the "cool cat" sounds of Benny Goodman,
Bing Cosby and the Andrew Sisters were being heard in
ballrooms and nightclubs everywhere. This was the time of
the big bands. If you love the jumpin' and jivin' sounds of
the 30's and 40's, why not plan your wedding theme around
this fascinating era? Here are some ideas to get you started.
** Bride's Attire **
- Slim fitting suit or a drop shoulder slim fitting
satin dress with full length gloves and a hat with
a netted face veil, seamed nylons and spiked healed
shoes.
** Groom's Attire **
- Pin striped suit or army uniform.
**Bridal Party **
-Should be along the same lines as the bride
and groom in the colors of your wedding theme.
** Invitations **
1) Decorate with pictures of either big band instruments
or a wine bottle draped with a string of pearls.
2) Use either a black and white photo or a colored
photo that has been made to look "antique" featuring
you and your fiancée. Surround the picture in a border
set to look like it's in an antique frame.
** Decorations **
1) Fill balloons with helium and float them above the
dance floor.
2) Create several balloon bouquets and place around
the room.
3) Secure a mirrored, slow-turning "disco" ball over
the dance floor.
4) Add strings of small lights over doorways.
5) Buy cheap children's musical instruments and place
them throughout the room.
6) Have a fountain that produces bubbles.
7) Use posters of famous people during the 1930's and
1940's. Hang on the walls.
8) Find pictures of cars, bi-planes, etc. that relate
to that period. Hang on the walls.
Wedding receptions
** Favors **
1) Give an actual antique photo of yourselves in an
antique looking frame.
2) Create a music sheet with your favorite song, roll
up and secure with ribbon.
3) Give small bottles of wine or champagne decorated
with some ribbon and a string of fake pearls.
4) Another idea is to buy cheap champagne glasses and
fill with rose petals or mints.
** Centerpieces **
1) You could use wine bottles draped with pearls or
army dog-tags or lay long, white gloves in the center
of the table and scatter rose petals over them.
2) Buy a large champagne glass for each table and fill
with glass beads; place a candle in the middle of each
and drape fake pearls along its stem.
3) Buy children's toy musical instruments (saxophone,
trombone, trumpet, etc.). Buy or make a small "music
stand" and place an antiqued sheet of music with your
songs on each stand. Place the stand on the table and
prop an instrument next to it.
** Pewmarkers **
Buy the small, plastic horns, drums, etc. available
at craft stores (usually I've seen them in the Christmas
section). Create small music song sheets and secure
the instrument to the sheet with a ribbon. Hang as
pew markers.
** Wedding Programs **
Make your wedding programs look like a music book,
with a dark "leather-look" cover with your initials
or names on it. On the inside, use a music score sheet
for your backgrounds (faded, watermark type background)
with your program information written within.
** Music **
Any of the big band music. Jazz. Blues. You could hire
an actual band or find a D.J. that enjoys this type of
music and knows what to play. Search for music by the
following artists:
Andrews Sisters Louis Armstrong
Fred Astaire Gene Autrey
Cab Calloway Nat King Cole
Count Basie Bing Cosby
Dorris Day Tommy Dorsey
Duke Ellington Gracie Fields
Ella Fitzgerald Benny Goodman
Fletcher Henderson Woody Herman
Ink Spots Spike Jones
Sammy Kaye Franky Laine
Guy Lombardo Jeanette MacDonald
Glenn Miller Mills Brothers
Cole Porter Artie Shaw
Frank Sinatra Mel Torme
Fats Waller
** Wedding Cake **
1) Get a regular wedding cake (2 or 3 tiers) and
place small, plastic musical instruments along the
edges. For the topper, have two figures standing in
front of a music stand.
2) Have the cake shaped into a musical instrument
such as a saxophone, trumpet, drums, piano, tuba,
guitars, etc. Brass instruments were very popular then.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks