How to have an Art Deco Wedding

When you think about weddings there’s always a sense of opulence, of joy, of celebration that comes with them. Whether that’s stemming from the wedding venue, the dress, the overall decor, it’s something that sets weddings apart from any other kind of celebration.

A period in time that was dedicated to opulence and celebration was the Art Deco movement. Famed for its fun parties, expensive tastes and general lack of care about what was going on outside of the party, it’s a really cool theme to carry through your wedding.

There are some things you’re going to want to consider however before you start planning your Art Deco themed wedding – after all you don’t want your big day to seem like a costume party or a Great Gatsby flapper-esque affair – that’s not the vibe we’re going for here. Take inspiration from the beauty of this photo shoot featuring Chiara and Chris. It’s magnificent!

Indoors versus outside

First things first, you’re going to want to think about whether you want your big day to be an outdoor or indoor wedding. Sure, you can have a bit of both with an indoor ceremony flowing into an outside reception or vice versa, but either way, you need to think about these options and make a decision pretty early on.

Both definitely have their merits. If you have an indoor wedding, you can really get that opulent, intimate party atmosphere going. Think about those 1920s and 30s mansion parties you see in the movies – that’s exactly the Art Deco wedding vibe that you could opt for.

If you’re looking for something a little bit more low-key, the outdoor garden party side of Art Deco life might be more suitable for your wedding. You can make use of the floral elements, take advantage of the extra space, get some gazebos and relaxing chairs and just have a lovely, chilled wedding that suits the theme that you’ve chosen.

Both indoor and outdoor Art Deco weddings work well. It just depends on the atmosphere that you want to create.

The wedding dress

Now, as you might expect, an Art Deco wedding dress isn’t your usual white gown with a long cathedral style veil and all the sparkly accoutrements. One of the defining characteristics of Art Deco style was comfort. After all, the restrictions of wearing corsets and bustles and the like, women finally broke free and opted for more flowing, column silhouettes with wider necklines that were comfier and less about form.

This obviously went into the wedding looks as well, with the wedding dresses of the time being really simple when it came to the silhouette but super embellished and ornate. Picture a lot of rich gold detailing, beading and lace work to make a simple dress look spectacular.

Honestly, these are pretty hard to find nowadays outside of a really good, specific wedding vintage store. Probably the best way to find what you’re looking for is to look at era-appropriate sketches and work with a dressmaker to bring your vision to life.

Make sure you try on the style of the silhouette before you commission anything this fancy though – this silhouette isn’t for everyone and the amount of detailing on an Art Deco wedding dress is a lot of work and won’t come cheap.

Flowers that go the extra mile

Nothing says ultimate opulence like a room bursting to the brim with flowers. Think about the scene in the Great Gatsby where Daisy and Gatsby see each other for the first time in years. The room is full of flowers and that brings an extravagant, romantic feel to the room and to the moment.

As there are normally a lot of gold, lace and filigree elements to this kind of Art Deco wedding scheme, it can read as a bit rich and overwhelming. To balance this, you’re going to want to inject some lightness and softness with some floral arrangements, especially some that have a bit of colour.

From floral designs in the lace on your dress to a flower-based fascinator instead of a veil to having your wedding photos in a field full of wildflowers, there are plenty of ways to use flowers within this Art Deco theme. Flowers and nature work so well with the Art Deco ideology of being free and doing what you want to do. After all, that’s exactly what flowers do!

Photography that suits the theme

If you’re having a vintage inspired wedding of any kind, you’re going to want to reference that in some way during your wedding photo shoot. You can do this in a few ways from using props, to mimicking popular portrait poses of the time, to shooting the photos on an older camera, or through a filter.

Remember to get a mix of indoor and outdoor shots, and as well as the demure and serious shots that vintage weddings tend to have, make sure you get some fun and quirky ones. What sets the Art Deco theme apart from the rest is that it was a time for fun, so ensure that this comes through in your gorgeous wedding photos, so you can look back in years to come and really remember that joyous feeling.

Extra tips

To finish up, here are some quick extra tips that you might want to think about when planning your Art Deco wedding:

Go easy on the jewellery and accessories – with such a highly decorated and detailed wedding dress, you don’t need all those extras and you might find that it makes the look messier and more costumey, which we definitely don’t want.

Having an opulent wedding doesn’t mean that it needs to be a big wedding. You can have an Art Deco affair that’s also intimate with a small guest list. It’s all about having a great time with the people you actually want to be around.

Have fun with it! Art Deco is a joyful theme that’s both casual and super elegant, so you can really have a great time both planning and enjoying your wedding.

Snowflakes and Austrian Art Deco

From Maria Schnabel – “This is an Art Deco themed wedding inspiration shoot with a focus on style – the bridal gown is just divine! The flowers you’ll see in the background are spring snowflakes, one of the first flowers that blossom in middle Europe at the end of winter and the beginning of spring.”

From Maria Schnabel – “We had a pre-shoot with a slightly different make-up look and I put together the flowers myself and we also included a few sunset shots when the weather was beautiful!”

Credits: Photography: Maria Schnabl // Hair & Makeup: Tina Stöhr // Dress: Bagdley Mischka // Flowers: Katharina Sternad // Floral Wreath: Vom Hugel // Couple: Chiara and Chris // Groom’s Attire: Art Event // Top Hat & Shoes: Flea Market / Rings: Couple’s Own // Location: Massageschule St. Georgen, Austria + Local Forest.