Fifi ONeill - Prairie Style Weddings: Rustic and Romantic Farm, Woodland, and Garden Celebrations

Text copyright 2014 by Fifi ONeill.
Photographs copyright 2014 by Mark Lohman.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

ISBN 978-1-4521-3345-4 (epub, mobi)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.

ISBN 978-1-4521-2796-5 (hc)

Styling by Fifi ONeill
Designed by Vivien Sung Design

The photographer thanks his talented wife, Janet Lohman, for putting up with a crazy schedule of cross-country shoots in order to photograph the many projects and locations featured in Prairie-Style Weddings.

Chronicle Books LLC
680 Second Street
San Francisco, California 94107
www.chroniclebooks.com

A WEDDING IS ONE OF LIFES most joyful eventsone to dream about for many years, often long before any wedding plans are even begun.

As a fairy-tale wedding goes, the event crescendos to the couples first kiss as newlyweds, surrounded by cheering guests. At just the right moment, white doves take flight into azure skies, and a horse-drawn coach spirits the lovers away to live happily ever after. A dream come true, indeed.

The romance and excitement of an upcoming wedding build for days, or even months, beginning with a fun-filled bridal shower. The rehearsal dinneroften casual and intimateis next, followed by that glorious, momentous walk down the aisle. And finally, the joyous reception.

Each gathering is a chance to celebrate the start of a new life with family, friends, and loved ones.

WHAT IS A PRAIRIE-STYLE WEDDING? It is a perfect blending of romance and pragmatism, of simplicity and embellishment. It counts on nature to provide a beautiful setting, and then adds personal touches with decor and details. It relies on invention, encourages resourcefulness, and finds beauty in imperfection. In a prairie-style wedding, handmade, sustainable, and accessible elements set a casual, welcoming, and celebratory tone that will be memorable and meaningful for all guests and especially for the marrying couple.

Living on the prairie, in this and many other countries, necessitated the ability to live off the land. In order to thrive, homesteaders had to become inventive when harvesting, cooking, sewing, building, entertaining, and handcrafting. Todays prairie-style weddings take their cue with pride from this do-it-yourself approach.

For us in the twenty-first century, the word prairie conjures up sun-dappled country lanes, fragrant meadows, beautiful weathered barns, fields of wildflowersall places that evoke a primal and organic feel. Prairie-Style Weddings takes you to charming affairs in such earthy settings, including the bucolic landscape of a working horse ranch, the luminous backdrop of a white barn, and a homegrown celebration at a family farm, to name just a few.

IF YOU ARE HOLDING THIS BOOK, no doubt you are intrigued by prairie style, share the vision, or are simply curious to discover how to define and plan your own wedding, or that of your child, close relative, or best friend. Know that you can transform fantastic dreams into reality without lavish financial resources. That is the beauty of prairie style. The more extravagant approach to a traditional wedding is supplanted by drawing on the riches of nature. In these pages, youll see proof that beautiful and magical eventsbridal showers, rehearsal dinners, wedding ceremonies, and receptionsare attainable.

Simplicity and effortless grace are hallmarks of prairie-style celebrations, but individuality is just as important. With prairie style, you might choose to celebrate outdoors under sunny skies or in an outbuilding decorated for your special day. You might set your tables with vintage lace and china finery passed down through the generations, or with rustic burlap runners and hand-thrown pottery. Your seating options might be hay bales, garden chairs, or plump secondhand sofas, and your flowers might be displayed in crystal vases, tin cans, jam jars, or galvanized bucketsor all of the above! Whether your theme is rough and rugged or decidedly feminine, a touch of opulence, a little glamour, a hint of vintage, and a generous sprinkling of playfulness are among the many features that define prairie style. Keep in mind the goal is not to achieve the kind of flawlessness one expects at a traditional affair. Your prairie-style wedding revels in the perfection of quirky exuberance and endearing details that conspire to make it a memorable celebration. Prairie-Style Weddings encourages you to be you!

When it comes down to the fine details, prairie-style festivities embrace all sorts of humble materials, in ways that elevate them from ordinary to fabulous. Throughout this book, you will see how effortlessly discards can become intrinsically lovely accents: salvaged bedsprings transformed into napkin holders for the wedding feast; antique perfume bottles repurposed for displaying menus; cheesecloth dyed in a soft pastel palette and fashioned into ethereal table skirts; ordinary wood clothing pins decorated to attach garlands and swags. The ideas are as easy as the list is long.

PRAIRIE-STYLE WEDDINGS SHOWS YOU gorgeous bridal shower, rehearsal dinner, ceremony, and reception settings along with decor ideas to help spark your creativity as you plan your special day. A gentle narrative brings each dreamy location and theme to life with details. Each setting offers a rough blueprint for a celebration that can be adapted to your special taste and sensibilities and is guaranteed to be stylish without being trendy or trite. At the back of the book, you will find easy-to-follow instructions for some of the simple but sensational DIY projects pictured throughout.

My hope is that Prairie-Style Weddings will inspire you and bring you joy while you plan and prepare for your happy day.

The fairy tale lives on.