Celebrating your ‘late-life marriage’, as it’s sometimes dubbed, is likely to be quite a different style of event than for younger couples just starting out. Whatever your reasons for getting married later on in life, whether you’ve been together forever and simply want to formalise your relationship, whether you’ve been widowed or divorced, whether it’s your first, second or third wedding, then you should by now know what you like – so let your wedding day reflect this.
Size of wedding
You may not want to invite a huge number of guests; often we find that a more mature couple are selective, inviting only family and close friends that have been a part of your life for decades. An intimate wedding can have a truly magical atmosphere as you are celebrating with only your nearest and dearest. And like any wedding, you can always have a large party in the evening.
Civil ceremony
You don’t need to have a church wedding unless you particularly want to. In fact, you don’t need to get married at all! A civil partnership may be the way forward for an older couple, particularly since this is now available to mixed sex as well as same sex couples. You still have a ceremony and exchange vows if you wish. Importantly you will have the same legal and financial protections offered to married couples.
Wedding dress
It’s entirely up to the bride, of course. It’s your wedding day so wear whatever you want! But often a more mature bride will look for elegance over flamboyance. Design considerations may depend on your confidence – but you may want to think about flattering necklines and whether you’d be more comfortable with sleeves. There are no rules about wearing white, so if it suits you then why not? If you’re not a fan, look at ivory, grey, silver and gold tones – or go for a lovely deep burgundy or green.
Themed weddings
Go on, have a bit of fun! You may like to have a retro wedding where you and your guests wear outfits from your favourite era, perhaps the 1960s or 70s. If you’re not quite that extrovert, you can theme the venue with memorabilia – or keep it simple with pretty, vintage place settings – always very elegant. Dig out some old photographs and create a display that marks different times in your lives – did you really one sport that perm/moustache/bell bottoms?
Wedding gifts
You’re unlikely to need the sort of gifts that a young couple ask for. You can opt to tell your guests that you’d rather not have gifts but would love a donation to a charity of your choice instead. Of if you are planning a honeymoon, guests may like to give you something towards this.
As a Devon wedding venue with over 25 years’ experience, Escot has hosted plenty of weddings for more mature couples. We are here to make sure that you get the wedding you want, and one that your guests will truly enjoy.
