How to make a banquet hall look rustic!?

Akmessick

I'm have my wedding reception and possibly ceremony at a place that only has a banquet hall. I would love to have it outside but Florida heat in June is killer and I don't want it to turn into a sweat bath. Any ideas on how to decorate a banquet hall to look rustic and still pull off bridesmaid dresses and boots.. Without looking tacky??

AddieCake

Bridesmaids in boots looks tacky to me no matter where it happens. 

As for making your banquet hall look rustic, just do what every other bride on the rustic bandwagon does. Go on Pinterest and look at rustic weddings and use burlap, lace, and mason jars. 

PrettyGirlLost

shrekspeare said:

Do you have pictures of the banquet hall? I feel like we'd be much more capable of helping if we had a starting point. Agreed.

Also, what's your style? Are you going for classic rustic or pinterest rustic?

What is classic rustic, anyways?

OP, I kind of feel like you went about this backwards. . . your venue choice should inform your wedding look or "vision."

I totally understand your reasoning behind picking the banquet hall, but then rather than trying to fit the venue to your "vision" I think it might be better if you fit your "Vision" to the venue now.  While the rustic look may have been what you were originally going for, maybe a more elegant look is better now that you have that type of venue, kwim?

I also have to add that I hate the look of ladies in nice, formal dresses and cowboy boots.  It just looks confused and tacky to me.

PrettyGirlLost

shrekspeare said:

My dad's second wedding was a very classic upscale wedding at a logde. That's what I envision 'classic rustic' as. Maybe I should start a pinterest trend! ;D

Anyway, pictures like this are very reminiscent of what it ended up like. He wore a red paisley type vest and his cowboy hat and boots he's had for 10+ years and all the BMs wore boots. The cowboy hat was bad enough, but the boots were just awful. Thank heavens no one saw too much of them. Other than that, it was incredibly nice. They played some classic country music and served buffalo. The man has good taste, just not in wives or shoes.

Love, love, love it!

PrettyGirlLost

shrekspeare said:

Oh darn, I didn't add pictures. I also could be incredibly confused about the meaning of 'Rustic'. I don't exactly associate it with DIY burlap tablecloths. Here are these: 

Gorgeous!  I get you now, I love it.

Ladies, this is what rustic can be- it's stunning.  Don't kitch it up with too much burlap, mason jars, and cowboy boots ;-)

afterimage

PrettyGirlLost said:

shrekspeare said:

Oh darn, I didn't add pictures. I also could be incredibly confused about the meaning of 'Rustic'. I don't exactly associate it with DIY burlap tablecloths. Here are these: 

Gorgeous!  I get you now, I love it.

Ladies, this is what rustic can be- it's stunning.  Don't kitch it up with too much any burlap, mason jars, and cowboy boots ;-)

I know some people like this trend, but I just can't handle it.

Edit: gif failure

RebeccaB88

I do think you're doing this backwards.  You need to find a rustic venue, then your vision will make sense. If you're locked into the banquet hall, you should probably change your vision to match your venue. Trying to force it to be something it's not will just end up looking silly.

SJM7538

Molinadayana said:

I disagree with everyone I think cowgirl boots are an awesome idea and rustic is what's in right now. I guess since I'm from the south I understand your vision more!

I'm from western massachusetts and we have plenty of rural, country areas out here. So it's def not a southern thing.

 

I equate the cowboy boot trend right now with puffy sleeved wedding dresses and perms of the 80s. Just because it's "in" doesn't mean it's cute. But to each their own.

 

 

With the said I think you can definately go with a rustic theme without vomiting mason jars, lace and burlap. I agree with Rebecca to an extent. I think it looks a lot less cheesy if your venue is rustic to begin with.Are you locked into this venue or can you find someplace that already has the rustic feel and you can just add your own touches. 

 

I love rustic. My wedding was in a barn built in 1900. And I did use mason jars but they weren't the focus of my centerpieces. My mom and I bought mason jars and wrapped them with a red and white checkered cloth and then my florist made gorgous floral arrangments to go inside of them. I think the key is to keep the rustic touches minimal if possible

theartistformerlyknownas

Yeahhh gotta agree with PPs that your venue should dictate your decor, not the other way around. I grew up in the country, showed in 4-H, drove a tractor, and thought the rustic wedding trend was right up my alley until 1) the gorgeous barn I loved stopped allowing weddings and 2) I saw burlap barf all over Pinterest. So now we're getting married in a gorgeous golf club banquet hall, with more of a "vintage-style elegant" vibe. I've seen city girls who've never stepped foot in dirt try to pull off rustic in a banquet hall and it's just not authentic. Either find a rustic venue and use authentic, true-to-you touches or stick with decor that fits your space. Weddings don't need a theme, after all... "wedding" is theme enough on its own.

cinalli2b

A friend of ours had her Bridesmaids in dresses and cowboy boots (the bride wore them too) and her pics are adorable. I think that if that's what you want to do then you should do it. You know who you are and what your audience is like and if you think they'll be comfortable then I say do what you want. I'm a country girl at heart and even though it's not what I would do I still think it's fun!