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22 Rustic Wedding Ideas: How to Incorporate Natural Elements into Your Big Day

Rustic weddings have been on the rise in recent years for many reasons, but one of the main ones is that they are so customizable. Rustic weddings can be either modern or traditional depending on what you want them to look like. In this blog post, we will go over a few of the most popular rustic wedding ideas and how to incorporate natural elements into your big day.



Setup a Rustic Dessert Table

One of the easiest ways to add a rustic touch to your wedding is to have a dessert table. You can either make your own desserts or buy them from a bakery.

If you want to make your own desserts, there are lots of recipes online that use natural ingredients like fruits and nuts.

Or you could go for a more rustic look with pies, cookies, or scones. If you want to buy desserts from a bakery, there are lots of bakeries that have rustic-themed baked goods nowadays so all you have to do is find one and order your desserts!

22 Rustic Wedding Ideas: How to Incorporate Natural Elements into Your Big Day
Image: sweetstyle.com.au

Get Rustic With Your Menus

Another way to add a rustic touch to your wedding is by using natural elements in your menus. For example, you could use a wood burning font to write out the menu items or have a paper menu with flower petals pressed into it.

You could also use edible leaves or flowers as decoration on your menus. If you’re feeling really adventurous, you could even try your hand at making your own calligraphy!

22 Rustic Wedding Ideas: How to Incorporate Natural Elements into Your Big Day
Image: Etsy – EveryEventStationery

Create Place Settings Using Natural Elements

You can make a centerpiece for each table out of potted flowers, small hanging plants, or floating candles in mason jars filled with water and flowers.

You could also make a centerpiece out of wooden bowls filled with fruits, vegetables, and other edible leaves. Or you could just have a table cloth that’s made out of burlap or fabric with big, natural prints like ivy or leaves on it.

22 Rustic Wedding Ideas: How to Incorporate Natural Elements into Your Big Day
Image: ohmy-creative.com

Mismatching Your Furniture

Using mismatched furniture is a great way to add a rustic touch to your wedding. You can either find furniture at thrift stores or garage sales and paint it yourself, or you could order mismatched furniture from a company that specializes in it.

If you’re going for a more traditional look, you could use wood furniture instead of metal or plastic. You could also incorporate different shapes and textures in your furniture by using wooden chairs with metal legs or a wooden table with a glass top.

22 Rustic Wedding Ideas: How to Incorporate Natural Elements into Your Big Day
Image: tahoeunveiled.com

Hire a Live Folk Band

If you want to take your rustic wedding up a notch, you could hire a live folk band to play at your wedding. Not only will they provide beautiful music for your guests to listen to, but they’ll also add a rustic touch to the proceedings.

You can find folk bands that specialize in playing traditional Irish, Scottish, or American music. Or you could go for a band that plays more modern folk music. Just make sure that their music matches the vibe you’re going for with your wedding!

22 Rustic Wedding Ideas: How to Incorporate Natural Elements into Your Big Day
Image: JJ & The Beatniks

Using Rose Gold For Wedding Dresses

Rose gold is the best color schemes for a rustic wedding theme. Bridesmaids can wear rose gold dresses and the bride can wear a rose gold dress with a lace overlay.

The groom can wear a black tuxedo with a rose gold tie, and the groomsmen can wear grey suits with rose gold ties. The bridal party photos will look amazing against a rustic backdrop!

22 Rustic Wedding Ideas: How to Incorporate Natural Elements into Your Big Day
Image: Pinterest

Choose a Boho Wedding Dress

These dresses are usually made out of lightweight materials like chiffon or cotton and they often have lace or beading details.

Boho wedding dresses are perfect for rustic weddings because they have a laid-back, rustic feel to them that’s perfect for a rustic wedding!

22 Rustic Wedding Ideas: How to Incorporate Natural Elements into Your Big Day
Image: ruedeseine.com

Play Old-School Party Games

Playing old-school party games like Pin the Tail on the Donkey or Lucky Dips are great ways to add a rustic touch to your wedding.

When people get older, they tend to look back fondly on their childhood memories, so playing these kinds of games will be a nice trip down memory lane for them!

22 Rustic Wedding Ideas: How to Incorporate Natural Elements into Your Big Day
Image: Olivia Leigh Photographie

Pick an Autumn Theme for Your Wedding

Autumn wedding decorations will look amazing with a rustic theme! You could have a color scheme of orange, yellow, and brown for your wedding or you could just use the colors from the autumn leaves as decoration.

You could also have pumpkins on each table along with some fall-themed centerpieces made out of either flowers or leaves. If you want to go all-out, you could even have a fake fireplace as the backdrop for your wedding ceremony!

22 Rustic Wedding Ideas: How to Incorporate Natural Elements into Your Big Day
Image: stock image

Wear a Rustic Flower Crown

If you want to be really rustic, try wearing a flower crown made out of real flowers.

You could either make the flower crown yourself or you could hire a makeup artist to do it for you. This look is perfect for a rustic wedding because it matches the rustic nature of such weddings and it will give your guests some great photo opportunities!

22 Rustic Wedding Ideas: How to Incorporate Natural Elements into Your Big Day
Image: magaela.com

Include Woodland Animal Motifs

Addition of leafy green tones and woodland animal motifs in rustic weddings is inspired by the natural surroundings.

You could have centerpieces that are made out of twigs and branches with leaves attached, or you could use leafy green fabric as tablecloths or chair covers. You could also hang garlands made out of ivy or other plants around the venue.

22 Rustic Wedding Ideas: How to Incorporate Natural Elements into Your Big Day
Image: jiwaji.edu

Try using Polaroid Guest Book

Polaroid guests books will give your guests something unique and memorable to take away from the wedding! Plus, it will make for some great photo opportunities as well because everyone will be lining up to take photos with it!

22 Rustic Wedding Ideas: How to Incorporate Natural Elements into Your Big Day
Image: Ke-Lie Photography

Use Mason Jars as Placeholders

Mason jars can give any rustic themed wedding a quirky and retro touch. And, in addition to that, they can also serve as placeholders for your guests!

You can even write table numbers and seat arrangements on the jars with chalkboard paint if you want to make them extra special.

22 Rustic Wedding Ideas: How to Incorporate Natural Elements into Your Big Day
Image: Etsy – NaturalHoneyBee

Use a Rustic Backdrops

If you want to create a really rustic feel for your wedding, you could use wooden panels as backdrops.

Another option is to use hay bales as backdrops. You can either leave them as they are or you can spray paint them in any color that you want.

22 Rustic Wedding Ideas: How to Incorporate Natural Elements into Your Big Day
Image: blushingdrops.com

Get Rustic Decorations from Local Farmers Markets

If you want to get really rustic decorations for your wedding, you should go to a local farmers market!

You can find all sorts of different decorations there, from bunches of dried flowers to old window frames that you can use as photo props. You could even find some vintage suitcases or crates that you could use as table centerpieces!

22 Rustic Wedding Ideas: How to Incorporate Natural Elements into Your Big Day
Image: ruffledblog.com

Use Rustic Chairs For Ceremony Seating

If you want your wedding to be rustic, then you should definitely get rustic chairs for the ceremony seating.

You can either go with wooden chairs or you could get wicker ones instead. You can even decorate them yourself if you wanted to! Just add some flowers and other types of foliage that match the colors in your wedding theme.

22 Rustic Wedding Ideas: How to Incorporate Natural Elements into Your Big Day
Image: conniewhitlockphoto.com

Using Drinks Dispensers

You can find all sorts of different drinks dispensers online, from the classic metal urns to more modern ones made out of glass or plastic. You could even have a drinks dispenser with your wedding colors on it!

This is a great option for rustic weddings because it will help keep the drinks flowing and it will make sure that everyone has a drink that they like!

22 Rustic Wedding Ideas: How to Incorporate Natural Elements into Your Big Day
Image: rachelrosephotography.co.uk

Choose a Nature-Themed Wedding Cake

You can find all sorts of different cakes that fit this theme, from simple ones made out of vanilla and chocolate sponge to more elaborate ones with fondant flowers or leaves. You could even have a tree trunk as the base of your cake!

Just make sure that the cake is in keeping with the overall rustic vibe of your wedding.

22 Rustic Wedding Ideas: How to Incorporate Natural Elements into Your Big Day
Image: wedding-cakes-for-you.com

Create Hanging Out Areas for Your Guests

If you want to create a really relaxed and informal atmosphere for your guests, you could create some hanging out areas for them to relax in.

This could be done with hammocks, tents or even just some blankets and cushions spread out on the ground. This is a great option if you have a larger wedding as it will give your guests somewhere to escape to if they need a break from all the excitement!

22 Rustic Wedding Ideas: How to Incorporate Natural Elements into Your Big Day
Image: theweddingofmydreams.co.uk

Take Photos With Farm Animals

You could have some farm animals around for your guests to take photos with if you really want to go all out with the rustic theme.

You could have a few llamas, goats or even pigs and it will definitely add to the overall atmosphere of the wedding!

22 Rustic Wedding Ideas: How to Incorporate Natural Elements into Your Big Day
Image: mulberrylanefarmwi.com

Use Logs for Your Place Names

If you want to get really creative with your place names, you could use logs instead of traditional cards.

Just make sure that you have a nice display for them so that they can be seen by all of your guests. You could also use different types of foliage to decorate the logs and to match the colors in your wedding theme.

22 Rustic Wedding Ideas: How to Incorporate Natural Elements into Your Big Day
Image: Etsy – RabarBerry

Create Rustic Atmosphere With Candles

You could have large groups of candles at different points in your venue or you could just have smaller tea lights dotted around. Either way, this is another great option if you want to go rustic with your wedding because it adds a homely touch to the proceedings.

22 Rustic Wedding Ideas: How to Incorporate Natural Elements into Your Big Day
Image: anchorednw.com

Conclusion

There are lots of different ways that you can create a rustic atmosphere for your wedding. Just make sure that everything is in keeping with the overall feel of the wedding and that it all matches up with your color scheme. With a bit of imagination, you can create a truly magical rustic wedding!