A Neutral Private Estate Wedding with Rustic Details

No matter how large or intimate your wedding may be, it is always a good idea to have a wedding planner and coordinator on your vendor team. A wedding planner saves you time and stress by taking venue and vendor research, budgeting, event design, timeline creation, day-of logistics, and more off your plate. That means you and your family and friends can truly relax and enjoy the big day!

In my opinion, the need for an experienced wedding planner is never more apparent than with a private estate wedding! Planning an event at a private home can logistically be tricky to navigate, if you don’t know what factors to take into consideration. There are unique things to think about that you may not have to consider with a traditional wedding venue, like:

-Is the kitchen large enough for the caterer, or will they need to bring a catering tent/tables?

-Do you need power in the ceremony and/or reception area?

-Is there enough parking onsite, or will guests need to be shuttled in?

-Are the restrooms sufficient, or do we need to rent portable bathrooms?

A private estate wedding can be incredibly special and beautiful, especially if the house holds sentimental value to the couple, but without a wedding planner to handle it all, it can go south quickly. Thankfully, Savanna and Riley understood the significance of hiring a wedding planner for their private estate wedding, and I was so honored they chose me!

Their neutral and rustic wedding was classic and timeless by design, but also rowdy and just plain fun when it came time to party! They had so many amazing details in their big day, including a horse straight out of a fairy tale! Make sure to read to the end to find out how we pulled it all off!

Savanna and Riley’s Love Story:

Savanna and Riley’s love story is akin to a fine wine: it just got better with time! They initially met through an organization called Youth with a Mission (YWAM), a ministry that enables people to go on mission trips all over the world. After they each individually completed a mission in Australia, Riley sent Savanna a Facebook message to connect. Over the next couple years, they got to know each other better and became real-life friends, even when they weren’t on mission.

Eventually, their friendship blossomed into something more with the help of Savanna’s sister and best wing woman! Over the course of their 5-year dating relationship, they had many adventures, from traveling to Montana and Hawaii together and adopting an adorable puppy named Palmer.

At the start of 2021, Riley took things to the next level when he got down on one knee in the same place where they initially became boyfriend and girlfriend. Of course, Savanna said yes!

Planning a Private Estate Wedding:

Savanna and Riley knew that they wanted to tie the knot as soon as they could. This meant that they got me on board rather quickly and then, we had about 8 months to plan for their big day. They wanted to have a private estate wedding in Lakeside, Montana with about 180 of their friends and family.

During the planning process, Savanna kept saying that she wanted the wedding to be “simple, romantic, classic, and elegant.” She chose to have a neutral color palette because she wanted “everything to be tonal and let the location shine.”

So that’s exactly what we did! Savanna’s bridesmaids wore nude, gold, and dusty pink dresses while all the groomsmen wore tan suits. All the floral décor, from ceremony to reception, was mainly white, ivory, and the faintest pink with lots of greenery.

For the ceremony site, we set long wooden benches for guest seating. We lined the aisle of wooden stumps and placed glass vases of neutral floral on top of them. Since the space was outdoors with a naturally beautiful background, we didn’t need to dress up the site too much.

The open-air reception barn already had these gorgeous wooden beams. We strung twinkle lights across the ceiling and hung these amazing chandeliers that Savanna found on Offer Up. All the guest tables were long and wooden, accented by wooden cross back chairs. We set each table with greenery garlands, vases of flowers, hurricane candles, gold table numbers, and gold flatware.

Everything was a dream and set the perfect stage for Savanna and Riley’s private estate wedding celebration!

Before the “I Dos:”

Prior to their private estate wedding ceremony, Savanna and her girls got their hair and makeup done inside the house. This couple wanted to see each other for the first time as Savanna walked down the aisle. Before the ceremony began, their photographer, Gavin, captured amazing shots of Savanna and Riley individually as well as with their bridesmaids and groomsmen, respectively.

I thought it was so sweet to have the bridesmaids pray over Savanna and the groomsmen pray over Riley before they got married. Their faith is important to them and their family, and it was great to see that reflected on their wedding day.  

And then it was time to walk down the aisle!

The Ceremony:

It was important to Savanna and Riley to include all of their closest loved ones in the ceremony, including their fur baby, Palmer! Both sets of parents kicked off the ceremony processional followed by the officiant, Riley, and their wedding party. Then, I sent all the kiddos down the aisle! They had 3 ring bearers, who also accompanied Palmer, and then 2 flower girls, who so brilliantly tossed their flower petals along the aisle.

Savanna’s dad, Jeff, escorted her down the aisle next. She wore a wedding dress by Sarah Seven, a sleek, white gown named “Bianca” that made Savanna feel completely comfortable and confident.

The ceremony lasted about 30 minutes and was the ideal blend of sentimentality, humor, and love. When they were officially husband and wife, Savanna and Riley shared a kiss as everyone cheered them on! Now it was time to party!

A Private Estate Wedding Reception:

During the cocktail hour, guests mixed and mingled while the newlyweds and their wedding party got photos taken. As you can see in the final images, they had so much with each and every shot! My favorites though have to be the ones with the horses in them! I absolutely loved that this property came with two horses. When I first saw how gorgeous the estate was and that they had horses too, I wasn’t even surprised because it made total sense. It was truly a fairy tale location!

Throughout this private estate wedding, there was definitely a theme of fun! Savanna, Riley, and all their friends had such high energy, starting with the reception introductions! Each wedding party pair danced out and struck their best poses, but none compared to Savanna and Riley’s intro! They walked and danced onto the dance floor with Riley pouring each of them a drink as they went. They were ready to party!

After their first dance, welcome speech, dinner, toasts, and parent dances, the DJ opened the dance floor to everyone. Almost immediately, guests flooded the dance floor and never left! All the guests, including the newlyweds, cranked out their best dance moves with the party only growing more fun as time went on. At one point, a group of about 30 guys shotgunned some beer, which actually went perfectly with the hot dog and ice cream trucks that served everyone late night snacks!

The highlight of the party though was when Savanna and Riley each crowd surfed! They must have felt like rock stars, as their friends carried them in the air!

All in all, it was such a great and fun night! I had a blast putting this together for this amazing couple, and throughout this estate wedding, I was constantly reminded of how lucky I am to have this job!

Final Word from Katie:

Savanna and Riley, thank you for trusting me with your big day! I had SO much fun working with you two and I will never forget your wedding! You and your guests probably had the most fun I’ve ever seen, and it was all truly amazing! Cheers to you both!

-Katie

Vendor Team:

Coordinator: Big Day Celebrations

Photographer: Zayne Williams

Videographer: Mikey Fetner

DJ: RMF Entertainment

Officiant: Dustin Martnick

Caterer: Notorious P.I.G. // Kahuna Hot Dogs

Dessert: Sweet Peaks Ice Cream

Rentals: Barn Door Rentals // Celebrate Event & Party Rentals

Restrooms: Quartermoon Restrooms

Wedding Gown: Sarah Seven

Suit Rentals: J Crew

Let’s Plan Your Private Estate Wedding!

Big Day Celebrations offers full-service wedding planning, coordination & design services, and micro-wedding packages, so no matter how you envision your wedding, we will make it happen and have a whole lot of fun along the way!

Ready to get started? Drop me a note below and let’s do this!