It’s no secret how much we heart a good rustic wedding. But throw in some burlap, hay bales and a miniature horse named Arthur, and our “like” turns to “love” in an instant. So when You Look Nice Today sent all the photo goodies our way, and we jumped at the chance to swoon this country-style labor of love. (Oh, and did I mention the whole thing was planned in just three months?) Have a peek through the gallery and pinky promise me you won’t miss J Weber Films’ gorgeous capture of the day!
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From the Bride…Well our story is like many others I’m sure. I saw him, he saw me, and that’s when we knew. Right there at the Chamber of Commerce’s Networking event at the ACME Bowling Alley, we knew we had each found our “One.” Perhaps that was the only reason we had gone, because that was our first and last Chamber event we attended. An then two years later, Tony was down on one knee asking me to marry him on top of the Sears tower in Chicago. We couldn’t have been happier to each be marrying our best friend.
The inspiration behind our wedding was pretty simple. Tony and I love the great outdoors and we love to have a great time. After a graduation party at my Aunt and Uncles log home in the beautiful Yamhill wine country, it took not five minutes after we pulled out the drive to nix our Bahamas destination wedding plan and pull the trigger on our Outdoor Rustic Country Wedding. Did I mention we also moved the wedding date up nine months? That’s right, we had a wedding to plan now in three months!
My husband and I aren’t what you’d call the pomp and circumstance type, so while we wanted an elegant wedding, it was important to us that it was easy going and fun. We were fortunate enough to have such an amazing support system behind us, including my Aunt, Uncle and Cousin who let us ransack their log home (which they have now turned into a wedding and party venue) and my Mom the wedding planner, along with a slew of other close friends and family, Grandma included. Our wedding was a complete labor of love and a family affair at that. Most every square inch of the wedding detail was personally handmade. The inspiration began with a pile of wood scraps my Aunt and Uncle used as fire wood throughout the course of the year. The wood scraps looked like they would make great table tops, so we built our first table out of the scraps and the rest was history. Every piece of furniture was handmade from the tables, to the benches, to the stools. We were having a Country wedding and by golly we were going to make it ourselves!
Burlap was an ongoing theme as it would be used to make pillows for our sectional made out of hay bales, and there were burlap flowers galore. Yes, our flower was Burlap! From the bridesmaids bouquets, to beautiful burlap arrangements, and even burlap on the groomsmen boutonnieres. Most pieces were accompanied with faux hydrangeas and some with even peacock feathers from the log home grounds. The only real flowers used were handpicked wild flowers that were put into mason jars and used as center pieces on our wine barrel cocktail tables.
It was so important to us to have a wedding that was memorable and most importantly fun. The second we said our vows, the BBQ was smoking and the festivities had begun. There was dancing and karaoke into the wee hours of the night, and the 9 pm round of pork sliders and munchies was a big hit! The trees and dance floor were covered in lights that lit up the sky. It was truly an Outdoor Country Rustic Wedding and we couldn’t have been happier with how it all turned out. Oh, and we had a mini horse there. His name was Arthur.
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Photography: You Look Nice Today Photography | Wedding Planning + Design: Sharon Davis | Ceremony + Reception Location: Oak Ridge Mountain Lodge | Cinematography: J Weber Films | DJ/Music: Memories of Muzic | Rentals: You’re Invited Party Rentals | Catering: Flying Barracuda BBQ Co. | Wedding Dress: Sottero and Midgley | Shoes: Michael Kors | Earrings: Alexis Bittar | Hair Piece: Bride’s Great Grandmothers Brooch | Bridesmaid Dresses: Various | Necklaces: Custom, by Chelsea Dezen | Groom + Groomsmen Vests and Pants: Banana Republic | Suspenders: Suspender Store | Shirts: Brooks Brothers | Ties: DKNY