It’s autumn and the dazzling days of summer shorten as a mellower, earthier ambience touches the countryside. Reds and golds dot the landscape, leaves begin to fall and a refreshing crispness creeps into the early morning air.
What a sensational time for your wedding celebration – and to help you on your way, here’s our gorgeous autumn styling feature. This theme is ideal for couples whose dream wedding is a more intimate affair, or for those who are DIY whizzes, or who are keen to create an eco-friendly celebration.
We couldn’t go past a palette of chocolate, taupe, blue and cream, which complemented our natural country theme perfectly. And if you’re loving this look as much as we do and would like to create something similar, here’s a hot tip… think texture, texture and yet more texture. But first, a location. Take a drive out of town and you will find many wonderful old halls and barns available for hire. They’re the perfect setting for a rustic reception and an ideal backdrop for stunning wedding photos.
With our hall hired, we sourced some rustic vintage trestle tables and benches. They were so worn that their natural wood grain could be seen through old layers of blue and cream paint (think divine photo props). And now to those all important styling details. We presented our decadent chocolate cupcakes – topped with chocolate flavoured butter cream and chocolate shavings – on natural textured timber slabs cut from a fallen tree (a local tree lopper should be able to help out).
You can emphasise the rustic earthy theme of your autumn country wedding in many inexpensive but effective ways: old timber crates, a scattering of golden autumn leaves, or perhaps some brushwood included in your table decorations.
We opted for the striking statement made by the branches of budding magnolia we arranged on a table by the hall entrance. And our fabulous table centrepiece is as simple as it is charming. We placed beautifully shaped driftwood (a walk in the bush or along the beach will afford you plenty of options) along the centre of the table and wove a variety of blossoms, including anemone, sea holly, polaris chrysanthemums, roses, delphiniums, hyacinths, and dusty miller, as well as some chocolate brown lotus seed pods.
This choice of blooms was inspired by our gorgeous bridal bouquet, which we bound with ribbon in various shades of brown, chocolate and taupe, adding a divine chocolate velvet ribbon for good textural measure.
A scout around the local op shops rewarded us with this wonderful vintage suitcase, which works beautifully both as a prop and as a wishing well in which guests can place their gifts of money. And by the way, while we’re not suggesting that you include farmyard friends as props in your country themed celebration styling, we couldn’t resist introducing you to this young cow, who, along with some girlfriends, happily watched our styling shoot antics from the safety of her field.
There are plenty of bric-a-brac, op shops and prop hire specialists around, and it’s worth your while to visit them in search of suitable props. It was in one such shop that we found the vintage cream jug and blue hurricane lamps that made such a pretty addition to our country-style cake table.
In this relaxed country setting, guests can simply help themselves to whatever cake table goodies you provide and we stocked ours with delicious pecan pies presented in lovely favour boxes (ideal for either homemade or shop bought treats) tied with twine. For drinks, we thought our bottles of Napoleone & Co. – apple with pear cider, struck just the right rustic note, although boutique beer or wine would work just as well.
Our hessian table runner adds the right note of formality for a country wedding reception and blends beautifully with our textured taupe linen napkins – and our nature inspired Mode plate ware was the perfect choice. Sugared almonds are a traditional option for bomboniere, and we popped ours into cute little linen drawstring bags, tied with twine and decorated with metal embossed tags.
Our final rustic touch was this divine wreath. Woven from budding magnolia branches decorated with olive foliage, we accented our wreath with white anemone, sea holly, blue delphinium, white stock, ivory roses, navy berries, dusty miller, dried lotus pods and seeded eucalypt. Then, using chocolate brown ribbon, we proudly hung our creation on the hall door to welcome guests to our country celebration.
Style Details
Styling The Bride's Dirary® Photography The Evoke Company, Tableware & Glassware Mode by Royal Doulton, Cutlery Gordon Ramsay Maze by Royal Doulton, Flowers Affair With George, Table Runner, Bomboniere & Cake Boxes Weddingstar, Suitcase Op Shop
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