If your Pinterest wedding planning board is drowning in a sea of anything “rustic wedding”, sometimes it’s a pain in the butt to figure out how to make your wedding country or rustic. It seems like everyone is having a rustic wedding, but maybe you want your wedding to stand out somehow other than the typical burlap decor.
As a lover of everything country, and background in the agriculture industry, my photographer eyes search for elements that attribute to a truly country wedding. These essential elements of a country themed wedding are for the bride and groom who want their wedding to be a step above all the other rustic weddings.
Make your wedding however you want, but these following factors convey the truly country vibe, down-home atmosphere that are shown by great photography!
Have Your Ceremony and Reception at a “Farm” Wedding Venue
Get a Professional Photographer Who Shows you Barn Reception Photos
Just because a setting is beautiful doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll get great photos from anybody. However, having photographed in plenty of barns, and farms, even before I was a real “photographer”, I’ve noticed that it does take some skill and strong knowledge of lighting and camera settings to not miss a shot when photographing inside barns. Do you want memories to back on decades later, and show your grandchildren your day as how you saw it?
If you want your skin tones to look normal skin color, then look for photographers who show you barn reception images. If you’re a photographer reading this, you might hate me for suggesting that a bride request to see a full set of wedding images from start to finish. Because most barns are dark and just all brown wood inside, we are looking at a completely different lighting situation from a reception room that has white ceilings or painted walls (which is easy to photograph in). Once reception starts, the sun is going down, and there’s not enough natural light. Some photographers may shoot just relying on the little ambient light that exists inside a barn, which often results in blurry photos, or hard-to-focus situations (believe me, I’ve experimented!). Or, some photographers may put a flash on top of their camera, having their light “bounce” off of the ceiling to take pictures of people. Both methods will result in photos with wonky colors, that are not the easiest to fix later. My ideal method is doing manual color temperature settings in the camera, and using multiple, off-camera flashes, including one handheld speedlite flash, with color gels. With this, I get better angle and dimension of light that looks more natural.
Show off Them Cowboy Boots
Dance to Country Music at your Rustic Wedding
Wheat, Sunflowers, or Wildflowers in Florals and Decor
Wildflowers from Wild Rose Farm of Northampton, MA
