April (bridal) showers bring May flowers and wedding planning! Sandy Aziz helps us celebrate visionary director Wes Anderson’s 51st birthday this May by giving you Andersonian wedding inspiration.

Once upon a time, you were transported to a fairy-tale wedding – traditional yet unconventional, authentic yet whimsical, and intimate yet undivided. Welcome to a Wes Anderson-themed wedding.

W IS FOR WEDDING AND WHIMSICAL

As if planning a wedding wasn’t stressful enough, the uninvited guest showed up early in pandemic form. However, despite many wedding plans being rearranged or postponed, many brides-to-be are using this time to continue to plan for the future. Suitably, ‘love is timeless’ resonates now more than ever and it also happens to be part of the recurring charm streamlining most of Wes Anderson’s films.

Even with that notion, these days, we have all become a little nostalgic for the past. Things that we once thought seemed crazy by society’s standards have seemingly become the new ‘normal.’ Brides are craving something traditional or familiar, but they have begun to accept, and even embrace, the unknown and the unconventional. All of this is more proof of how we are already organically living out Anderson’s sophisticated realities and whimsical ways. Traditional yet unconventional, authentic yet whimsical – if you will. From Anderson’s colour schemes and the way he dresses up his surroundings and destinations, you too can have your cake and eat it too. Let’s start with something old, something new, something borrowed and….

SOMETHING BLUE

From the red Adidas tracksuits featured in The Royal Tenenbaums to the velvet, ultraviolet suits from The Grand Budapest Hotel, Anderson’s wardrobes are a true testament to the love affair between fashion and film. Among other things, Anderson’s aesthetic never goes out of style.

In fact, per the fashion industry, he is a de facto style icon who regularly informs catwalk trends. A few of the many include Prada since 2013, Orla Kiely SS14, Lacoste AW15, Delpozo Pre-Fall 16, and Bally SS18. Perhaps most noticeably, the usual suspects associated with the director’s quirky style are Miu Miu and Gucci by virtue of bright and pastel colours, school-girl cuts, and playful patterns.

This wedding season’s trends turn to dreamy, romantic looks, often in cooler shades. Rest assured these cooler shades also play to Anderson’s eccentric flair. Your something blue can be your wedding dress and you can ‘say yes to the Anderson’ with Anne Barge’s Emory Gown in steel blue from the SS20 collection. Alternatively, you can try on Prabal Gurung’s goddess gown from his Fall 2020 NYFW collection.

If you would like your something blue to be something different, Hassidriss’ SS20 collection gives us The Royal Tenenbaums vibes via its Pink Echoes and Silent Escape dresses. For more of a Moonrise Kingdom presence, Viktor & Rolf’s Mariage 2021 collection is for you, featuring short, laser-cut flower wedding dresses complimented by collars and shoulder bows. Other Andersonian wedding dress suggestions include French Connection’s Eliza lace fit and flare wedding dress and Daalarna’s FLK 802 dress with a high neckline and a tiered lace skirt.

Thankfully, there is something for everyone and you can indulge in picking an Anderson-inspired wedding colour scheme for your wedding mood board thanks to Beth Mathew’s designs.

SET THE SCENE

Anderson’s colour schemes are as striking as the surroundings lining them. Speaking of surroundings, before directing, Anderson dreamt of becoming an architect. Notably, his architectural attributes manifest themselves at every corner of every scene he sets. His obsession with symmetry, meticulous attention to detail, and carefully narrated storylines make his films visually memorable and place him in a cinematic category of his own.

When thinking about your wedding surroundings and destination, you’ll also likely find yourself obsessing over the details and storyline of the big day. Be it as it may, amid lockdowns and social distancing, physically travelling is unattainable. However, new perspectives have arisen and people are rediscovering their homes as destinations for work, art, study, and more. Genuinely, people are finding new space for creativity through DIY projects and these benefits will spill over even after lockdowns are lifted. If that is the case, you can start planning your Andersonian wedding now by renovating your living room with the perfect new rug from the Mary Katrantzou x The Rug Company collection. Called Botanical Paradise, the rug is part of Mary Katrantzou’s collection Nostalgia and her careful designs were inspired by her childhood ‘paint-by-numbers’ books. Wholly Wes-approved.

For the post-pandemic times when we are able to travel safely, other charming Wes wedding destinations include Rhode Island’s scenic Point Judith Lighthouse and the muted pink Presidio County Courthouse in Marfa, Texas.You can also pay homage to the director’s Texan upbringing in the southern state while celebrating your nuptials.

Crossing the Atlantic, you can find Anderson’s symmetry present in every corner of the picturesque and quaint Cambridge, UK. Besides being deemed an architectural city and also picturesque, Cambridgeshire is home to some of the most stunning wedding venues in the UK.

Finally, you can’t go wrong with the South of France – and you can even substitute your wedding cake for Mendel’s Courtesan au Chocolat. Southern France also boasts the
luminescent ‘blue hour,’ cobblestone streets, and pastel perfect buildings. Hint: Angoulême also happens to be where Anderson is filming his next highly-anticipated movie, The French Dispatch, with a new release date of October 2020.

If all the above was anything less than convincing, then I’d like to make a toast. Cheers to the fact that, much like a wedding, Anderson’s films are crafted with the most important ingredients friends, family, and love. And, cheers to Anderson’s 51st birthday – we are grateful for his whimsical charm, pastel colour schemes, and quirky destinations. All of which, again, are just a few of the reasons you should have a Wes Anderson-themed wedding this season.

So, do you take this article and a Wes Anderson-themed wedding to have and to hold in your wedding planning this season? I do.

You can read more of Sandy’s work on her digital portfolio at sandyaziz.com.

Silent Escape by Hassidriss, photo by Sam Rawadi