Rustic Wedding Series – 3
If you missed previous posts in our rustic wedding series, you can check out reception decor part 1 here and reception decor part 2 here! Today I will be sharing ceremony decor ideas.
Rustic Wedding Series – Part 3, Ceremony Decor
Ceremony Focal Point – a tree, not an arch!
Choosing a tree as a focal point was a beautiful natural choice. We wanted to add a little definition to it, so we bought artificial flower strands at Michael’s and secured them to the tree using twine and several nails. We rented a barrel and used it as a stand to display our unity reaction. This unity reaction was super fun, I’ll describe it a little bit later.
Chair Decorations
Of course I wanted to get some fancy pants chair like this..
But I wasn’t going to fork over $5+ per chair. So we ended up going with simple black folding chairs. We made our own tulle puff balls with burlap and attached them to the inside aisle chairs.
Here are 2 different tutorials for making tulle puff balls. The wrap around method from Mom Dot and the strip/square method from My Creative Way.
Branch Displays
We also used several of these displays at our reception venue. We used twigs and branches from our backyard and secured them together with burlap. We got a huge (and I mean massive) roll of burlap from uline.com, so we incorporated burlap into a lot of our ideas. The glass jars came from a restaurant my sister worked at, and we filled them with sand to hold the branches in place.
Unity Reaction
Coming up with our unity reaction was super fun. We didn’t want to do a candle or sand, so Ryan (and his smart chemistry brain) came up with this idea and we called it a “unity reaction”. When we combined the 2 blue solutions into the center jar, everything turned clear.
We had done some trial runs, but it was a huge relief when it worked!
Bubble Send Off
And there I am, caught on camera, catching bubbles :-) We ordered about 150 bubbles from Oriental Trading for under $10.
Getaway Car
Made with ribbons and cans. All of the strands were attached to a stick, which was put inside the trunk of the car.
We also made a hanging “Just Married” sign out of wood and paint to cover the license plate. We somehow got it rigged around the trunk.
Wooden Direction Signs
We kind of had a hidden ceremony venue, but we were very lucky because a family friend let us have our wedding on his residential property!
We used wood from Home Depot for the sign and stake and screws to hold the sign into the stake.
Coming next in the series, we will highlight all of the wedding stationary and flower details.
Most photos taken by Crystal Rose Photography.
Looks like a beautiful wedding, and a beautiful day! I love how you decorated your chairs.
What a sweet comment, thanks Meredith!
Loving this Beth -especially the unity reaction. I think it’s little touches like that that make the day memorable. I’m thinking of documenting my wedding on my blog too – I’ve seen a couple people with posts on their wedding lately and I live reading what other people did.
I would love reading about yours :-)
Ohhhh I love it Beth, what a lovely wedding, you were beautiful too!!!
That is an unforgettable day, isn’t it?… I remember mine as if it were yesterday I had so much fun!
Thank you for sharing these moments.
Hugs
Cami @ TitiCrafty by Camila
I wish I could do it again!
Everything is so beautiful Beth! :-) My favourites are the 2 blue solution turning clear and then the fun ribbons and cans attached to the car! You look great in your wedding dress too! :-)
Aww, thanks for the sweet comment!
Beautiful! What a lovely wedding and such fun ideas :) Thank you for sharing at Super Saturday Show & Tell! I love to see everyones creative recipes and projects! Come back again next week to party again http://www.whatscookingwithruthie.com Have a fabulous week :) xoxo~ Ruthie
Love all of the beautiful details and the unity reaction was so clever!! Thanks for sharing with us this week at Monday Funday!
Take care,
Trish
Ok, what you did with that tree is stunning! You had a beautiful wedding.
I have my wedding post coming up too :)
Thank you for linking to Raising Imperfection.
Please come back Friday to see if you were featured. :)
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¸.•*´
(¸¤ Lanaya | xoxo
http://www.raising-reagan.com
Everything looks so beautiful! Newest follower. ~Angela @ HickoryTrail
Thanks Angela! I am going to take a peek at your site!
So much planning for a perfect day! Beautiful.
Yes, so much planning is right!! Thanks Nancy!
Wow! What a gorgeous setting and wedding! Love the details.
Thanks so much for linking up at the Real Family Fun link party! Hope to see you next week.
KC
Thanks KC!
Super cute ideas!
Thanks my friend!
visiting from take a look tuesday. This is great planning and love the budget. So effective without the hideous cost
Thanks for coming by Karen! I am heading to your site now :-)
What a great idea for the tree! Love the unity “reaction” too!
Cyndee, I appreciate you coming by!
Oh wow I LOVE the flowers on the tree! Everything is so pretty.. Off to look at parts 1 and 2 now :)
Thanks Jessie :-)
How fun! Your photos are gorgeous, I would love for you to share them at our new photography link party!
http://www.whistleandivy.com/2013/04/photog-show-and-tell-2.html
Hope to see you there!
Oh this sounds like fun!!
What great ideas! Your wedding looked formal (tuxes, gowns) yet simple and down to earth, incorporating a lot of nature. I’m pretty sure that’s a style my daughter will want. Maybe less formal wear, but I never know anymore. :-)
Janet
Thanks Janet! I changed my mind tons of times before everything was nailed down!
How creative you are! Love the tree as a focal point — nicely done. Looks like a fun wedding and a very special day! Thanks so much for sharing on Busy Monday!
Thanks so much for sharing this post at Photog Show and Tell! Hope you come by next week for party #3. Have a wonderful week!
Thanks Bethany!
Just cute ideas!! I loved reading about your wedding. You are so gorgeous – love your wedding colors. Thanks for linking up at Romance on a dime!!
Beautiful pictures! I love your venue. The flowers on the tree is very lovely. We are planning a rustic or backyard wedding. We are really early in our planning mode, so these are some wonderful ideas for me to keep in mind. Thanks for sharing at Photog Show and Tell Link Party!
Good luck with all of the planning!
Can you please give details on what chemicals were used for the blue water combining to become clear.
Hi Jared, we used disappearing ink and added vinegar to change the color. If you google that, directions should come up!
I wish I knew what was the blue & clear liquid. Love to use this.
Hi, I really like your unity reaction, but have been unable to find what solutions are able to start out blue then become clear when combined, would you be able to share the reaction with me? Thanks.
After consulting with my husband (the chemist!) this is what he said:
What we did is use disappearing ink (you can find it online). Then we just diluted it into a solution of sodium hydroxide (lye) and that made the blue solution. In the unity jar (the middle one) we had lots of vinegar. Pour the blue solution into the vinegar (middle jar) and it turns clear!
You’ll have to play with the proportions in order to get it to work efficiently. The key is to use just enough sodium hydroxide to get the solution to stay purple. But the more you add, the more vinegar you will have to add to get it to change to clear.
I hope that helps!
Thank u so much sharing this idea. It is so excited.I like the creativity in wedding decoration.I can’t wait for it. Iove to see your wedding pictures.