Elegant and glamorous barn wedding - possible?

Gloriousgirl

Hi,
I need your help with some advice. I live in Sweden and I am getting married to a military officer, which sets the tone of the whole wedding. The dress code is formal (which in Sweden means frock coat on men and long dress on women). However, we don´t have a venue yet and we both come from rural areas in the southern parts of Sweden. My idea is to turn an old barn into an elegant and glamorous venue with nice furniture, drapings, etc to make it look like a sort of castle in a barn. Is this a bad idea? Do you think our guests would be offended if we have a formal dress code and the party in barn? What if they expect a real castle/mansion as a venue?

How would you guys feel if you where invited to a wedding like that?

I´m posting it here since it´s kind of rare to have a wedding venue in a barn in Sweden.

AddieCake

I agree dressing the barn up to be formal is probably going to be very expensive. I think you need to choose between a formal wedding in a fancier venue and a more casual wedding in a barn instead of trying to combine the two. 

musicalcanadianbride

It sounds like more work and money to make the barn glamorous and castle-like than to just find a venue appropriate to the formality of your event. 

QueerFemme

I think barn weddings can be pretty, but I don't think they would reach elegant or glamorous.  If that's the look you are going for, you need to keep searching for a venue.   And unless you are hosting a formal, black tie affair, don't have a dress code for your guests.  It's rude.   And, I will say, there is no way you should be hosting a black tie event in a barn.

fallbride1109

We have lots of barn wedding venues here in Texas and while some of them are quite lovely, they do not reach to the level of black tie event (as that is not generally the look such brides are going for.)  You will see more of a "rustic elegance" at venues such as these.  A barn is still going to be a barn no matter how much you try and transform it.  And I agree that doing so would be very expensive.

My advice would be to look for a venue that already has the level of glamour you're looking for.

winelover123

I agree with PPs - I don't think that glamorous and barn really go together. I mean, you could probably make it work, but it sounds like more work, time and money than finding a place that is already formal.

Gloriousgirl

Thanks for all your views! I guess we will try to find a better venue, since the wedding would be pretty formal. And on another note, interesting to hear that you don´t put the dress code on the invitation in the US! Here in Sweden it´s considered rude not to do that