Barn wedding

One thing is for sure – we may not be very objective while writing this post, as we love farm weddings in barns and climatic manor houses. Nevertheless, we will do our best not to over-praise these places. This requires a lot of experience and knowledge to organize such a wedding, and we will gladly share our findings for this theme with you – that is why this post will be about barn weddings from the inside.

How to host a barn wedding reception?

If you’re planning your wedding, you’ve probably noticed that less and less is being shown and written about a dream wedding in a casual banquet hall, castle or typical wedding venue in some kind of restaurant (although weddings are still held in these venues). There are fewer wedding photos from such wedding venues, as if there were fewer advertisements. Why?

Because history once again comes full circle, and more weddings return to places where they used to be. Many people organize their weddings outdoors (unfortunately in our latitude you need a bit of luck when organizing a wedding under a cloud because of the weather). Why do we look for other places than typical wedding venues? Why do we return to a rustic barn in the countryside, a high school gymnasium or a fire house? The answer on one hand is simple. Over saturation causes us to look for something different, innovative, niche. We don’t want a wedding similar to our cousin’s wedding we attended last year. We don’t want to experience a wedding in a place where there are proms, wake parties, christenings, name days and corporate events. Furthermore, we want something unique, exceptional. The best place would be a place where weddings are not organized, except for ours. Again, the question is why?

The simplest answer is that these are the times. We often want to stand out from the crowd by organizing something personal. But more frequently than not it is because we feel so, it is what our reason tells us together with our heart. We are returning to the countryside with our weddings because apart from the uniqueness of these places we value as never before fresh air, natural beauty, peace, quiet and communing with nature. In the times of omnipresent smog, pollution, unhealthy food, hurry and little free time we return to the countryside, to nature. To rest, to recharge our “batteries”. The countryside welcomes us with open arms, offers delicious food, rustic chic, peace and quiet and… the possibility to organise a wedding outdoors, but also in the places like the historic barn.

We have our own beautiful barn – event organization.

We assume that a dozen or so people would not come to a wedding in a banquet hall, but almost everyone will come to a wedding in the barn venue, if only out of curiosity. The first example – our friends. They are currently during their wedding planning. They travelled around, had a look, and even made a decision and paid a deposit to organize it in a classic wedding venue.

They made their decision too quickly and too hastily. Maybe they didn’t have enough time, maybe they didn’t want to experiment with their wedding venue. In the end, they changed their minds and lost the deposit because they found something small, with delicious food and away from the city. The wedding will be a little smaller than they had planned, but they want to organize it for themselves, with rustic charm, the way they feel, in line with their dreams.

Example two is one of the couples we encountered. They held their wedding in a historic barn where they had never held a wedding. The building is in the countryside, where they often come on their weekends off to visit their parents. They started renovating everything about a year before the wedding. The barn underwent a complete makeover, with renovating vaulted ceilings and adding a few modern upgrades. As a result, it was beautifully renovated and become the perfect wedding venue on their big day. Therefore, if you have such a barn “at hand”, a wedding “on your own” may turn out to be a hit.

Is a barn wedding a fad?

We think not. These types of weddings will stay with us for longer. They fit perfectly into the wedding landscape in Europe, especially Northern and Eastern one, in the USA in regions such as Texas Hill Country with its red barn weddings, North Carolina, Santa Barbara or Union Valley. Just like weddings in hotels and restaurants will continue to take place and so will barn weddings. Maybe one day there will be more barn venues, which will bring weddings back to restaurants and banquet halls. History will then once again come full circle.

Is barn wedding for everyone? We think not. If you don’t like nature, walks in the woods, animals, secluded places where you can’t reach your phone, where the interiors are the ubiquitous wood, then it’s better to resign from a wedding in such a location. Even if the food is the best, and the reviews on portals shine with five stars. Places like a barn, an old farmhouse, etc. simply need to be felt. You enter, look and know that it is here or nowhere.

What are the characteristics of a barn wedding? In our opinion, they are first less cliché. You don’t have to come under a tie (but you can). You spend your time in the barn dancing on the dance floor, or relaxing on a bale of hay with a delicious drink while listening to good music. A bonfire and an area with sun loungers are standard at this type of venue.

Weddings in the barn – reviews and price list.

Personally, we don’t know a person who has been on a wedding in a barn and wasn’t delighted. What’s more – it often happens that wedding guests who have been to a wedding in a barn and then plan their own wedding, often change the date of the wedding and booking of another hall just to organize a wedding in an idyllic atmosphere in a barn or similar rustic venue. The biggest advantage of such a wedding is the relaxed atmosphere. There is no obligation to turn up in a suit or tailcoat – but of course you can. For a barn wedding, you can choose looser clothes – putting on trainers will not be a faux pas. Another argument for having a barn wedding is the location. Barns are most frequently located away from the hustle and bustle of the city, in rural areas – often close to a lake, forest or meadow. A rural location also means that you have access to lots of local food that you can serve to your guests on their tables.

Cost of hiring a barn for your wedding.

A barn wedding is not equal to another barn wedding in terms of organizational costs. Why? Because not all barn wedding halls offer a catering service. Very often you may come across a situation that you will have to organize the catering yourself. Maybe you have to do it yourself – the barn owners will guide you on what to do and where to go to have a field kitchen, for example. It’s more about the fact that there is no kitchen on site to cook in. That’s why the cost of organizing a wedding in a barn can involve full service or renting only the place and organizing everything on your own. In the most comfortable situation are couples with their own barns on family premises.

What menu to choose for the wedding in a barn?

As we mentioned earlier, if you decide to have your wedding in a barn, you may have to organize the catering and waiter service yourself. But this is absolutely nothing to worry about. Many times at such weddings we have seen, for example, a field kitchen. And we must admit that we have never had such delicious broth, potato pancakes and dumplings at a wedding afterwards. Cooking on a wooden hearth and, what’s more, in the open air, makes the food acquire some kind of magic and taste completely different.

A good solution when organizing a barn wedding is to rely on local and seasonal products – this guarantees good taste and freshness of the dishes. At a wedding in a barn you can also not miss: country smoked meats (with obligatory pickled and small-salted cucumbers), salads with local vegetables, country cheeses and bread. Your guests will probably enjoy tasting homemade liqueurs, compotes and lemonades made from local fruit.

What gifts for guests at a rustic barn wedding?

It’s not uncommon for the guests who come to your barn wedding to have to travel hundreds of miles to be with you on such a wonderful day. It would be worth thanking them. There are quite a few ideas for gifts. It doesn’t have to be something big and expensive. A small gift that will be associated with you and your barn wedding will suffice.

The best gifts that fit the atmosphere of a wedding in a barn will be

-wooden magnets – you can engrave on them a thank-you note with the date and your names – you can do it yourself with engraving pen or pay small business to do this for you

-homemade preserves and jars of honey- you ca buy them, but it will be even more unique if they are made by you

-A bottle of homemade liquor or wine- again you can buy it locally, but if you have a skill in that, you can brew it yourself

-Eco candles and soaps – you can find them online, on local market squares or learn to make them

-Succulents in glass bottles.- this little guys fit into every interior so guests will most likely find a nice place in their houses for them after your wedding. During the party they can be used as a decoration on reception tables

-Glass tubes with tea, coffee, herbs

DJ for a rustic barn wedding.

It turns out that the wedding party is the longest stage in the whole wedding day – it usually lasts about 8-9 hours. In the midst of eating, feasting and talking with your closest ones, a lot of time is spent on the dance floor during dancing. That’s why it’s a good idea to hire a DJ who will perfectly fit the atmosphere of the barn and play music to the liking of all the guests.

Wedding bouquet and decorations for a wedding in a barn.

Rustic weddings and weddings are very distinctive in terms of decoration. Lots of plants, wood and handmade decorations are integral elements of a barn wedding. How to decorate a barn at a rustic wedding? It depends on your tastes, but you should definitely pay attention to:

• hay bales – you can even be tempted to make chill out area out of hay for guests to sit, lay or even take a nap

• wooden table patches with numbers or table names on them

• wooden crates and barrels – you can put meadow flowers in them or use them as snack tables

• jute table runners – they will give rustic vibe and you don’t need to iron them before the reception
• old candlesticks and photo frames – you may have a ton of them in your house, give them their second life
• wooden wall behind the bride and groom – it is no biggie to find wooden wall in the barn, but it is great canvas for every wedding decoration since you can pin everything to the wood using pins, nails or staples

• wooden ladders – they can be used as flower stands, snack bars or you can put huge jars with lemonade on them
• wooden signposts – they can lead guests to particular parts of the party

Rustic bouquets are usually made of seasonal flowers. Field or meadow flowers are irreplaceable in this case – lots of greenery and freshness. Cornflowers, poppies and camomile, as well as ears of grain will be perfect. Most often rustic bouquets don’t have a definite shape, and the bigger the disorder the more beautiful the bouquet. The whole rustic wedding alludes to the complete relaxation, so the bouquet should also be like that.

Wedding cake in the rustic style

What kind of cake should be served at a rustic wedding? Most frequently these are the cakes naked or semi naked. The naked cake is mainly characterized by the lack of cream or sugar mass on the edges. All the layers and parts of the cake are visible.

Rustic cakes should be served on a piece of wood and additionally decorated with seasonal fruit (raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, currants) or fresh flowers.

Where to look for a barn for the wedding?

In general, there are plenty of places to hold a barn wedding. Just look for them online, and you will find plenty of offers from legitimate barn wedding venues. We assume that second many owners of barns to rent do not advertise themselves on wedding portals, so the real number of available places will be higher. One of the ideas is to drive around your area and ask owners if their barn can be rented for your big day. You can think of your family members that own countryside houses with barns nearby and ask them for permission to organize your wedding there.