The most fun part of wedding planning has got to be planning the different outfits. Since one of our goals is to consume the minimum amount of new materials in our wedding, this put a twist on the plans. It is this motivation to be eco-friendly that made me want to go with a vintage theme (although, I do love vintage EVERYTHING…it’s the 70-year-old granny in me…)
My Dress: I had a very specific idea of the type of vintage dress that I wanted…lots of lace, old silk, fine details, Victorian-era inspired. I tried all the used/consignment/thrift/antique stores, but couldn’t find anything but five to 10-year-old polyester blend stiff, scratchy and way-too-big wedding gowns. I was starting to get really discouraged, and even looked at brand-new dresses (gasp!), but even with that freedom, I couldn’t find the right dress.
Starting to sound like the ring, right? Luckily, I came across an excellent website that had a whole section of vintage (real VINTAGE) not just second-hand, wedding gowns. My dress is a 1950s, off-white, silk gown, with a lace overlay, that currently has a collar to the chin and puffy sleeves (those will have to go). The important thing is that it has the basic structure that I want and the exact material that I was looking for. Vintagevixen.com is a real find for any of you who love vintage clothing-they sell everything from dresses, to bags, to jewellery from the ’40s to the ’60s.
The Groom: Ger is going to wear a dark grey suit that he needs anyway for work, a skinny black tie, white shirt, and a purple handkerchief in his suit pocket. Easy.
The Bridesmaids: My only criteria for their dresses were that they be 1) Old, vintage, or borrowed and 2) Something that 
they would wear again after the wedding. Since I didn’t want them all to have the same dress anyway, this was a great way to let them pick out something that they love and be eco-friendly at the same time. I just asked my two maids-of-honour to look for dark purple, knee-length dresses, and the same for my three bridesmaids, but in black. Most of them have already found their dresses; one from e-bay, three from vintage clothing websites, and the other one is still on the hunt. There are so many vintage dress websites (just Google them!) and most are really reliable with their sizes and reasonable with their prices.
The Groomsmen: Pretty simple as well. We’ve asked them to wear black suits (whatever is in their closet already), white shirt, and we’re planning to give them ties for their groomsmen present.
I haven’t quite decided on the color of their ties though. The colours for the wedding will be eggplant purple, yellow, and a touch of orange (just in the bouquets). So far, the maids-of-honour will be wearing purple, and all of the bridesmaids will be carrying yellow and orange bouquets.
Should the groomsmen’s ties be:
1. Purple
2. Yellow
3. A print that combines purple/yellow/orange
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