here comes the wedding planning and preparation

WHOA! So the cowboy of your dreams finally expressed his desire of carrying you off as his beautiful bride into the Wild West and you’ve said yes! If you love the laidback country side and horses and hayrides and homemade goodies, then you will love a wedding with a western or country theme. Start planning your country wedding with these ideas in mind:

Colors:
earthy tones: yellows and golds, tans and ambers, sage and russet, celadon and cinnamon,

Bridal attire:
It really depends on how formal or informal you want your wedding to be. For more formal motif, a cotton eyelet gown or peasant style blouse with tiered skirt will do. The nice thing about a country themed wedding is that you can also go informal if you wish. For that, you can wear a pair of white jeans, white cowboy boots, and a white girly blouse or a feminine shirt, and top that outfit with a nice white cowboy hat.

Groom’s attire:
Everyone knows how a cowboy looks like. Jeans, white long-sleeved shirt with vest or cowboy jacket, cowboy boots, cowboy hat, and a belt with a silver buckle would really give you that cowboy image that will make your bride fall in love with you over and over again during the entire event.

Attendants:
Peasant style blouse, cowboy boots, hat, and a bouquet of wildflowers would suit the theme.

Invitations:
There are plain white invitations with embossed country figures, such as horses, barns, cowboy boots, cowboy hats, stars, wagons, etc. You can have the envelops designed with a red or blue paisley inner lining. Or instead of envelops, tie a raffia ribbon or a paisley bandana around your invitation. Add a little horseshoe or star charm on it.

Venues:
Outdoor: farm, park, cornfield or a wheat field.
Indoor: A clean barn, cabin, tent, log house, riding stable, or country/western night club.

Reception Ideas:
Decors may include: wheelbarrow, horseshoes, sunflowers, tin buckets, picnic tables (with gingham, eyelet, checkered, or lacy tablecloth) and scarecrows. Flowers are great for table centerpieces. The most becoming kinds are daisies, sunflowers, and wildflowers. They can be placed on red or brown clay vases, tin buckets, or even cowboy boots. Games may be: horseshoe throwing pits, sack races, pin the tail on the donkey, etc. For outdoor receptions, there are tons of activities you can do. You can have hayrides, a giant haystack (where guests can even dive on), horse rides, and set up a wooden floor in the middle for the dancing. For outdoor evening receptions, you can have a bonfire and toast s’mores, or light up the place with candles or lanterns (make sure you fireproof the surrounding areas).

Foods:
Chicken or pork barbecue, coleslaw, baked beans, sausages, potato salad, pot roast, burgers, mashed potatoes, hot dogs, corn on cobs, home-made pies, cornbread, brownies, ice cream with toppings, iced tea, shakes, cobblers, lemonade, margaritas, apple ciders. The best thing is you can use disposable eating utensils for all these because that’s what they use in many Western restaurants, while your beverages can either be served from vintage bottles or wooden barrels. If you’d like restaurant foods but are a little low on the budget, you can copy your favorite country dishes from them and have your food taste just like it came out from the restaurants by getting recipes from the Restaurant Favorites Cookbook .

Favors:
Anything country/cowboy-ish, like sweets in little cowboy boots, cowboy hat candle holders, sheriff badges, paisley print bandanas, home made flower arrangements , little tin buckets or gingham sachets with a potpourri of dried flowers, pressed flower artworks , horseshoe magnets or key chains, miniature wooden barrels, tiny beer mugs, little bottles of homemade jams or preserved fruits or honey.

Music:
Country music, of course. Include a line dance or square dance in your program. You may hire someone to teach the guests on how to do the dances for added fun. For a more romantic touch during the reception, the groom can even serenade the bride while playing a country love song on the guitar. The Guitar Technique tutorial can help you improve your playing to impress the bride, as well as the guests, much more.

A western/country wedding is definitely going to be a fun celebration to go to. It may be hot, dusty, and noisy, but it’s good ol’ country fun you wouldn’t wanna miss.

Find more unique wedding themes and complete ideas on how to achieve them in the
Unique Theme Weddings Ebook