How to Plan a Rustic Wedding
There is nothing more romantic than a rustic wedding. The crunch of the leaves, a cool nip in the air, and beautiful bursts of orange, red, and yellow can’t help but make you smile. What a perfect time to share your love and begin your life with your partner! Here is how you can plan an ultimate rustic wedding that you and your guests will totally “fall” for!
Rustic Wedding Ideas
Consider hosting your event in a rustic location like a barn. You can make this setting totally shabby chic, string lights from antiquated beams, and excite your guests’ senses with the smell of hay bales in the loft.
Rustic Wedding Dresses
A lace lined dress will work with a rustic themed wedding and enhances a number of figures. Consider trying on an ivory or cream lace cap sleeved gown that is long, flowing, and fitted to look gorgeous on your big day, fit in with your theme, and look no fuss but fabulous. For some added charm, you may also wish to drape a delicate lace shawl around your décolletage as the evening air takes over.
Rustic Bridesmaid Dresses
Have your favorite ladies wear something short and sweet. Look for ruffle detailing, textured embellishments like a knotted or braided halter top, lace, and opt for cowboy boots to add some country charm.
Rustic Wedding Colors
It is essential that you select a color palette that complements your rustic venue décor and ceremony setting. Keep your color palette neutral to adhere to a rustic theme and avoid anything that looks too bold or bright. Hues and variations of champagne, mauve, rust, pine, and taupe tones are perfect and allow nature around you to really be the star of the show.
Rustic Wedding Decorations
The wonderful thing about a rustic wedding is that you can really include hearty, earthy, and natural elements into you big day. Pumpkins, tea lights hanging from fences, an antique cart filled with fall fruit, and even lanterns filled with seasonal flowers and pine cones are perfect ways to play up your theme and are ultra-affordable!
Rustic Wedding Invitations
Your wedding invitations set the tone for your rustic event. Consider selecting an invitation that has a wooden background and is simple but chic. It will be clear to your guests your themed intent.
Rusting Wedding Cakes
Consider serving up your cake on a hearty slab of a tree trunk! You can keep your frosting neutral and add whimsical embellishments like a birch heart façade with your initials carved as the focal point of the dessert and add cascading woodland flowers and leaves around the sides and base.
Rustic Wedding Bouquets
Nothing says rustic like a bouquet filled with seasonal wild flowers and fiddlehead. You may also consider succulents wrapped in twine, or strands of lavender adhered with burlap and a vintage sparkly pin.
Planning a themed wedding is fun and easy to do. Work in some of these suggestions and tips into your special day in order to create a memorable, rustic celebration.
Vintage Chic Fall Wedding by J+A Photography
This next little piece of vintage chic gorgeousness is lovely as you can possibly get. With handmade DIY details infused into every corner, a warm and rustic fall color palette, and the most beautiful flowers to make your heart melt you would hardly believe it was all achieved on a budget. That’s why we know this North Carolina wedding, photographed by J & A Photography is one you’ll want to ponder over again and again.
From the bride & groom: Our wedding day was simply perfect and I could not have asked for a better day! When I began planning for our special day, I knew that I wanted it to have a vintage feel with an elegant touch. Immediately, my first stop was my Aunt Janice, our decorating extraordinaire. I gave her my vision, my colors, my random ideas that didn’t make a lot of sense, and told her to run with it… I trusted her 1,000% to make it perfect!
We had a little over a year to prepare, so we began collecting family heirlooms and portraits to add the special touches to our day. We had old pictures, family bibles, and other special pieces that we wanted incorporated. Aunt Janice turned my random thoughts and MANY Pinterest snapshots into something wonderful and unforgettable. There were many nights spent making flower arrangements and decorations. In fact, every flower (including my bouquet, bridesmaids’ bouquets, and all boutonnieres) were handmade by my Aunt Janice and Aunt Sharon!!! They are some AWESOME ladies! My family and I bagged all of the favors and birdseed and the delicious deserts as well.
The aim was to create my dream wedding on a budget… and we DEFINITELY accomplished that! We truly had a great team on our side that kept things running as smoothly as possible! Of course there were challenges, but we were determined to not let anything stand in our way. The most memorable part of the day was the First Look! (seeing each other before the wedding) I will forever and always be grateful to J+A for suggesting it to me… despite my wishes to be super traditional!! Experiencing that moment… just the two of us… was priceless! THANKFULLY, I have the pictures to help me remember that moment (and our entire day) for the rest of our lives!
Photography: J+A Photography / Ceremony Venue: Sandy Plain Church- Pink Hill, NC / Reception Venue: Duplin Commons (Kenansville Agricultural Center) – Kenansville, NC / Dress: MoriLee from Carolina Bridal World, Smithfield, NC / Tuxes: Busy Bee – Beaulaville, NC /Hair Artist: Hair Exchange – Beaulaville, NC / DJ: Weekend Dance Party / Linens: Cornerstone Florist and Gifts – Beaulaville, NC / Dance Floor/ Rentals: Grand Rental Station – Clinton, NC / Florals/centerpieces: Family + Friends
Santorini Honeymoon Boudoir Shoot
Do you remember Aleksey and Lilia? We featured their stunning destination wedding portrait on the magical island of Santorini and the images by Vangelis Photography were no less than breathtaking. Not wanting to stop there, they decided to continue the magic and have a honeymoon boudoir shoot together. The result? Sultry, glamorous and sizzling hot I say!
From the photographer: This boudoir session gave me a wonderful opportunity to apply my experience in fine art nude photography during my years as a young photography student. I tried to create an outcome that would be tasteful and elegant, because there is really a fine line in the aesthetics of photography between the artistic and the unrefined.
Photographer: Vangelis Photography / Event Venue: Aenaon Villas Santorini Greece/ Submitted via Two Bright Lights
Outdoor California Wedding at Miramonte Resort and Spa
Thank you True Bliss Photography for sending this California beauty our way. We always adore a classic + modern wedding and when you throw in beautiful outdoor elements like the surroundings at Miramonte Resort and Spa, then we know we’re in for a treat. A gorgeous palette of teal blue and white, summery maids, and a handsome groom in shorts, and we’re practically going ga-ga! I can promise you, my lovelies, you’ll love taking in all the pretty!
Photography: True Bliss Photography / Floral Designer: My Little Flower Shop / Reception Venue: Miramonte Resort and Spa / Dress Store: Anthropologie & Mariposa Boutique / Other: Whimsical Gelato / Submitted via Two Bright Lights
Antique Shop Love Shoot by Janelle Rodriguez Photography
We just adore a good engagement session over this way. It makes us feel all warm and fuzzy when we get to witness a blossoming romance and take a peek into the life of a newly engaged couple. And when it’s a gob-smacking gorgeous couple like these pair, snapped in a charming antique shop in Madison New York, then we’re pretty much dizzy with loved-up excitement. Shot impeccably by the talents of Janelle Rodriguez, we couldn’t resist this darling engagement shoot if we tried!
From the photographer: Where do I being with Amanda and Keith? I’ve known these two for awhile now through mutual friends and frequently seeing a band that Keith was in whenever they were local. At the time Amanda was local and Keith was in Brooklyn. Next thing I knew, Keith moved here. Then she moved with Keith to Brooklyn. Every time I saw them they were together. These two were just inseparable. And I’m so proud to say that throughout all this time I witnessed them fall in love and knew they were meant to be. And they are both genuinely kind people that I like to call friends. So what makes better for a photo shoot then already knowing who you’re working with, right? Thanks Amanda and Keith for accepting me and my goofy self! And also thank you for an awesome engagement session around Madison, New York. I had tons of fun baring the heat together, running around antique shops, frolicking through fields, and working with amazing people!
Photographer: Janelle Rodriguez Photography / Submitted via Two Bright Lights
Hollywood Glamour Wedding Inspiration
Pinterest Inspired DIY Wedding From Jordan Weiland Photography
This next little soiree proves the saying ‘Life is beautiful in its simplicity!’ Just ask Michelle and Josh and their Gainesville, FL wedding captured by Jordan Weiland Photography. From the intimate ceremony held in a glass chapel to the sweet Pinterest inspired details adorning the backyard reception, this DIY darling has all the right components for a beautiful budget affair that delivers a lifetime of cherished memories.
Photographer: Jordan Weiland Photography / Dress Store: David’s Bridal / Cake Designer: Publix / Equipment Rentals: Party Time Rentals / Shoes: Jos. A. Banks / Church: Trinity United Methodist / Reception: Groom’s Parent’s Estate / Submitted via Two Bright Lights
