Planning an Old-Money Wedding: Timeless Elegance Checklist
An old-money wedding is not about spending the most. It is about restraint: a few beautiful things done properly, a guest list of people you love, and details that will still look right in photographs fifty years from now. Here is how to plan one, month by month.
12 to 10 months out: the vision and the budget
- Write three words for the day together (for example: candlelit, classic, garden). Use them to say no to everything else.
- Set the budget and the guest count before you tour a single venue. They decide each other.
- Look for venues with their own character: a historic house, a library, a garden, a stone chapel. Less decorating needed.
32 printable pages: timeline, budget, vendor directory, guest list, seating chart and a formal place setting guide.
9 to 6 months out: the team
- Book the photographer, caterer, florist and music. Keep every contact, deposit and due date in one vendor directory.
- Choose a restrained palette: ivory, a soft green, and one metal. Timeless rarely means trendy colors.
- Send save-the-dates on heavy card stock with classic serif type.
5 to 3 months out: the details
- Order formal invitations with traditional wording.
- Plan the reception table: linen cloths, low florals, taper candles, and a proper place setting with a charger, two forks, two glasses and a handwritten place card.
- Choose welcome-bag and favor ideas that people will actually keep.
2 months to 2 weeks out: the guests
- Track RSVPs and meal choices carefully.
- Draw the seating chart: head table first, families nearby, friends grouped by who will enjoy each other.
- Confirm every vendor's arrival time in writing.
Think beyond the day: your first home
The most old-money registry is a short one: good linen, everyday china you will actually use, and one or two heirloom-quality pieces for your first home together, like a hand-knotted wool rug or a framed vintage print.
A classic bordered wool rug: the kind of piece that moves with you from first apartment to forever home.
A lovely gift for a honeymoon-in-Italy couple, or a Grand Tour touch for a new study.
The week of
- Write a day-of timeline and give a copy to one trusted person who is not you.
- Pack an emergency kit: needle and thread, stain pen, pain reliever, blotting papers.
- Then step back. The planning was the work; the day is for you.
To keep it all in one beautiful binder, the Timeless Elegance Wedding Planner is a 32-page printable built around this checklist, on launch sale for $15 through November 30. Browse it in the shop, or read How to Host an Elegant Holiday Dinner for more table-setting ideas.