Rustic weddings combine countryside charm with vintage beauty
Antique barns and wide-open green space accommodate the increasingly popular rustic theme many future spouses seek. Butler County venues host plenty of them each year.
“Most of our weddings we do stick to the rustic themes since we are still a family farm,” said Kelsey Belin, marketing manager for Armstrong Farms.
Armstrong Farms in Saxonburg has two venues: the Fieldstone Barn and the Westminster Preserve Barn. The Fieldstone Barn is a restored 1800s barn. The building is heated and air-conditioned for all year use. With the original fieldstone foundation, the space is equipped for indoor and outdoor ceremonies.
The Westminster location, Belin said, is the more rustic of the two venues. The 1800s era barn features a wraparound porch and sliding doors, allowing the barn to fully open in the evenings. The barn has the original beams and stone foundation, tying in the vintage feel.
“That one is a little bit more rustic, a little bit more outdoors,” Belin said of the Westminster venue.
Chet and Theresa Allen, owners of The Barn at Ever Thine, have a fully wooden barn on the property to host family and friends. The antique structure has multiple smaller buildings around it, all built around and before 1900. The craftsmanship of the old buildings, the couple said, speaks for itself.
“I mean, they don’t make stuff like this anymore, so you cannot recreate it,” Chet Allen said.
Natural green space and blooming yards epitomize the classic countryside the typical rustic wedding calls for. Armstrong Farm’s Westminster venue utilizes its yard space to set up a tent for dinner and allow the party to expand into the yard. The star of the venue, however, is a heart shaped pond with a dock for the ceremony.
“It’s beautiful; unintentional, but we always say it was meant to be,” said Belin.
Tucked back into the woods, spring and fall are the common seasons for weddings at the Ever Thine property. A pergola outside for the ceremony uses the natural tree line as a backdrop. Being in a quiet, isolated area brings a sort of vacation atmosphere to the area.
“We’re in the middle of the woods where we’re located, and people like the quietness and the country atmosphere,” Theresa Allen said.
Fieldstone Barn at Armstrong Farms is open all year, being air-conditioned and restored. The Westminster venue, however, is only available May through October, with fall being the busiest season. Westminster is made to be an open air celebration using the large plot of land to its advantage.
“There’s space for yard games and people to kind of spread out and just enjoy themselves at the wedding,” Belin said.
Decoration among the wedding parties at Ever Thine lean into a simple, natural theme. Theresa Allen said they have tree trunk slabs that many couples use for furniture, matching the wood beams of the barn.
“It’s all set in the background of old barnwood slabs and beams and posts,” Chet Allen said. “So, whatever you put in front of it doesn’t steal the show.”
Though the farm has seen many different wedding color schemes, neutral colors are common at the Armstrong Farm’s rustic weddings. Simple decorations and earthy tones bring the countryside in. Sage green and dark, chocolate brown are two colors that Armstrong Farms has seen a lot of.
“You always get some of them that have those beautiful pops of bright colors and things like that, which we love to see,” said Belin.
The Barn at Ever Thine has plenty of flowers blooming around outside, Hydrangeas included. Some brides choose to include them in their floral arrangements, tying the barn’s surroundings into their decorative choices.
Greenery in bouquets is also a common choice, eucalyptus being one plant Belin said is common in Westminster’s rustic wedding themes.
“We’ve seen pretty much everything here, but baby’s breath and eucalyptus are definitely the most popular ones that we see,” Belin said.
