The real Al Capone and Lucky Luciano, during the period of their “turbulent” activity, aroused horror among ordinary people, which was mixed with a bit of admiration for the audacity of gangsters.
Time has softened the memories, and cinema has made legendary heroes out of ordinary bandits, and the famous Chicago “gangster” era of the 20s and 30s of the 20th century seems to us to be a time of uncontrollably courageous people who knew how to risk their lives and put others at risk with exquisite elegance.
The semi-fictional gangster romance lends itself well to creating the backdrop for a fun themed wedding.
Bride's outfit
Distinctive features of the fashion of the 30s are: bias cut dresses, open shoulders, deep neckline. The bride will look stylish in a low-waist dress. You can choose a model with straps. The outfits were made of silk, satin, velvet and chiffon.
The ladies shone in fringed dresses, embroidered with sequins, decorated with beads and rhinestones. A boa with feathers or a stole made of natural fur will perfectly complete the look.
Chicago style is perfectly accentuated by a bold short wedding dress.
Another detail that emphasizes sexuality is the low-cut back. The open shoulders and deep neckline characteristic of the models will ideally complement the “high” gloves – up to the elbow and above. Dresses with layered or asymmetrical hems are perfect.
Gangster bride image
When organizing a gangster-style wedding, it is necessary to prematurely think through the image of the newlyweds. In most cases, only adventurous and dreamy people are able to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of intrigue, prohibitions and crime of the 20s. The main direction in the design of any details of a gangster wedding and images is retro classics with a slight charm of pretentious luxury.
The bride's attire should consist of a luxurious, but at the same time elegant dress. Acceptable styles: Straight cut with a low waist, Bodycon cocktail dress with knee length, Bodycon maxi dress with a slight flare at the bottom. On top, a deep neckline is allowed either in the front or in the back. A short dress made of guipure or satin with thin straps.
The color of the outfit does not have to be white. Cream, red and even black decorations are suitable for this stylistic celebration.
An original moment in the image of a bride can be a dress-up prank, which will surprise not only the guests, but also the groom. For example, during a formal ceremony, the bride might wear a classic black suit with pants and a hat. After the ransom, return in a chic dress corresponding to the bride of the famous mafia clan.
The following accessories can complement the bride's image:
- Low heel pumps.
- A handbag in the form of a clutch or a rag bag.
- Long gloves.
- Jewelry.
- Pearl necklaces of different lengths.
- Feather boa.
- Fur stole.
- Veils.
- Headband with feathers.
- Hats.
- Silk scarf laid with a turban.
- Fishnet stockings.
- Pendant with pistol holster.
Particular attention should be paid to makeup in the image of the bride. For this time, women were characterized by healthy pale skin. Therefore, in a gangster make-up, the main accents are placed on bright red lips and eyeliner.
The bride's hairstyle, regardless of hair length, should be styled in “cold waves” and covered with one of the wedding head accessories recommended for the gangster bride.
Hairstyle
A distinctive feature of almost all hairstyles of the 30s are the waves, which were large and sometimes with a wet styling effect. Hairstyles have a side parting or are done without it at all. The neck should remain open. It should be noted that you need to adhere to the retro image in everything. Instead of a veil, use a neat hat with a veil or a ribbon with stones.
Bride's image
The appearance and behavior of the bride always serve as the face of the entire holiday, so it is necessary to choose an outfit and accessories that are close to the real thing.
Wedding Dress
This style is characterized by dresses that hug all curves, emphasizing the beauty of the female figure with fabric. A deep neckline and an open back are considered mandatory. For modest girls, you can use lace to drape the necklines. The length of such outfits varies from ¾ to flowing on the floor.
Short styles of dresses also look more daring, which is suitable only for a bride prone to adventure. When a girl does not have such character traits, they choose flowing silk dresses in the Empire style, with straps and a triangular neckline.
The color of the material is chosen from a pastel range. Most often, cream shades are preferred, but when there is a desire to wear a white dress, choose ivory or a light silver tone.
The snow-white shade is not used for attire because it goes out of style and resembles traditional weddings.
Hairstyle
For a gangster wedding, the bride has a hairstyle made of cold curls with a slight backcomb.
Long hair was unpopular at that time and was considered a relic of the conservative past, when women were not allowed to cut their locks. Therefore, then the rebellious spirit was manifested in fashion and ultra-short hairstyles. To imitate such styling, long hair is gathered at the back into a bun, which they try to disguise as curls in the styling.
The entire structure must be perfect and withstand the entire holiday without changes.
It is almost impossible to create this on your own, especially in the turmoil of a wedding, so it is best to contact a professional stylist who will create the necessary styling.
Bouquet
The bride's bouquet is small, most often made of roses, peonies or lilies. The shades are white or red, but they should not be mixed, otherwise it will look like a classic wedding.
For the same reason, the amount of green decor is kept to a minimum. It is advisable to completely dispense with decorations and wrap the plant stems with ribbon.
Accessories
Mandatory accessories for the bride are head jewelry. These can be hair or face nets, headbands, hairpins with stones or brooches with pearl trim. Such decorations are well complemented by voluminous feathers of light colors.
Small hats or bandeau headbands would also be appropriate. The main thing is that they do not violate the aesthetics of the hairstyle. Due to the large amount of decoration on the hair, the ears remain open and undecorated.
It is advisable to completely abandon earrings, or choose small studs with pearls.
Jewelry in the form of small feathers, shells, curls or leaves is also sometimes chosen. Either a boa or several long strands of pearls are hung around the neck.
At that time, pendants that were hung on the longest pearl strand were also gaining popularity. Most often they were square, rectangular or round and ended with a fringe of beads.
This addition must be worn by both the bride and bridesmaids.
Groom image
A Chicago-style wedding is one of the few topics where it is worth highlighting the image of the groom. A dark three-piece suit is suitable for a man.
You can wear a classic black suit with white vertical stripes. A shirt, tie and scarf should be selected in black, white and red colors. A narrow-brimmed hat and patent leather shoes will ideally complete the look.
Additional accessories for a gangster-style groom's look include: suspenders, a tie or bow tie, a cigar, a pistol, a cigarette case, a watch on a chain and a cane.
Dress code for guests
It is advisable that guests also support the gangster style at your themed wedding. Bridesmaids can choose shiny evening dresses, long lace or velvet gloves, and fur stoles on their shoulders.
Men can wear formal, dark-colored suits. You can complement the look with accessories that correspond to the gangster style: suspenders, hats, large signets, weapons, cigars.
Guest clothing
Who does a gangster invite to his wedding? Of course, fellow accomplices! The groom's friends must be dressed to match him.
They can be “armed” with dummies of rifles and machine guns. Bridesmaids also dress in period style.
If one of the guests did not dress according to fashion, it’s okay, it’s easy to fix. Men should be given white scarves. For a group photo, ladies can throw on pre-prepared shawls with long tassels, as well as put on headbands and tiaras.
Invitations
It’s worth getting creative when making gangster-style wedding invitations. They can be made in the form of a telegram, postcards with images of gangsters or weapons, playing cards, banknotes. Invitations on aged paper, which you can make yourself using tea or coffee, will look very stylish. On this paper you can print an invitation text for guests, attaching a photo of the newlyweds to each invitation card.
You can make invitations using letters of different sizes from strips of newspaper and gluing them onto a sheet of paper. This way you will receive the necessary anonymous text. You can decorate the invitation with twine. An interesting option for an invitation to a gangster wedding could be a special issue of a newspaper, which announces the unification of two influential clans.
Wedding Invitations for Chicago Style Weddings
If the idea of a gangster wedding appeals to you, pay attention even to the little things. Start with the invitations. They can be made in the form of an old shabby newspaper with yellowish pages that time has not spared. On the front page there is a note about the event, time, date, dress code. You can make invitation cards in the form of a movie poster or a Cabaret ticket, or in a more modern style, but with the presence of typical mafia paraphernalia - cards, pistols, dollars, an image of Don Corleone, and so on.
Wedding procession for a gangster wedding
Can you imagine gangsters without impressive and stylish cars? The wedding cortege must include retro cars. A vintage convertible will do just fine. If it is not possible to rent such a rarity, a stylized limousine will do. The decor of the car is fresh flowers, ribbons, for a thrill you can give the witnesses a machine gun or a couple of pistols. For guests, you can order a Chicago-themed bus, all of whose sides are littered with bullet marks.
Chicago style wedding dresses
The bride should pay attention to a fitted and tapered dress in white or beige, low-heeled shoes and, of course, stockings. Mandatory elements of a woman's outfit are gloves, feather boas or fur capes, and wide-brimmed hats. Also, the bride should not forget about the legendary “cold wave” hairstyle originally from Chicago; the hair can be decorated with flowers or a hairpin. The makeup is bright, all the attention is focused on the eyes and lips; in Chicago they still adore bright women.
The groom's suit should also correspond as much as possible to that era. A dark suit with small stripes, a shirt with suspenders, pointed vintage shoes, a cigar, and a hat. To look more like a mafioso, you can wear a holster with a toy pistol under your jacket. Men's hairstyle - hair neatly combed and styled with gel.
For a Chicago style wedding, wedding dresses from a retro wedding are also suitable.
Dress code for guests . Be sure to warn your guests in advance about the theme of the wedding celebration. Of course, not everyone can afford to buy outfits in the style of the 30s, so it is advisable that girls wear evening dresses or black trouser suits, a shirt with suspenders and a tie, and men should choose striped suits. Ask women to style their hair in light, loose waves and wear bright makeup. If someone has a cigarette holder, its presence is welcome at such a celebration. It will be a wonderful addition to a lady’s image, giving it elegance and mystery; among jewelry you should give preference to pearls. The image of a male gangster will be complemented by a pistol, cigar or hat.
Make sure you have accessories for your guests in advance. At the entrance to the banquet hall, place a small table with themed trinkets: suspenders, feather boas, cigarette holders, gloves and lighter pistols. Let each guest choose an element of the costume that he or she likes.
Auto
For a wedding cortege, it is preferable to choose expensive retro cars. You can use the Rolls Royce rental service.
Avoid license plate stickers, hood toys, ribbons and balloons. Everything should look discreet and elegant.
Hall decoration
All gangster holidays were noisy, but quite secret, so you should look for a hall in the basement or a hall with small windows, which is artificially illuminated. Using the decor of the banquet hall, you can try to recreate the necessary atmosphere. Use various feathers or boas, heavy curtains, antique candelabra. Decorating the hall in black and white with the addition of red will create the perfect backdrop for a gangster wedding.
The hall can be decorated with playing cards, fake dollars, posters of popular stars of the 30s. Decorate the walls of the hall with photographs of your guests with the note “Wanted!”, This will fit perfectly into the overall theme and will amuse the guests.
You can find a restaurant or bar decorated in a gangster style.
A small room with dim lighting and soft leather sofas will create the necessary atmosphere of mystery.
Design of a banquet area for a wedding in a gangster style
Use red, black and, if necessary, white colors to decorate the hall. A great idea would be a hall decorated with large black and white photographs - these could be photos of the newlyweds and their guests, or photographs of New York or some celebrities of the last century. Place playing cards, artificial dollars or casino chips on the tables. You can also use floral arrangements of red roses. Dim the lights in the room and place candles throughout the room.
Photoshoot
Be sure to have an unforgettable costume photo shoot that will forever capture wonderful memories of your Chicago-themed wedding celebration.
Color palette
The color scheme that should be present when decorating a room for a wedding celebration is white, black and red.
It was precisely this palette that American restaurants were most often decorated in those years. Monochrome is also an excellent combination: black + white.
Musical arrangement
It is worth paying special attention to the musical accompaniment of a wedding in a gangster style.
You can try to get an old gramophone and play, for example, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller.
In the 1930s, jazz big bands were very popular, so inviting a live jazz group would be an ideal option.
If it is not possible to hire musicians, a good option would be background accompaniment: soundtracks from gangster films and musicals in the style of Chicago of the 30s.
Entertainment
The newlyweds' first dance will open the entertainment program at the gangster-themed wedding.
The evening program must include fiery dances: tango, twist, foxtrot, swing. Invite professional dancers. Have a couples competition after a short lesson on basic movements.
As entertainment, any gambling games will be appropriate - poker, roulette, cards. You can use the casino rental service.
The gangster party should leave not only memories, but also unique photographs. The shooting can be done next to cardboard cutouts of gangsters or movie stars of the 30s. A gangster car cut out of cardboard will make a great backdrop for a photo shoot. If you rent a model of a rifle or machine gun, there will be no end to those wanting to take pictures!
It is known that in the 30s there was a fashion for mysticism, esotericism, and the occult. Paying tribute to these phenomena of the beginning of the last century, you can invite an illusionist or magician to the holiday, who will amaze everyone with his skill.
Think carefully about the competition program; it should be organized in a gangster style. For example, you can organize a competition for teams in the form of a kind of intellectual shootout. The team that gives the most correct answers to gangster-related questions will win. Set up a quest to search for smuggled alcohol by handing out cards with clues to the teams. A game of raid will amuse the guests. To do this, the teams need to be given a suitcase with fake money. At the command “Roundup”, players must hide as many bills as possible on themselves.
As a reward, you need to prepare symbolic prizes and souvenirs. These could be gangster-themed books or movie CDs, decks of cards, small bottles of alcohol, movie tickets. You can invite a cartoonist to a Chicago-style wedding, who will depict the newlyweds and guests in his works during the wedding celebration. Such portraits will remain with everyone as a long-lasting memory of a wedding in a gangster style.
Decor
It takes work to create a wedding that comes out of the past.
It is necessary to pay attention to the details that made up the life of gangsters of that time and translate this into a wedding. Only things that look vintage and were popular during that period of time are acceptable, for example, a feather or a glove.
Venue Design Elements
Basements or remote houses with darkened windows are suitable for holding a wedding banquet. The interior is designed in dark colors, with black and wooden surfaces predominating.
The tables and chairs are made in a vintage style; if a tablecloth is used, then choose either a cream-colored lace or rich shades of dark garnet or emerald.
It’s good if the canvas contains abstract embroidery patterns in the same color. Be sure to have openwork towels or napkins. The color of the walls should be dark or faded, inexpressive, showing that the place was chosen only for its safety. But the best look will be the brickwork. Against the background of rough wall decoration, there should be elaborate interior elements, such as gilded frames and furniture decorated with carvings.
As well as other touches that can be easily transferred to a new place, escaping from the pursuit of police raiding alcohol distributors.
Invitations, bonbonnieres and other accessories
Printed products of the 1930s are most often associated with a boy on the corner, inviting people to buy a newspaper and shouting out the latest news.
Therefore, it is best to make invitations for guests in the style of the editors of those times, using similar fonts. Sometimes they use yellowish paper and the classic wanted poster format that is so popular in films.
It’s especially chic when the cards are made in the form of aged playing cards. Bonbonnieres are made from small light-colored boxes that are decorated with feathers, beads, and dark-colored ribbons.
Sometimes they add inscriptions, which can be either black or red, but must be created using elaborate fonts, or handwritten.
Treat
At a gangster-themed wedding, it is better to choose traditional American dishes as a treat. Beef steaks, steaks, and cheese and meat casseroles are excellent options for main courses.
A very interesting dish is Chicago-style deep-dish pizza, which is more like a pie.
Great snacks for a gangster-themed wedding include Chicago-style hot dogs, as well as a variety of sandwiches, cheeseburgers, hamburgers and fishburgers.
Alcohol should be represented by an abundance of whiskey and various types of beer.
Alcohol is best served in decanters. You can put milk, juice or water labels on alcohol bottles.
At a gangster-themed wedding, cocktails are a must. Strong alcohol was mixed with juices and other ingredients to disguise illegal drinks in case of police intervention. The base for such cocktails can be gin, cognac, vermouth, rum, or champagne.
The main decoration of the banquet table will be a luxurious wedding cake.
The dessert menu will be complemented by all kinds of cheesecakes, pies, cupcakes, pancakes, muffins, donuts, cupcakes and other goodies.
A wedding in a gangster style will definitely become an important and unforgettable event, and will also leave bright and pleasant impressions on all participants in the wedding celebration. Be happy!
Accessories for a gangster wedding
For such a wedding, it’s worth thinking about invitations in advance. For example, you can design them in the form of an old newspaper with pages yellowed from time to time. On the front page of such a “newspaper” there will be a note about the upcoming wedding event, as well as a column describing the dress code, time and place.
It is worth preparing gifts for guests and banquet cards in the same style. For example, bonbonnieres in the form of a game cube, in which you can put miniature cards or dragees in the form of decorative bullets, will look original.
Table numbers and table settings should also match the theme of the celebration.
And, of course, the wedding cake should have a gangster look!
