Wedding Wisdom: Rustic Decor


Since 2013 is my year of wedding planning (or I should say my final year of wedding planning, because what girl hasn’t been planning their wedding since they were old enough to walk and hold flowers), I have determined to dedicate a few of my blog posts this year to that which consumes my life.  My first wedding reflection: rustic themes and trends. 

We see these elements everywhere in the wedding planning realm – mason jars, twine, chalk boards, mismatched glassware, wild flowers, bridesmaids in boots, the list goes on!  Here are some examples from Pinterest:







I can’t help but ask myself, what is with this infatuation with Rustic?  Is it an attempt to get away from pompous formalities and expectations in an effort to display one’s creative side?  Is Rustic a movement toward keeping things simple, perhaps to draw the attention away from the things and toward the people, which is what a celebration is all about after all?  Or is Rustic simply a way of honoring nature and showing one’s love for the outdoors?

Rustic, by definition, is unsophisticated.  But is it possible to establish a balance?  For my wedding I would like to create an elegant, sophisticated atmosphere with just a touch of rustic, which I think represents our personalities.  Our wedding will be a formal event, as I believe weddings should be, but the outdoors are an important foundation of my relationship with Jaycob.  (He proposed during a hike, after all!)  Here are some ideas for incorporating an outdoor feel into an elegant wedding event:








Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Pacific Northwest Bachelorette Party

Image
I just returned home from a memorable weekend in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, celebrating my sister, Katie, who is getting married in just a few short weeks.  Four years ago she, as my Maid of Honor, planned the most unforgettable and fun-filled bachelorette weekend for me:  San Francisco and Sonoma Bachelorette , and now it was my turn to do the same for her!  We gathered together a group of twelve women from Boston, Chicago, New Orleans, Salt Lake City, Manchester, Santa Fe, Denver, and Seattle to celebrate the Bride to Be.  I wanted to have some organized, pre-planned group activities, but also plenty of down time for games, lounging, and drinking wine.  While we wanted most of the weekend to be spent at a cozy cabin overlooking the serene water of Puget Sound, we wanted one exciting night out on the town, and I think we achieved that balance.  Here's the breakdown of our weekend events: 1)  Night Out in Capitol Hill We arrived...
Read more

High Altitude Baking: Coffee Cake

Image
Happy January!  I have two weeks left of my maternity leave and I'm trying to make the most of it by spending lots of quality time with Baby Ady before she starts daycare.  It's going by so fast!  While I'm home I've been using my crock pot a lot, working on some yarn projects, taking long walks with Ady and Kua, reading, and doing some baking.  I have struggled with high altitude baking since moving to Santa Fe 5 1/2 years ago.  Cookies turn out okay, but I usually have to make some adjustments with cakes, and my breads are often mushy in the middle and crispy on the ends.  I can get by okay with a few of my favorite recipes that I have practiced multiple times, but it's often hit or miss.  For Christmas, my secret santa got me this amazing cook book, Pie in the Sky: Successful Baking at High Altitudes, that explains the chemistry behind high altitude baking and gives suggestions for adjustments to make at various altitudes.  Ingenious!  ...
Read more

My Bachelorette Party: San Francisco and Sonoma

Image
I have the best Maid of Honor in the world!   Between grad school, work, and preparing to move into a new apartment, she miraculously found time to plan THE BEST bachelorette party ever (and 3 time zones away, I might add).  I had such a fabulous time being surrounded by (and loved and adored by!) all my best friends for four days. The weekend started at 4:30 a.m. Thursday when my Santa Fe friends and I drove to Albuquerque (a 50 mile trip made possible by Panera breakfast) to catch our early flight to the Bay Area.  After a 2 1/2 trip (complete with Bloody Maries, Tequilla Sunrises, Coffees with Baileys, gossip and a few bridal magazines) we landed in Oakland!  One of my dear bridesmaids from Chicago who had arrived a few days earlier picked us up and we headed into San Francisco.  We met up with the other gals, checked in early to our hotel (Parc 55 Wyndahm in Union Square) and set out to explore the city by foot.  Som...
Read more