Animal Heads in Rustic Lodges

Image from Wedding Bee

Y'all know that I love me some rustic wedding inspiration. Right? Well I do. I love mason jars, and burlap runners, a wood rounds as cake stands, and wildflowers, and all the lovely bricabrac of a rustic wedding. What can I say, I'm a consummate mountain girl.

Recently, while touring the The Farm in Candler, NC (more on that later), the owner, Beverly, showed me a gorgeous stone fireplace in the main venue barn. It had dozens of ivory pillar candles running mantle. The stone and the ivory made for a very romantic and elegant tableau.

Then Bev mentioned the moose head. Apparently a moose head had once hung over the mantle on the stone chimney. The owners decided to remove it because:

"it seemed to be more of a deal breaker than a deal maker."

The old Moose head at The Farm. It has since been removed.
Image courtesy of Two Ring Studios

Now, I'm not a huge fan of animal trophies so the moose head definitely would not be a deal maker for me. However, The Farm is so beautiful and basically has everything you could want or need for an outdoor-chic bride like me. So the moose head would definitely not be a deal breaker either.

Image from Kristen Tourtillote via Love and Lavender

Then, as if fate were urging me on, Love and Lavender published a lovely rustic wedding this week. And there it was…a dear head, gazing down (serenely? sternly? bemusedly?) at the bride and groom as they exchanged their vows. Still not a big fan here, but still not breaking the deal either. Now granted, when you look at the rest of the wedding, the dear head fits. These two make that dear head look hip by God! But what about the rest of us? Can we all make trophy heads look cool?

What do you think? Are animal trophies deal makers or deal breakers for your rustic wedding?