Many brides-to-be and their fiancées live in busy Cosmopolitan Cities, where people of many ethnicities, religions and cultures meet and live in close proximity (especially busy sea ports like Houston). While they love the elegance & sophistication of the city they want a more serene setting for their wedding & reception. Thus was born "Countrypolitan" with the elegance of the city and the serenity of the country.

Location:

On a lazy drive to nowhere, your guests arrive at your wedding location.

While the location or surrounding may be rural for a "Countrypolitan" wedding, this is where the country ends in a "Countrypolitan" wedding. The decor is very "Cosmopolitan", elegant, chic & sophisticated, no country decor here.

The "Countrypolitan" Setting

Brides choosing to have a "Countrypolitan" wedding usually hold their ceremony and reception in the same location. However, your ceremony can take place at a church in the city and them guests could gather in the relaxed atmosphere of the country for your lovely reception. Just remember that the distance between the two locations should be no more than a 30 minute drive. This may pose a challenge.

You may choose to hold your ceremony in a quaint turn of the century Church, in the courtyard of a Spanish style hacienda or Tuscan style villa, or on the front steps of a Historic Mansion (Plantation house, or Colonial house). You might also choose to have the ceremony on a river bluff or by a lake, in a grove of 100 year old Oak Trees, a rolling meadow with giant Cypress trees, or on a mountain top. The options are endless.

An outdoor setting is perfect for a more formal "Countrypolitan" wedding ceremony. The outdoors makes a perfect place to hold a wedding ceremony, few things are more beautiful than nature. During most of the year's seasons, there is plenty of beautiful foliage and a range of lovely settings that provide a perfect backdrop for your ceremony.

Remember that while many venues in rural settings have indoor areas for the reception, only a few have indoor areas (chapels) for the ceremony. It is very important, that you have a Plan B if any part of your wedding is planned for outdoors. This could mean an added expense that your budget just can't handle.

Setting the mood for your "Countrypolitan" Wedding

Your invitations are not just to invite your guests, they are also to convey a mood an ambiance for the occasion. Although your wedding will be in a rural setting it is to be a elegant, sophisticated affair. You want to convey this to your guests. You want your invitations to be on fine paper with their addresses penned in calligraphy across the front of the invitation so that guests know that you have gone to a lot of trouble and expense to invite them to a formal affair. A "Countrypolitan" wedding is not the wedding to send invitations emblazoned with cowboys & cowgirls, gazebos & etc. You do not want to invite guests to a wedding with a country western "flare" with a barbeque reception. You want your guests to look at your invitation and think "What a sophisticated affair this is going to be!" Take the time to look hard for your invitations, it's important that you find the right invitation, conveying the right ambiance, at the right price.

Map out the most scenic route & include directions with your invitations.

NEVER include registry information in with your invitations, your invitations request the the honor of your guests presence and that is not spelled P-R-E-S-E-N-T-S. This information needs to be passed through the grapevine, by your bridesmaids, groomsmen, & family or you may list it on your wedding website.

The Ceremony

While formal weddings, are not the norm for the outdoors, an outdoor setting is actually perfect for a more formal "Countrypolitan" wedding ceremony. Just remember Nature's grandeur is not one of gaudiness, more is not always better and more costs more.

Keep your ceremony decor in keeping with the style of your venue, A Spanish style villa or Tuscan style villa would call for black wrought iron arches, candelabras, and maybe shepherd's hooks with hanging floral arrangements or black lanterns (nighttime), while a historic mansion would be better decorated with antique gold candelabras, arches, & urns, with garden roses & ivy spilling out of urns or garden sculptures.

Bridal Attire

While formal weddings, are not the norm for the outdoors, an outdoor setting is actually perfect for a more formal "Countrypolitan" wedding ceremony. However, there are considerations you should think about when choosing your wedding gown. It should match the setting (so that it looks like it belongs), and be comfortable to wear. While most outdoor weddings have a more semi-formal or casual feel, an outdoor ceremony allows for the bride to be more expressive in her choice of a wedding dress.

For a "Countrypolitan" wedding your dress should be more formal in nature, meaning that it should be long in length. Your gown can have sleeves, or not, many formal wedding dresses are sleeveless. Do remember when choosing a gown that Nature's grandeur is not one of gaudiness, and an overly ornate, heavily beaded dress would look ridiculous in a garden, amongst the trees, or the peaks of a mountain setting. For a mountain setting you might even want to use a simple tea-length wedding gown.

For formal weddings, the bridal attendants usually all wear one color. During the spring, outfit attendants in bright colors and during the fall use earth tones. If your rural wedding is in the mountains this is a great opportunities for bridesmaid "color runs," where each bridesmaid wears a dress of a different color.

What should the groom & his groomsmen wear? You'll have to admit that grooms and their groomsmen are addicted to tuxedos. After all, you rarely see them wearing anything but tuxedos at their weddings. Tuxedos are "formal wear" and that means they should only be worn to formal or semi-formal, evening weddings (after 6 p.m.), so why then do we see them at weddings held in morning and afternoon? In one wedding book, the author states, "A tuxedo before six o'clock?" NEVER!" And we agree.

Weddings held in mornings and afternoons warrant strollers and/or morning coats, which are elegant suits most times grey, the latter worn with ascots and vests. They're absolutely fabulous and unique.

Most weddings are semi-formal meaning that the groom does have options other than that a tux. Elegant suits are perfectly appropriate for that semi-formal wedding. There's nothing wrong with it.

The white dinner jacket is just the ticket for the semi-formal wedding, or the formal wedding that's held in tropical climates or in summer. The white dinner jacket is a "light" look, and it's just as elegant as a tux!

For those who are not tuxedo obsessed? How about the coolness of a white linen suit for those semi-formal weddings held in summer.

The bottom line is this: The bride-to-be doesn't want to look like every other bride who walks down the aisle-and the groom shouldn't want to look like every other groom! Now you know your options, exercise them!

"Cherry Blossoms" Vellum Wine Glass Shade (Set of 24)

The Reception

The mood of the "Countrypolitian" reception is warm and welcoming. The decor is elegant; the meal made up of artistic food presentations.

Many rural venues has lovely indoor reception areas, complete with ornate chandeliers, however the "Countrypolitian" reception might also take place in a charming old stone barn, a tent in an open field, the courtyard of a Spanish style Villa, or on the lawn of a historic mansion.

Reception Decor

Again, keep your "Countrypolitan" wedding reception decor in keeping with the style of your venue, but use elegant chandeliers, candelabras, & beautiful flowers.

Cover your tables with linen table cloths & overlays. Use table numbers and placecards.

Use charger plates, china, flatware, & crystal glassware. Add additional elements that you might find in a grand hotel ballroom in the city.


Blume Box	Pedestal Bowl	Glass Photo Cube Vase

Beautiful flowers

Your florist is the best person to give you advise on the colors, & type of flowers to use in your decor. To save money on your flowers, it is best to use flowers in season and colors that reflect the season of your wedding.

If you choose a venue with an outdoor ceremony location, ask what types of flowers are planted in the ceremony area. Which flowers will be in bloom at the time of your ceremony and what colors the flowers will be. Work with your florist to choose bouquets, and other flowers that will coordinate with those that are growing in the ceremony area.

If you are planning to do your own flowers, do your research. Some cut flowers last for a number of hours outside and others welt quickly. Know how to properly prep & rehydrate each type of flower when they arrive. Know how to cut your stems properly so that the flowers can rehydrate and use the proper flower food for the type of flowers that you are using to get the longest life for your flowers. Do you have adequate cooling for flowers. Remember vegetables and fruits in your refrigerator put off gases that can kill flowers. Remember that some flowers like Asiatic Lilies or Oriental Lilies come closed and can take days to open. Other flowers will come already open and may not last as long. Make sure that you have plenty of help and realize that it can take 30-40 hours or more to arrange all of your flowers. Yes, you can save on the cost of the flowers by doing it yourself. But, what about the cost for your time? What about the added stress? Is it really worth it?

For The Wedding Cake

Wedding cakes cost lots of money, the more the decorating the greater the cost. Getting a superb tasting cake is the number one priority. To keep the cost down, we advise that the cake be frosted plain—with the florist doing the decorating.

If your reception will also take place outdoors choose a wedding cake with fondant rather than buttercream frosting which melts in the heat.


Scroll Initial Cake Topper		Personalized Napkins - LUNCHEON (Regal)

Theme Parties N More is a wedding & event planning company located in Cypress, TX. We are also a wedding & event florist. Our party & wedding planners have put this website together to provide our visitors with ideas for planning their events, this includes links to products that can help you to make your event extra special. In accordance with the FTC Guidelines we are disclosing that some of the vendors that we link you to, pay us a commission when you purchase products from them, but some of the vendors do not provide us with any compensation.