Vivid Fall Wedding at Shady Elms Farm

Vivid and bold, this fall wedding at Shady Elms Farm brings out the best of this magical season. With a warm but dramatic color palette of teal, marsala, burnt orange, and raspberry, Lyndsay and Justin designed a casual affair at the indoor/outdoor barn venue. The bold color choices were striking while the decor was just perfect for that time of the year. Large white pumpkins were sprinkled all around beautiful reception space, while traditional orange ones dotted the tables. Centerpieces of rose buds atop brass candlesticks, burlap runners, and wooden slaps rounded out the decor, while bouquets of amaranthus, ranunculus, and calla lilies, also created by Shady Elms Farm, coordinated beautifully with the burgundy bridesmaids dresses. A BBQ menu, bourbon signature cocktails, and a sparkler exit made this rustically elegant affair one for the books! Just WAIT until you see these images from Jenna Hidinger Photography and this highlight film from Pittsburgh wedding videographer Dorosh Documentaries. Call me basic if you must but fall is the BEST!

About the Couple

I landed an internship at FOX Sports in Los Angeles in 2007. A Facebook page was set up for a group of us to connect with each other. A friend of Justin reached out to me and we decided to be roommates. When I arrived, I dropped off my belongings and left to check out the area. Justin and his best friend helped my new roommate move into our place while I was out exploring. Although I just barely missed him that day, we met soon after. One of our first conversations was about Rip Hamilton and Pistons basketball (Justin is from Michigan). The next time we saw each other, he was wearing a Pirates hat (I’m from Pittsburgh) and a Dwayne Wade jersey (my favorite player at the time). After almost ten years, many of our favorite memories together still involve sports.

After my friends left our mountain lodge the weekend of my 30th birthday, it was just the two of us, sitting by the fireplace. I like to tell it like it is, so I mentioned to him that it would be the perfect time to propose. Right then, the wind blew both of the patio doors open, like a sign that he should pop the question. He pretended he didn’t have a ring with him, but then he left the room to go grab it from his suitcase. When he came back, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. We celebrated by eating frozen pizza, drinking champagne, and playing Big Buck Hunter in the cabin’s arcade. Everything fell into place. It was perfect, and more importantly, it was us.

About the Wedding

Fall is our favorite season, so many of our plans were based around warm, rustic tones that complement the colorful foliage. Our venue, Shady Elms Farm, can be summed up as vintage barns, breathtaking florals, and a relaxing atmosphere. We hoped our wedding would be memorable and unique. We definitely we wanted it to be informal in a gorgeous setting where everyone could really let their hair down and have a great time. Because we had always dreamed of an outdoor ceremony, but we wanted to be married by a priest in the Catholic church, we actually had two ceremonies. The first was a traditional Catholic mass on Friday evening, and the second was an intimate outdoor ceremony at our venue on Saturday prior to our reception. I truly believe we got the best of both worlds!

Shady Elms Farm did an absolutely amazing job decorating the space for the outdoor ceremony and reception in the vintage barn. The vine-covered arbor with the crystal chandelier and glistening pond were part of the backdrop for our ceremony. The doors of the 120-year old barn were opened and our guests could feel the warm autumn breeze while surrounded by gorgeous wooden beams, chandeliers, and a light canopy strung from the haylofts. I wanted unique, rich colors, so I chose teal, deep red, burnt orange, and raspberry. I think the vivid colors ended up blending together beautifully. I bought small orange pumpkins to be placed on the tables, and large white pumpkins to be placed around the property. I created several framed signs, including ones for our signature drinks, our sparkler exit, a donation we made to an animal welfare organization in lieu of favors, and our wedding hashtag. The memory area to honor deceased loved ones was especially important to me, as my Grandpa passed away a month before our wedding. We laid his boutonnière next to a photo of him. It was really special.

All of our custom floral pieces were created by Shady Elms Farm. They truly made my vision come to life by incorporating the rich colors into the flowers. They were so vivid and breathtaking. They really made our wedding photos pop!

The farm’s chicken coop served as a welcoming station to guests as they arrived. It stored a timeline of events and our unique guestbook, which was a huge, rustic letter “B” for our guests to sign. After the outdoor ceremony, our guests enjoyed cocktail hour in the farm’s rustically-elegant carriage house. We chose a BBQ menu to complement our informal theme. Of course, we had the Pittsburgh cookie table at our wedding, featuring cookies and baked goods made by family and friends. After an exceptionally fun evening of cocktails and dancing, our reception ended with a beautiful sparkler exit.

Favorite Moment

The feeling of being married (after almost ten years together!) was what I was most anticipating, along with celebrating with the people we love. Special moments that really stand out in my mind include doing a first look with my mom, dad, bridesmaids, and my husband. There wasn’t a dry eye at our outdoor ceremony as I walked down the aisle to a beautiful song. The personal vows we exchanged made us smile, laugh, and cry. Our first dance was also pretty epic, as I chose “Forever Young” by Jay-Z and Beyonce, which is about as nontraditional as it gets. We had a such a blast singing and dancing to it! We were also blessed to have the most gorgeous fall day. It was sunny, warm, the perfect temperature, with an absolutely stunning sunset to end the day.