Ask Abby…A Literary Bride
Question 2: My fiance and I are English graduate students. We met working as writing tutors at our university, then we traveled to London to study British literature as undergraduates. Obviously we’re a bookish couple – and literature makes up a large part of our own romantic narrative.
I want to incorporate the literature we’ve read into our wedding. We love all the British classics – poetry and novels. I’ve thought that perhaps an old British library look would be a good stylistic fit: leather-bound books, heavy brass-studded armchairs, tweed, exotic artifacts from the East Indies. Problem is, I also want to give my wedding a lot of color. I don’t know exactly how to accomplish both at once.
Are there colorful directions I could take a literary theme? I’m thinking either deep jewel tones (royal blue, deep purple, olive green, magenta) or a more fiery combination (red, fuchsia, orange, yellow). Will these work with Old English, or will I have to sacrifice my more exotic color palette? I’d really appreciate your stylistic expertise here.
Any tips for this cute literary bride??
Answer: I think that designing a wedding based on a mutual loves is, well, brilliant. It’s the perfect way to celebrate something that you love while allowing guests to get a glimpse inside your personalities. For me, there are really different ways to approach a library styled wedding. One, like my dear friend Laurie, you could have your reception in an old, absolutely elegant library. With gorgeous white flowers, timeless china and stemware, cream or taupe colored linens…it would be a study in unabashed luxury.
Or, you can add a touch of whimsy. Here is the board that I came up with based on a more mid-century library style…one part vintage, one part total elegance…
Images, Right Row: Flowers by Bastian + Skoog and Artfool / Left Row: books by Penguin Classics on Design*Sponge, library image from google search on Style Forum
Now, take this same color palette and change out the library image to one that is a bit more classic…
Library image on The Steampunk Home
You get a gorgeous, spirit filled look that captures the essence of what this bride is going for!
28 Comments about “Ask Abby…A Literary Bride”
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I definitely think the deep jewel tones will fit with the library feel and provide lots of color!
These books would perfectly set the tone if used as interesting centerpieces, along with jewel-toned flowers and great textiles. There's an opportunity for loads of gorgeous color!
http://www.designspongeonline.com/2008/11/penguin-classics.html
I agree on the deep jewel tones. And I would add gold as an accent color since it is so often seen as the engravings on hardcover books. Another way to incorporate the library theme could be to make paper flowers out of old tea-stained book pages?
http://www.oncewed.com/index.cfm?postID=91
My first question is... have you picked your venue? Assuming you have found a location that provides that perfect British Library look (and in my experience they are pretty plentiful... a university club or a university hall, even some hotels), I think should should totally bring in lots of color! Those types of wood paneled rooms tend to be pretty dark and I think nice bright colors would really pop and look great. This would take some searching but if any of the rooms (maybe during cocktail hour) could have a beautiful animal print rug that would look fantastic. I would also do some beautiful banners with your initials - very British Uni look.... On the tables you could do small vessels like this: http://www.jamaligarden.com/pID_20790.asp filled with bright fushia orchids, red and orange tulips, etc, and have them on top of stacked books.
Rich jewel tones would be a great idea, how about all different shades of purple, and as suggested before opt for gold as an accent colour. Or think traditional British racing green - which would look great with the gold and or purples. What about sending bookmarks with tassels attached as save the dates. And as party favours you could give "EX LIBRIS" book plates or a beloved book (esp. as some of the classics are reasonable priced). Consider naming each table from one of your favourite books or authors, and instead of table numbers use the actual book itself. You could use library cards as escort cards. And have a cigar lounge for the guys to retire to after dinner. Have your ceremony programme in a booklet form. And for your bridal shower visit this link for ideas:http://www.styleguide.com.au/issue7/bookclub.php
A friend had a "litterature" wedding too and chose a dark red along with ivory for her colors. It came out really nice.
But with the combinations you suggest, I'd go for the deep jewel tones too : dark red or magenta, royal blue, deep purple (feel the green would be too much) enhanced by golden touches...
Makes me think of heavy fabrics like velvet and so on too...
Immediately, I thought the jewel tones would work the best. But then I though, "well, if you enjoy post-colonialist british lit the fiery reds and oranges could work too." Heheh! From one book nerd to another, I think really either way you do you'll be fine. :-)
Everyone has given such great ideas and I also agree with the jewel tones. Although have you thought about the English garden look which could also mix nicely with old books without seeming as heavy. On another note, I have a great picture of a wedding couple taken in a library between two shelves of books. He's very tall and she's standing on a pile of books to reach him for a kiss.It's on pg.131 of the Spring 2007 issue of Bride & Bloom if you have it.
there have been some super-cute bookish-themed weddings featured on a couple of blogs in the past. i believe the following links are both referring to the same wedding, but feature different views:
http://blushevents.blogspot.com/2008/02/real-simple-detail-bookish-wedding.html
http://www.weddingbee.com/2006/10/06/the-cutest-wedding-ever/
i especially think that the jewel-toned hardcover books stacked in the center of the tables underneath the centerpieces would work well for your event.
There is a cocktail bar that I go to which has all it's menus inside old Czech books (the bar is called Lounge Bohemia). Maybe you could do a similar thing: see if you could get your guestbook boook (or find one) which is leather bound, your table numbers could be great works of literature (like Tale of Two Cities), and then as table markers you could have old copies of the books.
We have wooden panels at our hotel, but it still has a bright contemporary feel. You could have various romantic quotes from Shakespeare (or whatever takes your fancy) scattered on plain white backgrounds in some kind of cursive(?) text in a bold color. I think that would look really good...
The first thing that came to mind when I thought of British literature and wedding colors was Alice in Wonderland. It is one of my favorite story books and the idea of colors as the illustrative properties of your wedding sounded like a cool idea to me. I too can see how stacked books, cloth or leather bound could add to your ambiance and add color to your palate.
If you are thinking of going the book-as-centerpiece route you should see if your local library has an annual book sale. I buy books for my classroom at similar sales regularly and they always have a nice selection of classic titles, even hardcover, at amazing prices.
I think you have your own answer...East Indies! You could incorporate all those beautiful jewel tones with a Rudyard Kipling theme. It would incorporate a mix of Victorian and Indian motifs - Peacocks, elephants, tea, silks, stacks of books and dark woods.
We're also doing a book-ish wedding....escort cards will be library cards, invites look like a book, and for centerpieces, we wrapped books we already owned in the colors of our wedding, stacking them in threes, with an open paperback on top (secured open with clear line) with the table number (featuring a quote) sticking out of it. We also wanted color, and I think this will work quote nicely, especially since our location isn't very library-ish: We're able to keep the theme light to complement the venue (in a restaurant surrounded by a beautiful garden with windows on all sides, in June).
SMP featured an online stationery merchant Chewing The Cud a while back. If you visit chewingthecudweddings.com and click "bespoke" you will find their custom invitation gallery. I believe the actual designers have their wedding posted. Their wedding was based on their favorite book "To Kill A Mockingbird". The gallery features endless tips from their book-themed wedding. Definitely worth checking out.
My fiance and I are also planning a literay themed wedding. We chose two main books that would go with a garden feel -- Secret Garden and Alice in Wonderland -- as our primary inspiration. Our colors are rich pinks, greens, and yellows. We are using old tea cups, saucers, and teapots for flower arrangements, using bookplates as escort cards, and are using the book covers of our favorite books as our table numbers.
We are also trying to pull in little pieces from our favorite books . . . in one, the main character makes lavendar toiletries, so we are incorporating a touch of lavendar into our flower arrangements.
Colleen, The Everyday Bride, held her wedding reception in an actual library. She had a deep purple wedding. The result was gorgeous.
http://theeverydaybride.blogspot.com/2008/12/vendor-review-iii-wedding-reception.html
Here's her favorite photo from the day to give you an idea of the look:
http://theeverydaybride.blogspot.com/2008/12/photos-are-in.html
If you go to the Stoneblossom.com website you can check out a wedding that was done using a literary theme.You have to look under venues at Rosecliffe Mansion and I believe it is also on their blog this week. The event planner is a company called "Something Fabulous".
They did all the details items(books,favors, chargers, etc) so their website may also have some great images. The overall color pallette included shades of pink with accents of browns and very soft golds. I know these are not the colors you are looking for but you could easily use warm,bright colors with this look as well! It was super romantic! Take a peek and Enjoy!
Thanks for the pretty inspiration boards and all the wonderful advice! I love the way all these book-themed invitations and plush hardcovers look with the soft, full flower arrangements that have been suggested. I'm definitely going with those jewel tones. And since I'm a DIY kind of bride, I think I'm going to try to pull off a lot of these looks on my own. I live in a historic 19th-century home with large, domed and carved ceilings, a bright bay window, and rich wood all over the place - the (very lovely) location for my small reception. It's a very white house, so I think all these color suggestions will brighten up the whole space considerably for my guests.
I've bought some rich blue toile for table runners (very 18th-century) which I plan to offset with some of those gorgeous purples and rich magentas you've all been commenting with. Also, I've been a collector of antique cloth-bound books for years now - I'm thinking a few of these might spruce up our tables beautifully.
So, thanks so much everyone for all your wonderful suggestions and many, many thanks to Abby for all her wonderful inspiration ideas!
You MUST check out Christina Oth's website... he has a picture of escort cards from a wedding at the New York Public Library that were done as book circulation cards. Such a clever idea that would work for your theme. The table names could be titles from your favorite British classics.
http://www.christianothstudio.com/#/new_york/35
Good luck with the rest of your planning!
Ditto on the suggestion for a university club or library. I recently did a wedding with a great "love stories" theme. We provided classic romance novels such as Jane Eyre and Dr. Zhivago. They were very reasonable on amazon well under $5 if you buy them in bulk. We wrapped them in plain butcher's brown paper with a ribbon.It was a great way to top off the evening and the guests loved it.
S Kardell
I am a journalism graduate with an English minor and love the idea of a literature inspired wedding. I immediately went to thoughts of the pages themselves picturing lots of cremes with flourishing black designs and tons of calligraphy and creme anemones. Adding color inspired by actual books you read is great. I have seen some people make toss flower petal or feather holders of old music pages made into a cone but old book pages would add to your whole theme.
I'd also suggest going to www.weddingbee.com and looking at the blogger "Mrs. Lovebug." She had a literature inspired wedding, complete with an adorable typewriter guestbook and hardback book centerpieces. She's really creative!
Hi everyone! We had our reception in a vintage law library and it couldn't have been more fabulous! We ran with a book/vintage library theme - which turned out to be conducive to our super tight (15K) budget, as didn't have to "dress up" the reception site, the library was gorgeous enough! All of our DIY wedding paper carried the "The Story of Us" theme, my favorite of which were my Escort Card Books (inspired by a Rebecca Thus photo) and our library-check-out-card-advice-note-cards. Our library had super dark wood tones throughout, while the books themselves were a variety of deep, rich colors. As a result, our Eggplant & Pomegranate color scheme complimented the existing decor! Yay! The one thing I wish I had done, however, was displayed actual eggplants and pomegranates... But, oh well, live and learn. If you'd like a bit of inspiration, feel free to peruse the details of my wedding! Good luck!
http://theeverydaybride.blogspot.com/search/label/My%20Wedding
It would be awesome to find an open space or an english garden and you can accessorize and theme the wedding with shelves of books you like...and lamps..make some sort of a reading lounge area but in an open space with touches of flowers for whimsical feel. You can even use pile of books topped with small glass vases of flowers with crystals for the centerpiece tables.
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