Outdoorsy Glam Pennsylvania Wedding

I think it’s pretty much an established fact by now, but whenever I see a wedding with bridesmaids decked out in sequins, I get a little giddy. Throw in some snow, faux fur, and images by Lauren Fair Photography, and I’m on cloud nine. Keep an eye out for some elegant touches of this year’s Pantone color, emerald, throughout the wedding decor!

From the bride, Julie: We wanted our ceremony to be cozy and intimate (there was tons of candlelight on a snowy December evening) and we wanted the reception to be a relaxed but glamorous celebration! I wanted everything to be representative of us as a couple and didn’t feel constrained by traditional wedding norms. I envisioned an eclectic yet cohesive mixture of textures that resulted in bluegrass mountain man meets New Year’s glam. It turned out to be pretty magical. WAY better than what I could have ever imagined. We couldn’t have done it without our wonderful family and friends – they love us a whole lot.

Our inspiration for our “rustic glam” theme was simple: Shane is rustic and I am glam. Shane is an outdoorsy mountain man and I can be a bit of a fashionista (who also happens to love the outdoors.) I didn’t want to pick colors or a theme that was too girly – I wanted it to be representative of the both of us, and I thought that pine, flannel, cotton, gold sequins, fur and glitter would make for a stellar combination. The “color scheme” was more focused on textures, but it ended up being lots of neutrals (white, beige, browns & tans,) dark green, and metallics (mainly gold.) We DIYed everything from a welcome sign, giant moss/glitter initials, glitter pinecone place cards, escort card frames & flannel table runners.

Our favorite memory from the wedding was by far the ceremony. The candlelit intimate setting felt like holy ground, and everything about it was so personalized and special. We didn’t write our vows until the night before (or in Shane’s case, the morning of) but they were passionate and perfect. People were laughing and crying, and we were so close in proximity to everyone. I kept turning around and looking at all of these wonderful people who loved us so dearly. It was magical. Shane bawled through the whole thing, and I mainly just laughed and literally jumped up and down with unbearable excitement – until we reached the end of the aisle at the end of the whole thing – I realized that we were actually married and I completely lost it.

Any advice for brides planning their weddings now? Our advice to those planning now is to make the ceremony personalized. So many people blow it off and just look forward to the party afterwards, but the ceremony is the part where you are actually becoming husband and wife! Don’t waste it. Tell the officiant your vision and how you want it to feel, and make it special to you are your fiancé. I have been to many weddings where if you closed your eyes, you wouldn’t be able to tell who was getting married. Soak it in, and relish that time to really focus on the promises you are making to one another. Parties are awesome, but marriage is forever.

See Also

Monogram Magic In This Textural & Earthy Wedding With Elevated North Carolina Flair

Wedding Music:
Processional: live bluegrass rendition of the hymn “Come Thou Fount” performed by local bluegrass band, Valley Stomp
Recessional: “Joyful, Joyful” from Sister Act, performed by our friends Joy and Andrew Meade
First Dance: “Skinny Love,” Bon Iver
Father/Daughter Dance: “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head,” BJ Thomas
Mother/Son Dance: “Blackbird,” The Beatles
We thought a lot about our first dance song and had a really hard time picking one. We both are big music lovers, and put a lot of pressure on finding the perfect selection. We still hadn’t chosen our song the day before the wedding when we thought of “Skinny Love” by Bon Iver. We had listened to that song on repeat on our first date, which we spent laying out on blankets by a riverside “studying” for our upcoming college exams. The song turned out to be perfect because it reminded us of such a giddy time in the beginning of our love story.

Wedding Location: Potters Mills, PA / Wedding Photographer: Lauren Fair Photography / Wedding Flowers: Bride’s mother and Woodrings Floral Garden / Event Design: Bride’s mother and sister / Wedding Venue: The General Potter Farm / Wedding Dress: Oleg Cassini #CWG468 / Wedding Veil: Vera Wang / Wedding Shoes: Chinese Laundry and Etienne Aigner / Hair: Naomi & Company / Makeup: Hillary Dabrasky / Bridesmaid Dresses: I had my bridesmaids pick out their own dresses – the only criteria was that they were gold and completely covered in sequins. The wedding was on New Year’s Eve Eve, so they added the much needed sparkle. They purchased them from all over, but most are from Nordstrom and ASOS. / Groom’s Attire: ASOS / Groom’s Boots: Steve Madden / Wedding Caterer: Down to Earth Catering / Wedding Cake: Holly Sheppard / Processional and Reception Music: Valley Stomp / Ceremony Music: Joy and Andrew Meade / Cinema and Video: Willow Tree Films / Transportation: Fullington Tours / Wedding Invitations: Chelsea Burrows