Today’s wedding at Rustic Acres Farm is going to tug on your heartstrings while also stirring up all the feelings of wedding envy! All it took was one look at the gorgeous Pittsburgh wedding venue for Carly and Joe to know that’s where they were meant to tie the knot. With the most scenic views, the ceremony look place under a weeping willow tree, where Carly read vows written on the pages of her late father’s bible and Joe wore his pocket watch. What followed was a reception where Carly married (no pun intended!) her modern city girl style with the quaint barn aesthetic. With Exhale Events in charge the details, it’s no wonder this whimsically wonderful design came together flawlessly. Girly shades of purple, fuchsia, and deep burgundy played up the space through perfectly assembled floral designs by Community Flower Shop and a stunning purple velvet settee. To offset the vibrancy, glowing accents – such as gold rimmed chairs and signs – contrasted the wooden elements and provided a touch of elegance. In addition to our eyes being blown away by the details, our mouths were also watering from the menu by JPC Event Group, which was displayed on a chic chalkboard sign. If you’re longing for a wedding style where rustic meets glam, then you’re going to fall in love with these images captured by Dawn Derbyshire Photography and this video from Loyalty Entertainment!
About the Couple
We met the first semester of our freshman year at Westminster College. At that point, I don’t think either one of us was ready to meet “the one” but life had other plans! From there, we dated all through college, studying together, binging TV shows, eating late night snacks, going on long walks, sneaking into each other’s dorms late at night (sorry mom), dreaming up our future lives, going to frat parties, and drinking way too much cheap beer. We got through some really difficult times together, including my dad passing away very unexpectedly. My dad was my best friend and Joe knew how important it was to have him play a part in our future. So on the 4th of July, Joe asked me if I wanted to go to the cemetery to put a flag on my dad’s grave and pay a much needed visit. When we got there, we stood there for a few seconds and out of nowhere, Joe got down on his knee in front of my dad’s gravestone, asked for my dad’s permission, and then asked me to marry him. It was emotional, private, personal, and the most perfect proposal I could ever imagine.
About the Wedding
It was a dream. Rustic Acres was the first venue we looked at and it was love at first sight. I mean, it was 10 minutes down the road from where our love story began. How much more perfect could it get?! While we got married in a barn, which would typically take on a rustic theme, deep down, I’m a modern city girl. So I really wanted everything to have a glam vibe. In order to do that, we accented everything with gold and our main colors were shades of purple, mauve, burgundy, and dusty rose. I wanted rich, deep colors to create a fall-like feel; they accented the barn so well because the space is very whimsical. The flowers were so important to me and Miranda from Community Flower Shop absolutely blew me away. They brought the entire look together. All of our bridesmaids’ dresses were different and I had them pick a dress they felt good in and a color they liked that still fit the theme.
I think the most unique part was the subtle personal details we used. For example, we have this teddy bear that my mom always says reminds her of my dad. So we sat the little teddy bear in the seat where my dad would have been. On our memorial display, we had an owl Christmas ornament that my childhood dog used to go CRAZY over every time we decorated the Christmas tree. I wrote my vows on pages from my dad’s bible and Joe carried his pocket watch. Those were the subtle things that were so incredibly important and helped us include our loved ones in our day and made it that much more special.
Favorite Moment
The minute I got to the end of the aisle and stood face-to-face with Joe, I remember looking at him and just feeling flooded with emotion. Everything we had been through as a couple and the time we spent planning and anticipating this moment was just happening, right then and there. It was so surreal! His eyes were completely lit up and I could see and feel how genuinely happy he was. He also looked ridiculously handsome, which of course never hurts. This moment was something I will absolutely never forget. It’s funny because I was looking forward to walking down the aisle, but I honestly think I blacked out haha! Another personal favorite was when I saw the space for the first time. It was beyond anything I could have ever imagined and seeing all of our hard work and our incredible team of vendors’ hard work come to life was magical.
