From 2009 to 2017, the number of weddings held at farms, ranches, or in barns, rose from 2% to 15%.
Even when couples aren’t getting married in barns, they’re increasingly decorating their venues to look like they are.
The rise in popularity of the rustic chic style is a welcome trend. Creating a warm, welcoming atmosphere and a vibe of casual elegance, who wouldn’t want a rustic wedding?
If this sounds right up your ally, let’s learn about the rustic chic style and how to plan a wedding with a rustic theme.
What Exactly is Rustic Style?
Rustic chic is a trending style that is popular in fashion, interior design, and as a wedding theme. Its overall feel is homey, romanticizing the image of rural life and basking in the style of a simpler, pastoral past.
Keep it Natural
Emphasizing natural materials, like wood, stone, and burlap, rustic design has an earthy feel to it. The tone set by rustic interiors is inviting and warm, encourage a feeling of coziness.
An important part of rustic style is blurring the boundary between the interior and the exterior, with natural and woodsy elements decorating inside spaces and civilized and refined pieces donning outside spaces.
Rage Against the Machine (Made)
As a reaction against the modern world where things are so often mass-produced and indistinct, rustic design incorporates pieces that are handmade, unique, and dripping with character. This isn’t a style of perfection, it’s a style of the human touch.
Color Palette
Recreating the tone set by nature, the color palette in a rustic-chic style is natural, earthy and neutral. Though this may sound limiting, there are a lot of colors to play with!
Planning the Rustic Wedding of your Dreams
There are so many different elements to take into account when you’re planning a wedding it can make your head spin.
Luckily, one of the benefits of beautiful rustic weddings is that less is more. Emphasizing simplicity as a part of your decor will both come off as elegant and give you less little details to fret over. No wonder rustic weddings are so popular!
Location
Rather than the stuffy, hotel ballroom and country club weddings of old, Millenials are opting for venues that give off a more laid back and relaxed vibe.
Barns are a classic option for a rustic wedding, providing a perfect canvas of a wooden structure naturally worn by time and usually a gorgeous rural setting. If you choose to have your wedding in a barn, it’s basically impossible for your wedding to not be rustic.
Don’t stop there though! Check out these barn wedding decor ideas to create the magical rustic setting for your big day.
If all your dream barns are booked, never fear! You can take the rustic style anywhere, though it obviously works better in some spaces than others. In the warmer months, consider having an outdoor wedding in a park, garden, backyard, or at a campground. Other indoor spaces that can be transformed into rustic dreamscapes are old warehouses, old mill buildings, or a beautiful historic building.
Decor
There are so many options when it comes to rustic themed wedding decor. This is also a really fun chance to DIY some of your own decorations, but just be careful not to overdo it and overwhelm yourself! Remember that simplicity is a part of makes a rustic wedding shine.
Favoring natural and earthy tones, take cues from the season of your wedding, for example having harvest colors in the fall or pastels in the spring.
Materials to incorporate into your decor are masons jars, tree logs, burlap, old barrels, lace, apple crates, haystacks, pinecones, and jam jars.
Another great place to find one-of-a-kind decor for your wedding is from your local thrift stores and flea markets.
Lighting
Subtle, romantic lighting can make your wedding venue feel like the setting of a fairytale. Consider placing simple white candles around the room, or maybe candles inside hanging masons jars. Hanging fairy lights on the walls, from the ceiling, or wrapping them around beams can add a beautiful warm glow.
Flowers
A lot of couples who throw beautiful rustic weddings opt to have fewer flowers and more greenery. Take a cue from the season of your wedding and plan your flowers accordingly.
Baby’s breath is a popular rustic wedding flower and can be used in everything from the centerpieces to the bouquet to the bride’s hairstyle.
Dinner
Take the opportunity of your rustic themed wedding to have a relaxed, less formal dinner.
Opt to have a barbecue or a pig roast to complete the pastoral, rural feel of your wedding. Set up picnic tables rather than the standard round wedding table. Let people sit where they choose, rather than agonizing over a seating chart!
Attire
For the bride, a wedding dress with tons of lace detailing looks absolutely stunning against a rustic backdrop. If lace isn’t your thing, a simple, elegant gown will complement the setting of your wedding perfectly.
Lucky for the groom, this wedding theme means he doesn’t have to wear a suit if he doesn’t want to. Of course, you’ll want to take the season into account, but a dress shirt with suspenders or a vest will look great in a rustic ceremony.
A Rustic Wedding Theme is Perfect for Low-Stress Planning
Now that you know how to plan your dream rustic wedding, get out there and start planning!
Remember that this is your day to celebrate the union between you and your partner, so don’t let the planning process outshine the true purpose. Take a cue from your theme and stay relaxed, and be grateful you chose a theme with simplicity as a main tenet! If ever you start to feel overwhelmed, you can always reach out to wedding planners in Napa Valley to help you organize your special day.
Did you enjoy this article on weddings with a rustic theme? If so, be sure to check out the rest of our blog for more awesome content for women!
