Various reception decor (except entry table, that comes later)

For the reception decor, I have to admit that I had a lot of specific ideas about the way I wanted things to look. We were lucky to find an awesome, rustic venue that was exactly what we had in mind for the feel or our big day, and we (ok, I) wanted the decorations to complement and reflect the rustic vibe.

The central component was really the centerpiece that I blogged about a few weeks ago. I was thrilled to have it turn out so beautifully. I absolutely loved it more than the inspiration piece!

The tables themselves were rounded out with actual burlap linens covered with sage overlays/napkins and the simplest china/silverware/glassware available from the rental company. We also has our coordinator place some plain white votives around the tabletops, as well as inside the centerpiece lanterns. The candlelight was awesome as the night wore on. For chairs, as pretty as chivari chairs are, they simply weren't in the budget. I think the wood folding look worked fine.

We wanted to make use of the many windowsills around the room, but we did not originally have the budget to do so. Our florist Mark from Hairy Mary's created two beautiful arrangements with flowers, branches, and hanging votive candles for the front two windows of the mill--you can see one of the two arrangements in the first table picture above. For the other windows, we planned to move the six church sill arrangements to the mill, although that still left a few windows empty--no big deal. However, we weren't able to finalize our guest count (90) until the very last minute, and Mark already had over 110 potted herbs for us to use, so he was able to arrange them for us using our extra crates and lanterns, and those made up the remaining window sills. It was really much more than I had anticipated, and it looked gorgeous! These pics don't do it justice, but you get the idea.

Miscellaneous decor-->
There is a really neat lower level of the mill with a door opening out back to the canal and Delaware River. We had the cocktail hour down there. Bar, a few small tables & chairs, everyone got to check out the cool old mill equipment and stroll along the canal. Unfortunately, I don't have very many pictures. This is one of the stone walls with candle effect.


Back door of the mill lower level (cocktails) with reused ceremony pew cones hanging from $0.99 shepherd's hooks.


Stairs on the main level (dinner and dancing) with reused wreaths from the doors of the church (they did get centered up on the banister). The other two wreaths were hung from pillars in the middle of the reception floor. A nice addition.

And of course, don't forget the DIY escort cards and menus--they were also in attendance!

Since this is already super long, I will share the details of my mostly-DIY entry table in a separate post. Cake and menu will also be discussed. :)

Finally, some of my favorite detail shots from the super-talented Laura Billingham.