Weddings

A Themed Elizabethan Fancy Dress Wedding

themed wedding group photo

Tudor & Elizabethan Fancy Dress Photos

By Pauline Weston Thomas for Fashion-Era.comThemed Tudor & Elizabethan Fancy Dress Wedding

These wedding photos are of a themed fancy dress wedding of the daughter of an old friend of mine.  Pat's daughter Ceri decided to have a themed fancy dress style wedding based very loosely around Tudor and Elizabethan times.  These wedding photos show it was a huge success.  Ceri picked a wide time span for her guests to choose a character and was relaxed if they veered off slightly into another era as Robin Hood and Maid Marian did!

In fact she even did this herself.  Her dress was intended to be in true Elizabethan style, but she and the London Dress designer decided that her figure was better suited to a skirt style of a much later period and it pays homage to C18th panier skirts rather than farthingale skirts.  The bodice does show Elizabethan influence in the styling, but the main thing is that it is a glorious silk dress that suited Ceri. See wedding photo below.

The Themed Costume Wedding Group Picture of Ceri and Simon in Castle Style Grounds.

Unless all your friends are avid re-enactors if you choose to have a themed wedding, take a wide time span such as Ceri did, perhaps choose the Victorian era which has several interesting time frames offering a broad spectrum of styles.

Remember that your guests are bound to be able to find something then that suits their character.  Being too dictatorial - everyone must dress only from 1 year, for example from 1883 might kill this type of idea unless your friends were ones you met at a Regency re-enactment or similar!

The Bride Ceri with her Mother ( Queen Elizabeth 1), father and her sisters.

Ceri the Bride in her Elizabethan and Tudor Fancy Dress Themed Wedding Picture
Ceri the Bride in her Elizabethan and Tudor Fancy Dress Themed Wedding Picture

Remember whilst it may be your dream day, the guest may not be quite so cooperative if you are too prescriptive.  Flexibility and just that fact that your friends are prepared to make themselves look fairly daft for your benefit should make you realise that tolerance is required and if you can relax about it then everyone, including you will have great and very memorable day.

My friend Pat is dressed as Queen Elizabeth and I bet that even the BBC could not find a better stand in. She paid £25 to hire her dress! The bride's designer dress cost £4000. 

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This themed Tudor/Elizabethan style wedding took place in UK and most of the guests hired their costumes from local fancy dress outlets and some hired them in London where they lived.  In the suburbs people paid about £25- £40 to hire a costume, but old Henry VIII here paid about £100 in London. But it is fantastic.

For those interested the modern day cod piece was made of foam! It strikes me that these prices are well below what a normal wedding ensemble might cost, when you add in the price of an outfit with accessories.


The Themed Costume Wedding Group Picture in Castle Style Grounds

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