A Rustic French Country Wedding
You Are Exquisite. You’re Timeless.
I’m a wedding planner now.
For the past couple weeks, I took a short break from my normal house design content for my mother’s wedding. She had asked me to be her wedding planner a few months back and I gladly (at least initially, lol) obliged. For the vision, I knew she loved French country with a hint of rustic and I got to work bringing that vision to life.
This was my first time EVER planning a wedding, but I honestly loved it. If you are ever needing a wedding planner, don’t go to JLo…come to me!
Flowers
For flowers, I solicited the help from my friend Cory and his mother Diana (the incredible owner and florist extraordinaire at Designs on the Boulevard). From the initial conversation, they totally understood my vision and brought it to life and then some in the most breathtaking way. Garden roses, mondial roses, moonstone roses, hydrangeas, ranunculus, Italian ruscus, and dusty miller were scattered everywhere from the bouquets to the centerpieces, and even a beautiful arbor at the entrance. My mother loves lily of the valley and we managed to get some blooms in the bridal bouquet.
They even drove a majority of them to the venue because I underestimated how much room we needed. They were absolutely not going to fit in Ethel, my aunt’s ‘05 Mercury Grand Marquis.
I truly cannot say enough positive things about Diana, Cory, and the flowers; and nearly everyone at the reception gushed over them as well.
Art Installation
I knew I wanted to create a show-stopping moment and had been in love with these hanging floral installations from Post Creative Studio since I saw them. THIS was the moment to bring it to life.
I bought faux white hydrangeas, champagne / white roses, and mini roses in bulk from Amazon and developed two abstract patterns in different lengths of fishing line. My aunt and some of my sisters helped me hot glue around 40 of these strands and then hung them from the rafters.
The end result was gorgeous and SO worth the insane amount of time it took to put them together.
Tablescapes
I found beautiful wooden farm tables and cross-back chairs from Rolling Hills Events. Even though we had 90 guests, I wanted to keep the vibe intimate, so we created three elongated tables vs separating them individually.
Flowing ivory chiffon draped the center, with gold mercury glass votives and the ethereal floral centerpieces tangled between the lush Italian Ruscus. For the place settings, we selected white chargers, white dinnerware, golden flatware, blush napkins cinched with twine, and handwritten place cards on a wooden base.
Dessert & Drinks
For dessert, my mom wanted to go with three wedding cakes. THREE!
We ordered two 2-tier cakes (white and cherry chip) and one 3-tier almond cake with raspberry filling from a local bakery. We kept the design simple and once they were delivered, I embellished them with some flowers. We served them alongside some cream cheese mints which my mother, brother, grandma, and aunt painstakingly made a week before the wedding.
For drinks, we included a champagne reception (all champagne glasses came with a little strawberry) and a signature “I Lemon-Do” cocktail with freshly squeezed lemonade, raspberry simple syrup, vodka, and garnished with an edible flower.
Overall, the event was a success. It was a lovely day and I’m so glad that my mom has found someone that makes her so happy.
I’m typing this from Chicago (I’m finally back!) and can’t wait to get back to some DIY projects around my condo.
Stay tuned!
