English and American, Victoria and Pete’s guests travelled from all over the world to celebrate this young couple in love.

The story behind this couples journey to engagement is really quite magical. Sam, an old school friend of Victoria was in DC visiting a few of his chaps, and arranged a little get together inviting Victoria along. This is the day that Victoria met Pete. A few years, lots of laughs and gatherings later, the friend that introduced them is stood as nervously as Pete at the top of aisle. Because Sam was about to conduct the rustic wedding ceremony.

The thing about humanist ceremonies is that anyone can perform the wedding ceremony. So Sam seemed like the perfect choice. And goodness was it a ceremony full of tears, tears of joy. Those vows included a little story of how Pete proposed. Pete liked to run, and actually managed to persuade Victoria to start running too. They had completed a few runs together, but this one was a 10 miler in the heart of DC. The place that they both met, and now live together. So a little bit special.

When they crossed the line, all Victoria wanted to do was sit down and eat. However Pete fancied more of a cool down walk with a bottle of water. Tired legs didn’t have enough energy to argue, and so they went for the walk. Just as they rounded the corner of the Washington Monument, Pete got down on one knee and pulled out the most amazing ring. A family diamond, and a ring he designed, Victoria was almost too speechless to say yes. But don’t worry, this is a happy ending – she did!

Following the personal humanist outdoor ceremony, their guests were treated to a quintessentially English tipple. The reception was decorated with crates of flower filled milk bottles and lanterns scattered in the trees.

A rustic wedding tip

The definition of rustic wedding is really all about it being personal. Those little details are the most important details. Victoria and her parents found a log in the garden, and chopped it up into little coasters. Victoria showcased her creative personality by painting the coasters with ombre trees. Guests could then take them home as a gift to remember the day. Do you have a personality trait that you could bring to your wedding? An obsession with candles perhaps? Then why not make a little mini candle for every guest. You could then have some custom labels printed to make them personalised.

Despite living in DC, the rustic wedding actually took place in Napa Valley at Harmony Ridge Lodge. If you are in the area, and like exactly what you see here, here’s a list of all of the suppliers.

Location | Harmony Ridge Lodge
Photography | Lydia Photography
Hair and Makeup | Christa Paul Hair and Makeup
Flowers | Sweet Roots Farm
Catering and Cake | Emily’s Catering and Cakes
DJ | Mountain Event Productions

Sweet Roots Farm delivered the flowers for the ceremony and reception to the venue the day before the wedding. Aside from the bouquets, we then arranged the flowers on the day. This saved a little bit of cash, and is something that you could do too with the help of a few friends. You might still want to have your bouquet made by a florist though. They are harder to make than you think, and it is just one less item to worry about. On average, a wedding bouquet of this sort of size would cost you between £90 and £150 depending on which florist you were to use.

How to arrange flowers

Here a few tips if you decide to have loose flowers delivery for self arrangement like Victoria and Pete. For a rustic wedding, I would always suggest that arrangements are 40% foliage and 60% flowers. Start with two stems of different flowers and then add three stems of foliage. This will form the centre of your arrangement. Then add three stems of flowers, and one stem of foliage. Keep adding your flowers and foliage and then finish the arrangement with the foliage.

If you still aren’t too sure on how to arrange flowers, we have a blog post on wedding flowers to know what works together. Even though your florist will also advise you of what is in season, it is good to prepare as much as you can. Particularly if you need to teach any friends how to help you put them together. Don’t worry if you don’t have time on the day either. The arranging can be done the day before, just keep the flowers in as cool a room as possible.

In Nevada City at the beginning of July, the weather was fairly hot. Victoria was actually born in Britain and wanted to add a little British heritage to the day. Large glasses of Pimm’s were on hand to help cool the guests down. This little touch made the day so more personal. Perhaps you could bring your heritage or a family trait into your day?

Guests were snapping away at the photo booth in the woods. Garlands, fairy lights and flowers hung between two trees, along with jars full of props resting against the trees. Camera on tripod with a clicker makes for a super easy, stress free photo booth.  The dance floor was a permanent venue fixture and dancing to local country music continued into the early hours.

Victoria’s photographer was the lovely Lydia from Lydia Photography. Although Lydia lives and works predominantly in America, she does like to travel. So if you love her style as much as we do, then she would be happy to make a trip for you.

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