Rustic Elegance

In an earlier post, I talked about themes - you can read about it here. I expressed my frustration that choosing a theme felt overwhelming and restricting.

But, as I said in that previous post, I think a theme can emerge in the details. I didn't start out the wedding plan process with a specific theme in mind. Rather, a theme seemed to emerged from the things I like.

The fall season keeps coming into play. I don't exactly have a typical two-color scheme, but rather I love plum for my bridesmaids dresses and like the way the fall colors will really pop against the dresses.

I seem drawn toward rustic, outdoorsy elements like in these pictures:

But we're not having a barn wedding or an outdoor ceremony, and our reception venue isn't exactly rustic.

I've been afraid that I'm trying to pull in an element that isn't really going to work with our venue. But when I started thinking about my gown which is beaded and beautiful, and the plum bridesmaids dresses which have an elegance to them as well, I realized when I pull it all together it's more of a rustic elegance. We don't have to be in a barn to have a rustic wedding. We can bring in those natural elements and tie them together with the pretty plums and candles that have a more elegant feel.

Lantern Centerpieces

It seems every other wedding-related decision I make, I second guess myself. I thought I had decided on the submerged flower with a floating candle centerpieces. But I couldn't stop thinking about these beautiful lanterns I found in the seasonal section of a local store.

I love the brownish/copper color. These are perfect for fall. At about 13 inches tall, they're just the right height for the center of the table without interfering with guests line of vision while seated.

I found some pictures of beautiful lantern centerpieces:

I think the lanterns give a nice rustic, fall feeling and with candles inside the lanterns and votive candles on the tables I can still create a romantic look. We can dress it up with some flowers and/or fall leaves.

The lanterns also come in a larger (19 inch) and smaller (9 inch) sizes that we can use in other areas of the reception hall. Here is a picture of the larger lantern with three candles:

Lantern centerpieces are more in line with the look I am trying to achieve. Now I can incorporate the rustic theme with more fall decorations (more on that to come!)

We booked our Church!

When we started looking for venues for our reception, I started with a very broad range of search parameters. I spent a lot of time and did a LOT of research before I finally narrowed it down to the more realistic options.

So once we (finally) booked our reception you would think I would have taken a better, more direct approach to finding our ceremony site. You would have thought wrong.

Once again, trying to think outside the box, I considered a wide variety of options. I looked at galleries and museums, barns and B&Bs. Most of these options I found to either be outside our budget or not large enough to accommodate our wedding party. I had to rule out an outdoor ceremony simply because the weather at the end of September in Western, New York can be pretty unpredictable - so that ruled out the gazebo at our reception site as an option.

After coming to terms with the fact I wasn't having any luck finding a unique ceremony location with an intimate, cozy feel, I began looking at local churches and non-denominational chapels. Finally, we found something that was just right for us. This church is welcoming and friendly and not to mention beautiful with stained glass windows and rounded wooden doors that will make for an excellent backdrop for photos! It has everything we were looking for.

I'm so happy with our choice and relieved to be able to check this item off the list!

Submerged Flower Centerpieces

My latest wedding project has been deciding on centerpieces for the reception. My mom and I have thrown around several ideas and I've finally come to a decision.

I'm all about romantic lighting and having lots of candles, so candle centerpieces seem like a perfect choice. I came across some great ideas:

I love this look with the submerged orchid.

And I love the staggered look of cylinder vases in different heights.

My mom surprised me by sending me a set of vases with floating candles. I couldn't wait to the light them!

I love the look of these - very romantic and elegant. And they give off a surprising amount of light!

The vases are 6", 7.5" and 10" tall.

The next day I picked up some gemstones from a local craft store to experiment with stones to decorate the bottom of the vase.






I started doing some research online and found some great resources for submerged flower centerpieces. Check out the great information on MochaRoseDesigns.blogspot.com

This suggests that the flowers that work best for submerging are orchids, calla lilies, roses, hydrangeas and tulips.

Once I meet with my florist I will have an idea what type of flower we can submerge. That's next!