A Romantic Transformation

Selecting the right place for a reception can be a challenge.  It can be hard for a bride to find a venue that has every attribute they are seeking for their big day.  The couple rented a beautiful venue for their wedding and reception, the outside offered the perfect setting for their ceremony. 

A huge oak tree with a lovely arched branch was the perfect place for them to exchange vows.  And in the backdrop, a beautiful barn that also serves as a reception hall. 

The interior of the reception barn was quite lovely, but it was more rustic and a lot darker than the bride had envisioned for her own wedding.

So we transformed it to make it just what she wanted.  It began with two church window frames and a vintage barn door, complete with wonderful chippy white paint, that I scooped up from displays at the shoppe.

Using staples, we covered the backs of the church window frames with burlap and then hubster hung them over the small paned windows, thus giving the illusion of church windows.  Baby's Breath was stapled to the bottom of the windows to create a garland.

As for the old chippy white barn door, we simply leaned it in front of the original door.  All of these architectural pieces fit as if we had a master plan....we didn't.  How sweet is that?  So simple and such a big difference!

The installation of these white architectural components also helped to distract from the black railing.  We picked up a few ferns at a local nursery and wrapped them in burlap ribbon to soften it further.

The lower wall was covered with drop cloth and burlap, then we added a mantle and window that hubby and I snagged from 5th Place Cottage to use as a backdrop for the head table. 

A white prism chandie and vintage chippy toolbox filled with Baby's Breath and branches finished it off. The bride made the "Mr and Mrs" banner out of brown paper with chalk letters.  And, she asked to incorporate the two wood initials somewhere, so I attached them to the toolbox.  Huge paper flowers were used to conceal the dark wood band under the railing.  They are made from tissue that we sell at the shoppe.

It's the same tissue that I used to create our paper wall in the Flax room at the shoppe....it's pretty wondeful stuff! 

The bride loved the flowers in the shoppe displays so much that she had her bridesmaids make them for her wedding, we used them everywhere!

We transformed this section of the space in just a few hours!  Didn't it make for a great "before/after photo", as well as a lovely backdrop for their bridal table?

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