Want a Signature Wedding That is Exclusive to You? Transform Something Old Into Something New

By Patricia Vining

Traveling is food for a designer’s soul, so it comes as no surprise that I LOVE/LIVE to travel. While on my journeys, one of my favorite things to do is to seek out treasures such as antique books and ephemera. My collection has inspired this new series.

Clockwise from the top left: Monograms by Imre Reiner; papers from my favorite Venetian paper stores: Carta Venezia and Il Prato; Märkbok by Elsie Svennås; and Caratteri E Fregi Tipografici, Parte III by Società Nebiolo Torino

Part I – Finding Your Something Old
Overwhelmed by all the wedding photos online? Is your wedding starting to look like all the others? One way to avoid the cookie cutter wedding syndrome is to look outside the trends and images, and draw your inspiration from the things and places you love or that are culturally meaningful to you and your fiancé. In other words, take your cues from something old and transform them into something entirely new. Designers do this all the time and there is definitely an art to it. It is important to be informed by your inspiration but not copy it literally which could result in a dated look.

Here are the first steps to putting a modern spin on Something Old:
1. Find beautiful, meaningful things—it could be a ticket stub, a book, a piece of jewelry, etc. Some great places to explore are family attics, antique marts, antiquarian bookstores, vintage clothing stores, rare book rooms of a local libraries, etc. It is important to cross-pollinate. Look at things that are not necessarily wedding-related such as other types of celebrations—corporate events, parties at film festivals, museums, etc. What sorts of things are they doing? Look at historical periods and places.

2. Arrange the items you collect so that they tell a story. Use your smart phone to take photos of them like I did in the image above. You can pin the photos on Pinterest or post them on Instagram for future reference. Another option would be to arrange them in Adobe Collage^® or a similar mood board app on your iPad or tablet.

*If anyone has a copy of CARATTERI E FREGI TIPOGRAFICI, PARTE I by Società Nebiolo Torino that they would be willing to part with, please email me below.

Tune in Wednesday for Part II of this series and we will show you how to build your own WeddingBrand from these items as well as create a color palette.

 

 

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to read and comment on our blog. Please be respectful Know that we reserve the right to remove any profane, mean-spirited, or self-promotional comments