By Kate Wilson

Vintage weddings have always been a romantic and classy concept for that big day. Turning to an old retro style and creating an attractive and elegant wedding theme is always a great way to make your wedding day memorable.

For a vintage wedding, first you need to decide which era you would like to follow.  A retro styled 50’s vintage wedding brings a sense of glamour, traditional style and classiness with it.  

1. Venue & decorations

Use popular flowers like peonies.  Have fun -- put a soda fountain near the dessert section and car-decorations from the 1950s to transform your venue into a perfect retro destination.  Let your guests know about the theme so that they can dress appropriately.

2. Retro wedding dress.

Pack in the vibrant style of the 50’s with simple but elegantly-cut short dresses with volume and clean lines made from exotic silks with intricate lace detailing. Headpieces, veils, beads and jewelry details can help in completing your retro look.

3. Music.

Don’t overlook the music – play energetic retro rock. Turn to Bill Haley, Elvis Presley, and Buddy Holly.  There are great upbeat songs to choose from in the 50’s era for your first dance song.

Bring the 50s energy to your wedding and enjoy an unusual, fun vintage wedding.

Kate Wilson is a blogger at WeddingClan, a question and answer site for weddings.

By Elizabeth

Time for some fall wedding invitation inspiration.  Our friends at Minted.com, an online wedding stationery store, share with us some of their favorite wedding invitations for the fall.  

(Courtesy of cadance paige design, love letters, design lotus, pottsdesign, oscar & emma, and paper plains) 

These invitations were designed by independent graphic designers from all over the world.  If spring and summer brought us upbeat bright colors, in style for the fall are elegant darker colors with artistic maple leaf backgrounds.  

What do you think of these designs?  

Check out more of Minted.com’s beautiful wedding invitations.  They offer one of-a-kind wedding invitations, save the dates, and bridal shower invitations.

Disclosure: Shiny Orb, a search site for wedding dresses and bridesmaid dresses, receives no form of compensation from this vendor.

By Jennifer

Our featured bride this week is definitely going to have a beautiful flower girl. Her dressing room is decked out with great dresses for flower girls and junior bridesmaids picks. Have you thought about what dress your flower girl will be wearing?

By Jennifer

Today's featured dressing room is... jenny's!! (How cool, we have the same name. Almost. Maybe?) Her dressing room has a broad range of dresses but I noticed that 6 of them are one-shoulder gowns. One of them is even a one-shoulder short dress! Perhaps jenny is a fan of these great looking dresses?

By Jennifer

One recent Shiny Orb visitor put together this fabulous room of celebrity inspired dresses. Which one's your favorite? Would you wear it as bride or guest?

By Jennifer

Today's featured dressing room has a great collection of mother of the bride dresses. Or are they mother of the groom dresses? You ever wonder why they're called mother of the bride dresses when the groom's mother might also need a great dress? :)

Slate or deep purple would look great with so many color palettes, don't you think?

By Jennifer

As I was browsing Shiny Orb today, my mind drifted away from wedding dresses and bridesmaid dresses over to reception dresses. The reception dress should be just as important as the wedding dress, don't you think? After all, the reception will be going all night, people will be taking tons of pictures, and as the bride, it's another opportunity to stand out and be the center of attention. :)

Me, personally, I'm a fan of bright, vivid colors when it comes to evening gowns. I love how Tony Bowls dresses are so elegant and so dazzling at the same time. These floor length evening gowns look spectacular. I have to admit that dresses from the Tony Bowls Collection can cost a pretty penny, but that pretty penny sure gets you a pretty dress! What's your favorite Tony Bowls dress?

By Jennifer

Which little girl doesn't dream about being a princess? After seeing a real royal wedding last Friday, I'm sure little girls everywhere have started dreaming of marrying a prince. For now, though, I came across these adorable flower girl dresses from the Disney Princess collection. Amazingly, they are only $40 each! Super affordable! So, how about letting that special little girl in your wedding party dress like a princess?

By Jennifer

Hope everyone had a great Easter! Easter always reminds me of bunnies and spring and... green grass! Today's inspiration is a selection of short and sweet, green bridesmaid dresses. Okay, the last one is not so short but I love the color!

By Jennifer

Last week, I featured no-nonsense, no-poof wedding dresses. This week, I found a dressing room of wedding dresses with awesome tiered skirts. Those who are opting for the sleek sheath look need not apply but those of us who love the elegance of the princess wedding, these tiered dresses are fabulous!