Blending colour palettes and themes for your wedding style and decor can seem like a pretty tricky and daunting undertaking, and gold is no shrinking violet of a colour, which can make things even trickier. Especially if you’re going for a decadent wedding in a rustic, country venue. However, with some styling advice from Sara from L&L co. Events on how she put together Kate & Jeff’s stunning wedding day decor, you’re sure to have a wedding style win on your hands! Lo and behold – Decadent Gold & Black Styling Statements For A Rustic Wedding! 

When you think black for a wedding, you usually think black tie in a ball room, however you can make it work in a country setting by adding pops of rustic colours and lighting to the tablescape. Kate & Jeff’s initial wedding style started out with modest safe table colours but after a Friday after-hours drink meeting with Kate, I knew we had some room to play. It didn’t take me long to convince her to be bold with their styling and trust us to bring their love of classic black and elegant gold together in a barn setting at Yabbaloumba Retreat in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

With rustic wine barrels and a champagne tower at sunset, this truly does go down as one of my favourite events to style. Kate & Jeff’s laid back fun personalities ensured the wedding came together perfectly representing old world charm with modern elegant detailing.

Rustic & Gold Tip: Don’t go “all-out” on either theme. Select elements that you love from both and blend them, rather than picking absolutely every styling element from both! Perhaps the venue is more on the rustic side – your styling can be more modern & glamorous. Perhaps your wedding is outside – create a golden glow with fairy lights, and choose black furniture such as tables and chairs!

The lovely bride, Kate, tells us why she adored Yabbaloumba Retreat for their wedding day! “Yabbaloumba is such a stunning, relaxed location which was going to be perfect, sun or rain! Also being able to make it a whole weekend thing and have our guests stay with us on site and camping made it so much fun. Definitely hit the festival vibe!”

Selecting an array of fabrics to put on the table to bring the look together without a stark look, we teamed crisp white cotton tablecloths, premium thick black cheesecloth runners and French linen napkins in the colour ink black. The modern and minimalist vibe of the black was the perfect backdrop to the gold plates and cutlery, as well as the golden glow from the candlelight.

Rustic & Gold Tip: Intertwine natural elements with bold, statement pieces. As you can see in the styling created by Dine In Style, they placed greenery along the tables to tie in the rustic, country vibe of the venue with the glam, golden decor.

For the plates, I went matte black with gold charger plates, brushed gold cutlery and Kate printed her own name tags and menus on white with black. We stacked the colours and had everything on the plate to create depth on the table.

Rustic & Gold Tip: Stacking & depth are not just styling elements for a rustic, golden vibe – this works with so many colour palettes and themes. It’s a great way to bring the themes and colours together, and it looks interesting and opulent! For extra rustic style, you could try adding a sprig of herbs or a native twig or floral on top of the menu. 

When it came to the candles, I selected earthy rust tones, deep orange, coral pinks and deep reds to tie in with the florals in vintage square rustic ribbed vases. Kate and her mum also have a love of decanters, so from their personal collection we weaved these through the table with eucalyptus gum to add that rustic charm back to the table.

Rustic & Gold Tip: Candles create a warm glow to any evening, and for a gold themed wedding – perfection! Choosing earthy colours is a fabulous nod to the rustic, country vibe of the venue. Want more of a bold, luxe statement? Black or gold candles would work just as well! 

The barn roof was littered with warm fairy lights! Timber wagon wheels hung from the roof for mood lighting were draped in eucalyptus gum and olive branch. Set on a backdrop of tin and timber, we selected mahogany tiffany chairs to bring the bold tablescape and venue together.

Rustic & Gold Tip: Golden lighting is a perfect and easy way to enhance the gold vibe of the evening. Who doesn’t love fairy lights?! In our opinion, you can never have too many. The fabulous thing about fairy lights is that they work in any setting and with any theme. Have a rustic venue? Fairy lights will give the place a magical ambience and will create a glamorous mood lighting effect. 

Also, it’s not just tableware that can bring a bold black or gold vibe to an event. Chairs, tables and signage are another terrific way to incorporate either colour into your rustic venue. Booked more of a modern spot for your wedding? Why not try adding more gold to the mix and only a touch of black with earthy tones.

And to finish? Advice from the bride herself! “Don’t sweat the small stuff, you’ll never be able to predict everything that will happen on the day, and remember it’s the being married part that is important and not just the wedding day!”