Weddingbee boards

I am planning a November 22, 2008 wedding.  It's at that add time of year where it could be fall and it could be winter in MN, so I am using different types of reds in our decor. 

Both my fiance and I are really into the outdoors; we both grew up hunting and fishing, spending time at the lake, jogging, hiking, etc. and we spend a lot of time in northern Mn at my parents' cabin.  I kind of want to use the outdoors as a theme to our wedding without it being "hill billy." (ie; no camoflauge tuxes, no fishing lure favors, etc.)  I was wondering if anyone out there has done the same thing with their wedding has some good ideas to give?  Or, if you just know of any sources that would help, that would be great!  Here are my ideas so far:

-To cut down on floral costs, I am going to be cutting cattails and prairie grasses from behind out house to include in floral arrangements.  We pheasant hunt, so I will be putting pheasant feathers in the arrangements.  I will also be using river rock in the vases.

-Escort cards will be held up with small pine cones and menu cards will be held up with large ones.

-We are having comfort foods for our meal (mashed potatoes, squash, etc.)

-The place we are having it is built like a log cabin on the inside.

Thanks for reading...I'd love any ideas! 

Kristen

We are using mason jars instead of vases for our centerpieces.  I've also got some old galvanized buckets and watering troughs filled with flowers for the reception area.  The card box is an old wooden crate that I've wrapped with ribbon and flowers.  I've got an identical one that I am using for the silverware wraps on the buffet.  I'm using twine mixed in with ribbons in the wedding colors.  We are in the southwest were luminarias are used only I am using white bags instead of the normal brown paper bags.  If I can find an hour to do it, I plan to stamp our monogram onto some of the luminaria bags.

Other ideas are I found were using hay bales (which didn't work for my summer wedding, but might work at your time frame), glass jars or vases filled with pine cones and ornament like balls and straight tree branches.

I had too much fun watching my big redneck wedding on CMT and threating my FI with beer can arches and a camo wedding veil!!  :) 

Yes, I thought about the sapling idea, but my dad is a commercial landscaper and owns a few different nurseries, and a tree that fragile cannot be planted that late in the year.  Otherwise, it would be a great favor, especially kind of honoring what my dad does.  Thanks for the idea:)

Kristen,

Our photog just posted a sneak peak of our pics from our outdoor rustic lakeside wedding in the North Georgia mountains. Maybe they'll inspire you?

wscottchesterblog.com and we're the Micki + Jason post. Enjoy!!!