Setting Your Stage: Rustic and Urban Wedding Venues That Fit Your Personality

Do you want an urban wedding with an edgy, modern vibe, or do you dream of exchanging vows in a more peaceful, rustic setting? Is proximity to resources like restaurants, hotels, and bars a priority, or would you prefer wedding memories that include the sights and sounds of nature?

Not sure? That’s understandable. Both rustic and urban venues have something special to offer. And you have so many choices: from glamorous venues minutes from city centers to farms and country-style venues away from the crowds and traffic.

Picking the right setting to match your personality and preferences doesn’t have to be difficult. Whether you’re a little bit country or a little bit rock and roll, there’s a perfect place for your ceremony and reception. Here are some of the benefits that set rustic and urban venues apart.

Why Do Couples Select Rustic Venues?

Interest in rustic weddings is an enduring one. For some couples, being in the country feels right. It matches their personalities. It inspires “natural” creativity for food, décor, and photography. If you’ve ever longed for a reception in a gingham-decked barn with Mason jars replacing wine glasses, a rustic venue might be right for you. And there’s an emotional tie: Rural venues can evoke a feeling of home.

“Rustic weddings hosted in barns and on farms are popular for a reason,” Jess Levin wrote for Martha Stewart. “The cozy venue location provides a certain sentimentality and allows couples to embrace the beauty of nature in a down-to-earth way.”

The Settings Are Gorgeous, Naturally

In many cases, the great outdoors is the star attraction at rustic venues.

But you don’t always have to travel far from the city to enjoy a rural setting.

Less than an hour from my home in greater Houston, for instance, couples can enjoy a view of “150 acres of rolling hills with a seasonal creek, majestic oaks, and stunning sunsets” at Deep in the Heart Farms, in Brenham, Texas.

At Quonquont Farm in New England, weddings take place in an apple orchid amid flower gardens, a spring-fed pond, and a sparkling brook.

And at The HomeStead at Wilshire Ranch in southern California, the view includes the Wilshire Peak and San Bernardino mountains, along with old-growth trees and a lilac field.

Rustic Chic: Beyond a Trend

As alluring as fields of flowers and birdsong are, rustic venues often have as much to offer indoors as out. For example, not only is Big Sky Barn in Montgomery, Texas, on the shores of a lake and next to a national forest, the venue also boasts of its “rustic chic” buildings. Big Sky Barn created that effect, in part, with its stunning interior walls, which were made with reclaimed woods and materials sourced from Maine to Montana.

Rustic chic, by the way, is more than a trend. It’s a thing — an interior design style with aesthetic origins in French and English countrysides, according to interior design writer Brittney Smart.

“Overall, rustic chic style avoids the structured, almost stuffy feel of past traditional styles and instead embraces a more natural modern lifestyle,” Smart wrote for Homedit.com.

Rustic chic usually is characterized by light color schemes, simplicity, repurposed elements, and imperfect natural materials, among other things.

The Urban Appeal

While the scenery and peacefulness of rural settings just feel right to some, others can say the same about the energy and excitement of urban settings.

They’re drawn to the lights, the movement, and the myriad choices of things to see and do in the city. Maybe they see beauty in the architecture, or they equate cities with luxury and sophistication.

If that describes you, a city wedding can best reflect who you are and what you’re passionate about.

Expand the Boundaries of Your Celebration

City venues put you within easy range of great restaurants for your rehearsal dinner along with numerous choices for making memories together, from theaters to museums to romantic nightspots.

And the options are increasing: More and more U.S. cities are welcoming visitors again as people are vaccinated for COVID-19. Los Angeles, for example, just launched a new tourism campaign. In New York City, hotels are reopening, and bars and restaurants are staying open later.

That means you have a growing list of possibilities for urban destination weddings. Or if you live in a city, you’ll have plenty of nearby places to visit with out-of-town wedding guests eager to explore your hometown.

Industrial and Urban Chic Are Things, Too

Urban settings can provide a unique palette for a couple’s creative design ideas, too.

“A new aesthetic is growing in popularity among marrying couples: the ‘industrial-chic’ warehouse wedding,” Ashley Fetters wrote for The Atlantic. “It’s like a barn wedding for city dwellers, with exposed brick and lofty ceilings, plus beams bedazzled with hanging greenery and/or naked Edison light bulbs.”

Industrial chic is a design choice with a clean look and feel, Danielle Fox wrote for Town and Country. Couples that choose this look typically showcase a few key design elements, from hanging metal geometric shapes to creative floral displays.

“The result is modern and minimal, without lacking pizazz,” Fox wrote. “Part of the beauty lies in the contrast — soft lace dresses against concrete walls, brass decor poking out from your greenery.”

Of course, you don’t have to go with an industrial theme to create an amazing urban wedding. You can choose venues and design themes that offer a sense of elegance, instead. My venue, The Bell Tower on 34th, for example, is known for its beauty and glamour.

Trust Your Instincts

There’s nothing to say that the qualities associated with one type of venue can’t be found at another. It’s possible to find urban venues surrounded by natural beauty, for example, and you can achieve a modern, sophisticating feel in a rural setting.

I should also point out the decision to go urban or rustic won’t affect your budget in and of itself. An over-the-top wedding in a garden can be far more expensive than a scaled-back affair at a downtown loft, for instance. In other words, costs depend on the individual venues and the many details that shape your wedding, from headcounts to your wedding date.

Ultimately, your wisest course of action is to research a variety of venues and see what resonates with you. For couples, selecting a wedding venue is a little like looking for a home: You should be able to see yourselves there. Visualize your first dance as a married couple, your grand entrance, or your décor ideas. If the venue matches your personality and captures the ambiance you’d like to create for your guests, you’re on the right track.

About the Author:

Roger Igo is the founder and CEO of research resource, Venues in Houston, along with Houston catering service Excellent Events and special events venue, The Bell Tower on 34th. He is the author of “Keep On Going, The History of The Bell Tower on 34th,” a former radio host, a graduate of CEO Space International, and an alumnus of The Disney Institute.