You Cannot Beat A Country Wedding And Here’s Why

Photography by Kacie Herd Photography; Venue: Armatree Hotel; Florals by Flourish on the Plains; Arbour by The Rural Bride; Makeup by Donna Maree; Hair by The Studio Gilgandra; Brides Dress by Storybook Bridal; Suit Jacket by Harry’s for Menswear

For a while now the narrative told about “the bush” is that it’s all drought and despair. While yes, drought is destroying our primary industries and taking an immeasurable toll on rural communities, it is not the true tale of the bush. Have you ever been to a country wedding? They are always EPIC! We at The Rural Bride can guarantee that a country wedding will showcase what the bush is about far more than a drought story. You cannot beat a country wedding and here’s why!

1. The Venue!

A lot of the weddings we coordinate are on private property and this is event GOLD! Being on private property means no closing time, no noise restrictions, no limit to the number of guests and unique venues. We’ve attended and worked at weddings in wool sheds, gardens (think the stereotypical Aussie homestead lushness), marquees, fields of wheat and show ground pavilions.

It doesn’t matter how many marquee weddings we do, they are never the same! Why? Probably because they’re in a different location each time that hasn’t hosted hundreds of weddings with the same tent, same seating layout and same styling. Each venue is truly unique.

2. The Styling!

Never have I ever seen two country weddings styled the same! It’s true! Yes, there are definitely some trends that you see over and over but the overall wedding styling is never replicated at another. If you’ve ever driven anywhere in “the bush” you’ll have noticed gum trees are plentiful and so it’d be rude not to incorporate gum leaves where possible.

This FREE and STUNNING foliage can be played up in hanging installations and floral arrangements or played down with a simple twig and leaf on a place setting. Actually, one of my favourite trends is the fully adorned circle arbour which looks breathtaking when a mixture of native leaf foliage is used with scattered flowers. Us country folk are a little clever too, we don’t pay for the arbour to be used just once. No, after the ceremony we use it again as a photo wall, frame for the wedding cake or backdrop feature.

I was coordinating a wedding on the October long weekend in Barraba NSW and the maid of honour had used foliage and flowers from her garden to make ALL the floral and foliage arrangements. Country people are just the best because I know a lot of venues in larger areas that only allow florists to do installations in their venue. This wonderfully talented woman, on the weekend had made, and this is no exaggeration: 8 bouquets, 8 button holes, 12 flower jars for the aisle, 2 huge arrangements for the arbour, 3 large urn arrangements, a hanging installation on a ladder in the centre of the tent and a long arrangement along the back wall of the marquee! Again, no two weddings are ever styled the same but they’re always stunning!

Some party people even allow their guests to grab a bevvy before the ceremony and enjoy one during the ceremony, again how freeing! Oh the dance floor! They always go off! Inside a tent or outside it doesn’t matter – they are epic! No one will tell you to put your glass down, you can dance the night away while charging to the couple at every song, be as loud as you like and dance as poorly as you do. In the country it is far easier to get a permit to set off fireworks which means you can end the night on a BANG!

Obviously, there are thousands of other great aspects of a country wedding that make them, in my opinion, far more memorable and special than a wedding in the city. But what it really comes down to is the people who you choose to celebrate your day with. You can stand in a dusty paddock surrounded by 10 friends and still have just as special a day as someone who has 100 friends in a CWA worthy garden. Each to their own.