rachel&bryanIt was a perfect fall day for a wedding - complete with an amazing sunset followed by LOTS of dancing and a bit of good cheer.  Many thanks to Rachel and Bryan for not only letting me share their wedding, but also to Rachel for being a fantastic guest blogger. From Rachel:

Bryan and I were at a total loss when it came time to start planning the details of our wedding. I’m not one of those girls who had a scrapbook about my dream wedding since I was five...and he’s a boy, so…he had no idea either. But once you spend a little time on Pinterest (but not too much time or you’ll start thinking your wedding will be a disaster unless every guest gets a $45 miniature terrarium as a favor) and other wedding-focused sites, take a look at some magazines, and ask your married friends for advice, you will start to get an idea for what you like and dislike.

My husband and I landed on rustic chic – not pretentious, but certainly not Honey Boo Boo back woods either. Burlap, lavender and green flowers, antiqued wood and metal fixtures and centerpieces. If any of this sounds like it might be interesting, there are a few things we did for our wedding that you should consider including or doing a variation of.

Semi-Naked Cake

Nope, I’m not being raunchy, although I was a little nervous to Google this at first. If you’re not familiar, a semi-naked cake looks like the icing hasn’t been completely applied to the outside of the cake. There are lots of versions on Pinterest (of course), but here is why I thought it was great:

1.        First of all, our vendor nailed the cake. Classic Cakes by Lori gets an A++. The final cake looked better than the Pinterest pictures I sent them…and how often does that happen??

2.        I don’t love icing. In fact, if it’s not cream cheese icing, go away, don’t talk to me. This type of cake minimizes that heavy icing you find on the outside of a lot of wedding cakes and makes for a very light and fluffy cake experience.

3.        It went with the rustic chic theme. It was a beautiful cake but it didn’t look like it was meant for Her Majesty the Queen.

Wooden Crate Table Assignments

We went back and forth on if seating would be a free-for-all or if we’d keep it structured. Bryan and I thought about the weddings we’d been to, and although we ended up sitting at our table for the meal only and then getting up and moving around, it was nice to initially have at least an assigned table so we weren’t scrambling to find a spot and not annoying people to sit with. Once we decided to assign tables, we Pinterested (ugh I know, I know) some options and found one that really matched the theme.

The outside of the structure is a large crate and inside, little banners are strung across the top that say “Find your table”. Then below, each table has an individual card, listing the names of everyone who’s to be seated there. You can make it as rustic or as fancy as you’d like. We bought all of the materials from Michaels and it did take some time to put it together so if you’re able to pay someone to build it for you (at least the outside structure), it would be worth the money.

Hill Country Grill

Ok so Bryan and I are foodies. But we’re also not billionaires so picking out reasonably-priced yet yummy food for the wedding was a bit of a challenge. We looked at a few vendors, but ended up moving forward with one (Our Lady of the Lunch) that we felt fit the theme the best.

Here’s what we (really just our guests because who ends up being able to actually eat at their own wedding??) ate at our wedding:

  • Hill Country Grill
  • Lemon Rosemary Grilled Pork Tenderloin
  • Citrus Herb Grilled Chicken
  • Assorted Hill Country Sausages
  • Chicken Spinach
  • Sun-dried Tomato Feta Pork
  • Jalapeño Beef and Pork
  • Roasted Seasonal Vegetables
  • Green Chili Cheddar Mashed Potatoes
  • Strawberry Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese and Candied Pecans
  • Homemade Rolls
  • Dessert (supplemental to cake)
  • Miniature pies
  • Pecan
  • Buttermilk
  • Lemon
  • Mexican Wedding Cookies

Everything on the menu was amazing, delicious, real food that we received tons of compliments on. And don’t worry, they packed us a two special plates to eat later when we realized all we ate at the wedding was one homemade roll.

There are so many other ways to make your wedding rustic chic, but I would warn against getting too obsessed with making everything match just perfectly. Find the things that make you happy, the things that represent you and your future spouse and are special to both of you. That’s really the only important wedding “theme” to have!