The Final installment of:

Flop or Fly Friday

Will Rustic Get Rusty?

via 100LayerCake

So we've determined that anything goes for your gown.  It should speak to you, compliment you, make you feel special. While trends like illusion backs and necklines will be around for a while thanks to their sheer beauty (no pun intended,) and lace will never go out of style, what about wedding themes?  Will the rustic trend get rusty?  Is vintage going to look like your Grandma's wedding?  Will shabby chic just look shabby?  When you celebrate your 50th wedding anniversary will your photos stand out like shoulder pads and Hammer pants?

Hopefully, it won't.  If you do a theme right by mixing together touches of the trend throughout your day and the theme says something about you and your beloved's personality and style, you can't go wrong.  Just like wedding gowns, theme or no theme, the important thing is to choose everything that speaks to you as a couple.  A great place to start is the venue.  Marta Segal at the Huffington Post had a great article called Don't Judge the Marriage by the Wedding that I think says it all.  She also did a great face-off of 2012 trends and what they will turn into.  I'll recap the venue trends:

Rustic to Ranch

Rustic wedding via Head Over Heels Design

Ranch Wedding via GigMasters

So what's the difference, right?  Both big open spaces, lots of dirt that your Badgley Mischka's will sink into, both look great with cafe lights, and both are great for weddings big or small.  The difference (which I'm a little sad about since I'm a DIY junkie) is that all the big companies have adopted all you crafty bride's hard work and created collections inspired by you.  The ranch trend, as Segal put it, is a little more "Dior than DIY."  A little ritzier feeling, a little more pulled together and matching, a little more glamorous- I guess you can't go wrong with that!  Keep the burlap and lace but add some crystal and fine china to serve your sliders on instead.  Rather than the down home, denim casual feeling of a rustic wedding, think black tie at the barn.  

via intertwined events

Traditional Ballroom to Vintage Glam

Okay.  I have to admit, this might be my favorite venue trend!  I actually tried to incorporate this look into my wedding, but the roof of my raw space caved in and I had to go rustic instead.  A traditional ballroom, as beautiful as it looks above, wasn't our style when we were planning our wedding.  What was our style was the raw space, exposed brick, high ceilings look that warehouse weddings provide.  Think the Foundry in LIC, The Green Room or Tobacco Warehouse Brooklyn.  They are veritable blank slates to create any kind of look, but they look particularly great with the Old Hollywood type of glam added to them.  

Castle Gibson, UK

The Foundry, Long Island City

 Check out this wedding at the Green Building in Brooklyn for some great ideas of what a raw space can become via ruffled.

So many more great trends to come in 2013!  Stay tuned for more to be featured in our Sunday Styles and Tuesday Trends.  I'm working on some inspiration boards to highlight new and trendy ideas and how you can put them all together.  Until then-

TTFN

Rachel