A rustic wedding without a planner or decorator

Choosing a location depending on the season

The best time for a rustic wedding is early to mid-autumn. But there are also suitable places in other seasons.

In summer

In the warm season, you can organize everything on the shore of a lake, river or sea. To prevent rain from spoiling the holiday, you need to provide awnings. Be sure to lay paths or boards on the ground or sand.

Another option is a golf course, where there will be enough space for both a banquet and a photo zone. In hot weather, it is better to give preference to a clearing in the forest, where you can hide from the scorching rays of the sun under the canopy of trees. An interesting solution is to hold a wedding in a wheat field surrounded by haystacks.

Articles you might be interested in reading:

1. How to choose the right place for on-site registration: the most original ideas.
2. How to properly organize on-site registration: all the nuances.

in autumn

During the golden season, it is worth taking a closer look at apple orchards or city parks. In the second decade of autumn, it is best to choose a restaurant with an open terrace. In case of rain, which often happens in October-November, you can take shelter inside. Such a place is ideal, because here you can organize colorful photography against the backdrop of yellowed leaves, ponds with swimming wild ducks (if there are any) and swings.

In the forest in autumn

in winter

When the temperature outside is below zero, there is little choice - go to a country cottage or sit in a cozy restaurant. Both must be finished with natural materials - wood, brick, clay or wild stone. It is advisable that the interior of the building include a fireplace. The crackling fire in it will add warmth to the celebration and photographs. Pretentious design is inappropriate here - numerous draperies, gilding, elements of painting on the walls, crystal chandeliers.

in spring

In March-April, country hotels with a calm interior will come in handy. You can also hold your wedding in an old wooden manor. The main condition for this is that the emphasis in design should be on naturalness and simplicity. Wooden or straw furniture, candlesticks, a fireplace, books, paintings on the walls, carts are welcome.

In late spring, at the end of April, May, you should pay attention to restaurants with a terrace or settle down right in the forest. An interesting option is birch plantings, but it is better to avoid pine forests. At this time there are a lot of ticks and various insects that can ruin your mood.

Color scheme for a rustic wedding celebration

Considering that “rustic” translates as “village,” it’s worth choosing something from this list of colors:

• cream;
• white;
• cornflower;
• yellow;
• beige;
• green;
• ivory;
• lactic.

You should avoid too bright shades - purple, pink, gold, red. They look unnatural and are more suitable for the city.

Table decoration

An important point is that you can and should combine colors in your design. To prevent it from looking vulgar, it is better not to combine more than three. Ideally, there should be two shades. A good duo is cream + white, which is ideal for a winter wedding. In autumn, yellow and beige will be appropriate. In spring, green and cornflower blue will be popular, and in winter, ivory + milky will be just right.

Accessories and decoration in a rustic style

When organizing a celebration, you need to think about decorating the following:

• motorcade;
• location;
• important little things - place cards and invitations;
• photo zone;
• wedding dinner.

Choosing and decorating a tuple

The rustic style implies the absence of cars, which need to be replaced with a horse and cart or a modest carriage. Another method of transportation at a wedding is using rickshaws. This vehicle usually seats three people, the bride and groom can sit in the back, and the driver is at the steering wheel. This is an excellent alternative to the “iron horse”, thanks to which the newlyweds will not be afraid of bad weather.

Living flower arrangements should dominate the decoration of the motorcade. These can be spruce branches, rose buds, lilies. Natural fabrics - silk, cambric, bengalin, satin - will help complement them. They can be folded into a bow or a heart, which would be appropriate to fix on the roof of a pedicab.

for decorating a horse ; it should be used to tighten the reins. You can put the same chintz on your back, right on the saddle, the main thing is that it does not slip. It would be nice to put small haystacks and a wooden barrel in the cart.

Registration area

Venue decoration

The main element of the decor should be fresh flowers. If the celebration is planned for the winter, you can use potted plants. You should decorate:

• Tables. They should be covered with natural fabrics - cotton, linen or cambric. It will be beautiful to place candlesticks with candles evenly, every meter, on top. Indoor flowers in wooden and clay pots are required - dracaena, gladioli, ruelia. Pots can be tied with twine. The dishes should be wooden or clay.
• Chairs. It is important that they are wooden; plastic and metal ones should be left for later. It is best to drape them with burlap and tie small bows of white ribbon to each at the back. Benches made from haystacks covered with fabric are also welcome.
• Painting area. If the event will take place surrounded by trees, you should definitely hang pots with greenery from them. Pots with a lawn look especially nice. A large wooden barrel, a table on wheels or an unnecessary bookcase can serve as an arch. It will be quite interesting when the registrar declares the newlyweds husband and wife and they walk through his doors. A separate point is fruit baskets that should be placed around the site. Guests must be seated on chests.
• Important little things. These include invitations, which decorators recommend designing in the form of a scroll tied with straw or twine. The text should be written with a pen on gray paper. The same goes for place cards.

It is important to avoid new things with sparkles; they should retain a touch of antiquity.

To decorate the site you will need carts, wooden barrels, hanging swings, and decorative fences. It would be beautiful to hang window frames, bicycle wheels, and felled trees on the walls. If there are shelves, you can place books on them. Wooden flowerpots with dahlias, daisies, and cornflowers will help add charm to the place. Bundles of firewood should be laid out on the floor, which can be tied with twine.

It should be noted that registration in the rustic style is quite economical. Ideas for a budget wedding will help you save even more and not make a mistake.

Information about the intricacies of organizing a holiday yourself will also be useful. You can read about this in another article.

Special attention should be paid to calculating the wedding budget. Read about how to produce it here.

It is very important not to forget about anything when organizing and planning an event; another article will help with this. It describes in detail what is needed when preparing for a wedding.

Here you can also find a lot of useful tips on preparing for registration.

Style in detail: rustic wedding

Rustic - from English. rustic - rustic, rural. The main features of this style can be called simplicity, closeness to nature, simplicity of decor and even slight roughness in the materials and design used. But this is only at first glance: thoughtful rusticism is a very gentle and sophisticated style, where there is nothing superfluous, everything is very harmonious, and every detail is a designer’s find.

Bride's image

The dress is simple, not overloaded with details, usually with a loose silhouette or with a high waistline. The dress is made primarily of natural, airy, translucent materials and lace. Various capes, stoles, shawls, scarves that complement the image look organic. Shoes should be comfortable, with or without low heels; brides often choose boots with wide tops as wedding shoes. The veil is often replaced with a wreath of fresh flowers, as well as other hair decorations: tressoirs, headbands, fabric and fresh flowers. Costume jewelry is either almost invisible in the spirit of minimalism, or massive using stones, chains, metal parts, wood and leather decorations.

hairstyle in a rustic style should be as natural as possible and even slightly careless: large soft curls can fall freely on the shoulders or can be pulled back. To create a look for a wedding in a rustic style, simple weaving options, voluminous braids, and disheveled buns are suitable. The style of makeup is minimalism and naturalness, a bright accent on the lips and blush is possible.

Groom image

The groom does not have to wear a suit ; he can limit himself to trousers and a shirt. A vest can complement the look. The vest and jacket do not have to be the same color and texture as the trousers; you can choose a knitted cardigan as outerwear. Perhaps the most popular rustic print is plaid. Shoes can be completely different, but not classic. Stylish accessories for the groom in a rustic style: bow tie, suspenders, hat.

Floristics

A bride's bouquet in a rustic style is made up of completely different flowers and often has an uneven, sometimes even asymmetrical shape. Garden and wildflowers and plants are often used in bouquets; they can be combined with roses that are classic for wedding bouquets. Traditional flowers for rustic bouquets include lavender, ranunculus, daisies, succulents, and gypsophila. You can diversify the bouquet with sunflowers, ears of wheat, and various greens. It is not necessary to limit yourself only to fresh flowers; the bouquet can be composed of dried flowers, felt or fabric flowers, and pine cones. The stem of the bouquet is decorated with ribbons, twine, burlap, lace, and various medallions.

The groom's boutonnieres are made in the same style .

Bridesmaids and groomsmen

Ceremony location

Rustic ceremonies are perhaps one of the most beautiful and original. All of them are held in picturesque places in the lap of nature (a green park, a clearing in the forest, a tall tree in a field, the bank of a river or lake, the backyard of your own house) or practically outdoors, for example, in a tent, hangar or under a canopy. A popular decorative element is a wedding arch , made from a variety of materials: branches, fabric, ribbons. The arch can be decorated with fresh flowers and plants in pots.

Place of celebration

The festive dinner of a rustic wedding is held again in the open air , in a tent, an open restaurant, or a wooden hangar. A space decorated with numerous light bulbs, garlands or candles looks very beautiful; a distinctive feature of the style is special lighting . In tents and open verandas, much attention is paid to the design of the ceiling; fabrics, ribbons, voluminous balls made of paper and branches, paper pompoms and garlands are actively used.

Wedding colors

The choice of colors for a rustic wedding is extensive, but the palette must include natural shades: beige, brown, olive, all shades of green. Shades of garden and wildflowers and fruits are common: wheat, lavender, cornflower blue, pomegranate, eggplant, pumpkin.

Decor details

Decor in the rustic style actively uses burlap , from which tablecloths and runners (table runners), napkins, decorations for chairs, and flags are made. Burlap bags that can be filled with sweets from the sweet table are a great idea for bonbonnieres for guests . Burlap is a popular material for decorating various wedding accessories: cushions for rings, candles, glasses, invitations, flower vases. No less relevant are grass, greens, twigs, dried flowers, and pine cones. You can find birdcages, lanterns, decorative pots and flowerpots, glass jars and aluminum buckets instead of vases, watering cans, wooden clothespins, baskets, as well as some pieces of furniture - chests of drawers, tables with drawers, wooden doors. Wood as a material is generally often found in rustic decor. Floral and herbal ornaments, images of birds and horses are common.

Cake and sweet table

To create a cake in a rustic style, natural motifs are used: images of branches and leaves, grass and flowers. Often the cake levels are stylized as wooden logs, and the main delicacy of the wedding party is served mainly on a round stand, which is a wooden cut. The figures on the cake are usually wooden; they can be people or animals: squirrels, deer, moose, owls and other birds. A popular topper is a miniature garland of flags with an inscription or paper figures of the bride and groom on skewers. The cake can be replaced with a fruit pie or a pyramid of cupcakes.

Festive image of the bride

For a bride, the best outfit for a rustic wedding would be a knee-length chintz sundress. In the warm season, you can choose a dress in the Greek style or a model with an open back. Read about how to do this in another article. It should be sewn from light, flowing fabrics - chiffon or silk. Curvy models with a corset and “mermaid” models are absolutely not suitable. It is important that they do not have a large number of decorative elements.

A hat, a sack-shaped handbag and the most simple shoes are intended to complement the bride's image In winter you will need a sheepskin coat. To decorate your hair, you can choose lilies, which will be beautifully woven into your hair. The main rule is no curls, varnish or glitter; they must be replaced with a braid or bun. Beads made of wood, earrings and bracelets made of handmade polymer clay are popular.

The bride cannot do without a bouquet , for the composition of which any wild flowers are suitable - daisies, Lyubka bifolia, dandelions, toadflax. They can and should be combined in one composition. It should be decorated as simply as possible, without shiny wrappers; it is better to simply tie the flowers with thread or wrap them in paper.

Basic touches of the rustic style

Features of the rustic style are rough decorative elements, natural colors, and the use of natural materials. To emphasize the natural style of the wedding, you should adhere to the following recommendations:

• It is required to hold a wedding ceremony in the presented style of celebration at the edge of the forest, in a park, next to a pond, and a banquet - in a cafe or restaurant made of logs and decorated in rustic motifs.
• You can decorate the space only with natural materials: burlap, wooden beams, natural moss, candlesticks, chintz, linen, twine and other similar elements. Arches for a wedding celebration can be made from branches woven together.
• It is recommended to make floral arrangements using wildflowers, spikelets of cereals and other suitable elements.
• The color scheme of the wedding celebration should be made up of natural shades: blue, beige, brown, white. The emphasis can be placed on yellow and terracotta tones.
• You will need to play on contrasts. Decorative elements for the presented wedding celebration should be rough and careless, but at the same time elegant and interesting. The rough logs of the hut or hayloft should be clean, and the light snow-white outfit of the bride can be set off with rough country boots.
• It is better to make jewelry for the bride yourself, using natural elements - it is not difficult.
• Instead of a wedding car, it is better to use a village cart with a pair of horses.

Under no circumstances should you use bright, plastic or shiny decorative elements - this is a sign of luxury, which is unacceptable for this wedding.

Groom's clothes

Groom image

As for the rustic image of the groom , it could be as follows:

• brown trousers made of linen or cotton without creases, slightly rolled up at the bottom;
• black lace-up sports shoes;
• white short sleeve shirt;
• brown butterfly;
• suspenders to match the trousers;
• brown cap.

Another clothing option is gray pants + white long sleeve shirt + brown belt. To this should be added a watch, a tie and a gray vest of the same color. It is better to choose cowboy shoes, in the form of rough lace-up boots, into which you will need to tuck your pants. Suitable headwear include a cowboy and gangster hat, bowler hat, farmer's cap, cap, pork pie, trilby, fedora.

Patent leather shoes with a pointed toe, top hats, caps, trousers with creases, tailcoats and jackets will not fit into the framework of a rustic wedding. They are more suitable for "shabby chic".

The final touch is a boutonniere, which can be made from dandelions or chamomile. No need to use glamorous roses. You can add sprigs of rowan, lilac and “bells” to the composition.

Photo

The undoubted advantage of a wedding in a rustic style is its versatility . You can organize such a celebration at any time of the year, the main thing is to follow the style and be as close to nature as possible:

Selecting clothes for the newlyweds' friends

Bridesmaids should opt for loose long or short chiffon sundresses. Their color should be natural - beige, milky, green, most importantly - not white. Flowers and embroidery are allowed in the design. Among the shoes, flip flops or sandals without heels are worthy of attention. The ideal hairstyle is loose hair, a little tousled.

And this is the bride's bouquet

Groom's witnesses can pay attention to men's checkered linen capri pants, loose beige shirts and slippers.

Scenario

To hold the celebration, you can hire a professional presenter who will create original competitions and a script and will be able to create the right atmosphere. If desired, the bride and groom can draw up a plan for the celebration themselves, and entrust the evening to someone close to them.

In any case, a rustic wedding should be as simple and romantic as possible. As at a classic celebration, after the official painting, the newlyweds walk along a “corridor” of guests who shower them with flower petals and rice. This is where the similarities with the standard celebration end.

At a celebration in a rustic style, you can arrange typical entertainment - tug of war, horse riding, playing gorodki, tag or Cossack robbers. You need to create a relaxed atmosphere. Even toasts and presentation of gifts should not be pompous - all words are spoken sincerely and from the heart. The same applies to the response speech of the newlyweds when they thank the guests for their congratulations and gifts.

Menu

You should put on the table:

• plum and apricot compote;
• uzvar;
• cherry tincture;
• cider;
• Home wine;
• kvass.

The menu should not include vodka, cognac, or carbonated drinks.

Dishes can be represented by pickled cucumbers, sauerkraut, pancakes with curd and meat filling. The priority, especially in summer, is fresh fruits and vegetables. This applies to tomatoes, eggplants, pumpkins, zucchini, and beans. They will allow vegetarian guests not to go hungry. Homemade cheeses, liver and blood sausage, saltison, lard rolls, baked potatoes with sour cream and herbs deserve special attention.

Here you can see how a rustic wedding is decorated and held.

The most important dish is the cake, which can be replaced by loaf or apricot pie. Biscuits are allowed, but it is not advisable to cover them with mastic. If this is done, you will need to decorate each tier with burlap with twine and fresh flowers. For decoration, you can also use maple leaves with rowan branches. The cake must be served on a wooden stand.

Photo zone for a wedding in rustic style

To create the right atmosphere, you will need natural and simple materials. Accessories can be:

• carts, bicycle wheels, antique chests;
• books, wooden flowerpots with flowers, candles;
• bales of hay and bundles of logs;
• benches, swings, straw furniture;
• watering cans and buckets;
• large barrels, fences, stepladders, stairs;
• candles with kerosene lamps;
• bicycles, hammocks, boats and suitcases.

In good weather, you can organize a photo zone in nature. The best place will be the green lawn adjacent to the wedding venue. It is necessary to use trees on which swings and kerosene lamps can be hung. Another good background is a hayloft with stairs.

The main background will be a high wooden fence, old doors or cabinets, which can be decorated with fir branches. The benches can be made from hay or straw, for which you will need to fill several stacks with fabric. You can’t do without signs for a wedding photo shoot, of which it is better to choose chalk ones. It would be appropriate to use hand-made foam letters.

Photozone

A place designed in a special way so that the most beautiful and original photographs can be taken against its background should also look appropriate. When designing any photo zone, you must remember that its first purpose is to be a background and setting for photographs. Often, it turns out that the photo zone itself is perfectly designed, looks beautiful and is in harmony with everything except people. As soon as the characters appear in it, it is impossible to frame the frame; all the charm of the decor disappears, obscured by their backs and heads. Therefore, remember that the photo zone is just a background for your photos.

Editor's choice: How to calculate a menu for a wedding: banquet planning

The use of natural materials and objects that are typical of sweet countryside (not talking about milk pans or dirty buckets), a few large pieces as an accent and a couple of small details are all that is needed to complete the look. You can often see bales of hay used as seats, bicycles, barrels, wheels, old quality kitchen utensils, candles in jars and wooden dies.