Planning a rustic chic wedding? In New Hampshire, where barns, farms and covered bridges are plentiful, the theme is a wonderful compliment to the beauty of the area.
While the setting itself acts as a natural, rustic backdrop for the big day (think outdoor weddings in barns, meadows, backyards, wineries, and gardens), it’s the details that really bring home the rustic theme. Many wedding providers have expanded their inventories to meet the cry for rustic inspired accessories. And, with websites such as Pinterest there is a wealth of inspiration at your fingertips.
Ideas for Your Own Rustic Wedding
Colors
If you’re struggling to decide on your wedding colors, simply take a look around. Rustic wedding colors should be inspired by hues from nature–wildflowers, natural stone, bark and wood tones. Many colors from Pantone’s (Pantone is the leader in setting color trends and many wedding planners, clothing designers and more refer to this report to guide their color choices) are pulled from nature: placid blue, violet, hemlock, sand, and radiant orchid.
Photo credits J. Harper Photography.
Food
Even cakes are getting inspired by the rustic chic theme. Fondant masterfully transformed to look like bark is a popular cake design for NH weddings. Incorporating live flowers and presented on log rounds is another rustic idea. Dessert tables set with homemade, seasonal favorites (think apple pie, blueberry-filled pastries or mom’s famous cookies) have also increased in popularity for the rustic themed wedding.
Flowers
Wildflowers, sprigs of berries, and sprays of cattails or ornamental grasses replace traditional bouquets of roses, lilies and ivy. Decorating with seasonal objects is also a popular rustic chic wedding trend – think pumpkins, colorful cabbage flowers, and hurricane lamps filled with apples, cranberries or tree branches. For tented weddings tree branches can be secured to tent poles to bring the outside in.
Linens
Traditional burlap, which tends to be scratchy and expensive, is being replicated by linen providers in a faux burlap material that is soft, durable and affordable. Many event rental providers offer faux burlap linen rentals in rectangle, round and table runner sizes. Linens with flowers, leaves or vines embroidered into the fabric add a touch of the outdoors.
Photo credits Birch Blaze Photography
Seating
Opting for wood or wood-toned chairs adds warmth and compliments the rustic feel. While not practical for a sit down dinner, rustic benches or bales of hay are unique seating for the wedding ceremony. We’ve even seen lounge areas created with hay bale seating.
Photo credits Aaron Nicholas Photography
Tables
The latest trend is farmhouse tables. Due to their weight and design, farmhouse tables are considerably more expensive than outfitting a standard table with linens. If your budget is tight, but you love the look, consider limiting the use of a farmhouse table to the buffet, cake table and seating/sign-in table.
One final note
You’ll save time and money spent on delivery charges by consolidating your “must haves” through a small group of vendors. Most full-service rental providers will carry a large selection of chairs, tables, linens, and tableware, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they will carry every variation of a style. If you can’t find a provider whose inventory meets all your needs, consider whether your item is worth the cost to engage another vendor.
This article was originally published in the 2014 Lakes Region Bride Magazine.
