A Rustic Summer Wedding on a Family Farm in Millarville, Alberta

Lauren Forsyth (29 and a flight attendant) and Ryan Stack (30 and an operations manager) planned a rustic country affair for their later summer wedding in Millarville, Alberta. Ryan’s family farm offered the ultimate backdrop for the sweet-and-simple affair with acres of lush green landscape and a sentimental setting for the couple’s “I dos.”

“We wanted a simple, country wedding,” says Lauren. “We kept the colors neutral, since the venue was in a tent out in the foothills. The landscape made the neutral colors pop, while also keeping with the day’s overall simple and elegant aesthetic.” The pair gathered their friends and family members outdoors for the ceremony, where they exchanged vows under a handcrafted wooden arbor with the forest’s tall verdant trees in the distance. “We were going to use hay bales covered in burlap for seating, but we were rained out just a few days prior, and we were unable to dry out the bales in time,” says Lauren.

The reception took place only a few steps away under an open-air tent dotted with playful paper lanterns. Vibrant bundles of yellow and purple flowers brought a pop of fresh color to the tables’ crisp white linens, while details like mason jar vases, burlap fabric and wooden slabs played up Lauren and Ryan’s rustic theme. The pair served up a standout dinner of Southern barbecue favorites, a nod to a trip they’d take to Georgia earlier that year, then got the party started with a first dance to Kenny Chesney’s “You and Tequila.”