Ideas For Planning Ancient Roman Weddings

Ancient Roman weddings are an interesting and delightful way to celebrate your nuptials. Use these great ideas to plan a charming marriage celebration.

The Romans were fond of purple, red, gold, and white, so you may want to include accents of these colors when planning out your wedding. Of course, green is a "must have", as they used a lot of greenery, especially ivy, in their decorating schemes.

Ancient Roman Wedding Attire

The Romans wore more elaborate and richly adorned clothing than the Greeks, which included wearing the "new" fabrics of cotton and silk (although silk was frowned upon).

Jewelry was very popular as well and worn extensively. Toga's were oval in shape and measured 18 feet long x 5 1/2 feet wide.

Selecting a Bridal Gown

Select a floor length, sleeveless, toga-style dress, either in pure white or trimmed in purple, gold or red. Wrap gold braided cord to criss-cross the front of the bodice and wrap around waist like a belt. Allow the tied ends to hang down over one hip. Attach a sheer train to the back of the dress at the waist. Finish off with gold-colored ankle-strapped flat sandals and a gold laurel wreath as a headpiece. Carry a bouquet of Lilies, Orchids, a single Italian Crocus or herbs (the herbs were believed to ward off evil spirits).

The Groom's Attire and His Groomsmen

The groom should wear a floor-length tunic or toga, trimmed in gold, purple or red. Add Roman sandals or leather boots for footwear and a laurel wreath for a headpiece. You could also add a Paludementum cape - a floor-length cape cut in a half-circle and richly decorated.

As for the groomsmen, they could wear knee length tunics with short sleeves. Add a sleeveless over-tunic in a leather-like material and a short cotton cape. Calf-high leather boots or sandals and Roman style helmets would complete their outfits.

Bridesmaids

The bridesmaid dresses should be very similar to the bride's. Look for slim, floor length dresses in white with no trim and use a braided cord sash wrapped at waist (you may want to also do the criss-cross over the bodice). Select ankle-strapped sandals and a dried flower wreath headpiece.

Ideas for Wedding Invitations

• Use a color photocopier to make small copies of a map focused on Italy and make your own invitations using the map copy.
• Cut your invitation into the boot shape of Italy.
• Use postcards of Rome instead of regular invitations.
• Print your invitations on parchment-like paper and roll into a scroll. Seal with wax. Mail these invitations in small round tubes so they don't get crushed.
• Italy is known for its full-bodied wines made from luscious grapes, delectable olives and richly-flavored olive oils. Use these symbolic icons on your invitations too.

Favors For Your Guests

• Give small bottles of Caesar salad dressing with personal labels attached.
• Present your guests with embroidered table napkins. It was the custom for wedding guests to bring their own cloth napkins to weddings and other large events. Once the event was finished, guests would fill their napkins to take home any leftover food. You could add a small card that explains this custom.
• Hand out small bottles of red or white wine with personalized labels.
• The Roman's loved scented baths, so give your guests small glass bottles filled with bath oils or salts.

Table Decor and Centerpieces

• Cover tables in white linens and drape a decorative cloth over the top gold lame.
• Large bowls of fruit make perfect centerpieces: apples, pears, grapes, etc.
• Another centerpiece idea would be to use gold-colored birdcages with a pair of love-birds inside. (Stuffed, craft birds, not real ones).
• Use tall pottery vases filled with wheat stalks as centerpieces.
• Scatter rose petals around the center of the tables.

Decorating Ideas For Ancient Roman Weddings

• Use tall Roman/Greek columns which you could rent if possible, or create yourself from large cardboard tubes (try checking carpet stores or local hardware stores). Wrap ivy down the columns and place urns with flowers on top.
• Drape garlands of ivy or myrtle in front of tables, across doorways, etc.
• Use large pottery urns and bowls for serving food and drinks.
• Other items that Romans often used were sundials, bird baths, reflecting pools, marble garden benches, large pillows and comfortable reclining couches.

Entertainment and Music

Hire jugglers, magicians, acrobats, poets and minstrels to entertain your guests during dinner. These were popular entertainment choices during this period.

For music, the most popular instrument was the lyre. Other instruments used were the lute, organ, kithara (a type of guitar), flutes, tympani (tambourine), trumpets, panpipes, harp and drums. Try to hire musicians that can play these instruments. They could stroll around during dinner, and would also be appropriate for playing music before and after the wedding ceremony.

Other Suggestions

To gather more ideas to use in your ancient Roman weddings celebration, take the time to watch the following movies for additional information on clothing, customs, and decor:

Ideas For Planning Ancient Roman Weddings by Rose Smith
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