Maybe it’s a photograph you saw in a family photo album or the stories your grandmother tells about glamorous parties she once attended in big-city nightclubs. Perhaps you read a Victorian romance every summer, or maybe you’re a sucker for all things Shakespearean. No matter what the reference point, many of us are hooked on some sort of historical time period, and while weddings are generally thought to be timeless, it’s hard not to look to the past for inspiration. If you choose to infuse your wedding with hints of history, strive for authenticity-you don’t have to turn your event into something that smacks of a theme hotel in Vegas. Rather, you can evoke the age’s aura with a handful of thoughtfully measured flourishes.

Renaissance Revival

The Renaissance brought about the true birth of creativity — a time when artists were revered and men wrote their lovers prose about inextinguishable love. A Renaissance wedding becomes a buffet for the senses. The air is filled with music and poetry (have loved ones read Renaissance selections from the book The Treasury of English Poetry, and hire a mandolin player to add atmosphere). The eyes enjoy richly embroidered costumes — adorned with gold and silver threads with intricate scenes from legends, nature, or religion — and tables dressed in bold-colored tapestries and luxurious silks. The nose breathes in the smell of intoxicating cinnamon and clove (be sure to burn a few scented candles). But don’t ignore the rawness of the Renaissance feast: guests, seated at long, regal tables and served family-style, can eat with their fingers. The menu should consist of traditional Renaissance fare: quail, goose, venison, and fish. (If you’re looking to get ambitious, include roasted boar and peacock.) Serve warm mulled wine and ale in metal steins. Since the tiered wedding cake has roots in the Renaissance-guests would bring their own sweets and stack them on top of each other — a simply iced confection dressed in fruits such as apples, pears, quince, and currants would fit the part. In keeping with tradition, try to kiss over the cake without toppling it over.

Hollywood Heyday

Pretend you’re hosting the ultimate Tinseltown affair, where the best studs and starlets of vintage Hollywood will be in attendance. Your muses: Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart; Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy; Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers; Clark Gable and Carole Lombard. Rent an historic theater, roll out a red carpet, and light up your names on the building marquee. Show up at the gala in a smoldering vintage Cadillac. Peruse books with photographs from the era to get a sense of the Silver Screen style. Have an orchestra on hand, in white suits and white gloves, to deliver sweeping ballads and jaunty big band and boogie-woogie dance tunes. If you’re partying in a neutral space, you might want to up the vintage vibe by displaying antique movie posters. It’s true that the stars who got married during this era did so with little fanfare, often in a Los Angeles courthouse or a Las Vegas chapel. Still, we’d steep the room in soft, rose-colored light and fill the space with round tables draped in sumptuous, silvery fabrics.

Victorian Invasion

When Queen Victoria married Prince Albert in 1840, she set a new standard for weddings (a lacy white gown, a Wagnerian processional, among other conventions) and many of those conventions endure today. So in a sense, all modern weddings are “Victorian” in nature. Still, if you fancy the civility of the era and its florid, picturesque aesthetic, you’ll want to party in a nostalgic setting like a renovated bed-and-breakfast in the country or an ornate turn-of-the-century mansion set on sprawling lawns and manicured gardens. Tell your floral designer that you want an “English garden” look-elaborate centerpieces combining romantic blooms such as roses, peonies, and hydrangea on antique lace tablecloths. Scour family attics or antique stores for heirloom linens, serviceware, even handkerchiefs to blend into the decor of your reception. For a look that recalls a faded Victorian postcard or valentine, have lots of children at the wedding: imagine your flower girls running around the party in white dresses with rosebuds in their hair. You might also think about having a tea reception, focusing on dainty fine china, authentic English brews, and charming bite-size treats. Lovers of literature can name tables after favorite period poets such as Elizabeth Barrett Browning or Alfred Lloyd Tennyson, perhaps including selections to be read aloud by volunteers at toasting time.