Barn weddings are an extremely popular choice lately and they are a great option for a blank canvas to style the wedding you have always dreamed of. It’s always a good idea to ask your venue if it is a blank canvas and you can use/have any decorations you like as some places may have restrictions. Barns are great for so many different styles and themes, which means you can make the venue look completely different to the last few weddings that have been there. We have a few styling tips to help you with your blank canvas barn wedding venue.
Colour Scheme
Your colour scheme is the first thing you need to decide on. Everything else will fall into place so much easier when you have your colour scheme. And the best way to start is to choose your bridesmaid dresses. Sounds strange I know, but bridesmaid dresses are the hardest thing to find if you already know what specific colour you want, whereas is you choose your favourite bridesmaid dresses first, everything else is so much easier to find in those colours. Also look at what your wedding barn looks like, what interior colours they have and make sure the colour you choose compliments the barn.
Theme
Depending on the barn venue you have chosen you could have many different options for a theme. Some barn venues will be complete blank canvases, which is great, you can have any theme and style you choose. Some may have a certain style to them which may limit your theme styles to choose from. But the upside to a barn if you could turn it into anything you dream of, for example; a classic and elegant style with lights or drapes and clean white colours, the classic rustic style or a bit more of a country theme (consider where in the country your barn venue is too), if your wanting a specific theme or a colourful theme. These all work very well, especially if your barn is a complete blanc canvas.
Recommended Suppliers
Ask your wedding venue if they have any recommended suppliers and research them. The best thing about recommended suppliers is that they will know the venue well. They will know what suits it, what styles work and how to make the place amazing. Especially florist, stylists and even photographers. Research their previous work in the venue and at other venues, you need to know you like their style and what they do and if they work with what styles you like. At the end of the day it is all about your own personal opinion.
Pinterest is the perfect platform to get ideas and create mood boards for your big day. You can create different boards for each section of your wedding, from food to décor to colour scheme to cakes and many many more. Use this for everything. All your suppliers will love to see them to get ideas for what you are wanting and to be able to visualise your ideas.
Venues Options
Always keep in touch with your venue, go and view the barn as many times as you need to and take pictures so you can work from them. See what your venue has to offer. Look at the interior of the barn, does is have beams, windowsills, brick walls or blank walls, anything to have stuff from and if not, are you allowed to hang stuff on walls. Think about how much light gets into the venue during the day and at the right time of year your wedding will be. If it does not get much you may need to think about extra lighting. All these things may make such an impact on what the barn will look like on your big day.
What the venue has to offer
Always check with your venue if they have any extras, most usually have something. Fairy lights are normally a big one for barn wedding venues. See if your venue has any before going out and buying hundreds. Also depending on what your style is that you’re going for see if your venue has any spare decorations that you could use. Many barns may have extra furnishings, for example: barrels, wooden tables/chairs and many more. It is always worth staying in good contact with your venue and seeing if that have anything that could help you.
Decorating
Always think about the look of your venue to decide what decorations will look good in a barn. Some things that always work well in a barn are rustic decorations, barrels, fairy lights (lots of them) and candles. However, if you are wanting candles please look into the battery-operated ones. Another thing to think about are your extra decorations included in the wedding, like seating plans, table names, signs, guest books and table decorations. These are best to be styled around the theme and style of the wedding you are having.
Lighting
When looking into lighting there are a few things to consider. First thing to look at is how much natural lighting comes into your barn venue. This will help you figure out how much lighting you will need for during the day. Think about what time of year you are getting married and how much day light you will have (when it comes to winter the light soon starts disappearing from around 3/4pm). Next is to see how much lighting the venue has, can it make the place bright and airy and also if they have either dimmer lights or be able to turn some (but not all) lights of to start creating an ambiance when the day starts changing from day to night. That is when you can start to look at extra lighting/fairy lights or even bigger stringed lights, which make barns look magical! If you are considering candles and tea lights as part of your decoration and lighting your best option is battery operated ones. These have many positives to them, from personal experience, there are no fire hazards and they will last all day and night, whereas flamed candles will eventually burn out especially tea lights which will burn out quite quickly.
Food
Food always makes people happy! You can have fun while choosing what food you want for your wedding. Depending on who your venue is, you make be able to choose anything you desire. Some venues may have specific caterers for you to choose from, but some venues will allow any catering into the barn that you would like. This could be from food vans, which in themselves have soooo many amazing options. This can be your canapes, main wedding breakfast, evening food and even deserts. Check with your venue if they have kitchen facilities for caterers as this can be a great help for caterers. Hog roast and barbeques are always a big hit with barn weddings as they give the more relaxed feel. Recommended suppliers are always good to investigate as they will know the venue well.
Entertainment
Finally, entertainment. You need to make sure you speak to your venue. Depending if you have specific entertainment in mind or idea of what you want, you need to know that your venue has the space. If you are looking at having a singer/harpist/string quartet etc for your ceremony they will need the space for their equipment and themselves in the ceremony room, including a power source. This is the same for your evening entertainment whether they are a band, a singer or a DJ. They will either need some tables moving or space already in the barn for all their equipment to be set up and stay for the rest of the evening. The only advice I would say if you are considering a DJ is, DO NOT let them talk you into needing them all day! Most likely your venue or barn will have a sound system for ceremony music and background music for during the day and while everyone is eating, they may just take up space that could be utilized during the day.
