Kylie & Riley's South Dakota Barn Wedding at Country Road Barn in Watertown

Tons of fresh wildflowers, an amazing color palette, and a t-shirt toss before the dance?! Kylie and Riley’s wedding day at Country Road Barn in Watertown, SD was everything you want in a South Dakota barn wedding.

As South Dakota wedding planners based just down the road in Brookings, we get to work at a lot of incredible venues across the region, but there’s something about Country Road Barn that keeps pulling couples in, and after being there for Kylie and Riley’s wedding, I get it even more! The barn sits on 10 acres and has an outdoor patio area, a loft to seat even more guests, and the most WONDERFUL staff!

Kylie and Riley booked our top-tier 3-Carat wedding planning and coordination package, which basically means our team was woven into every part of their day — from rehearsal through the very last box loaded into the car at the end of the night. Want to hear more?

Here’s what our Full Wedding Planning 3 Carat Package that looked like on their big day:

Rehearsal and Getting Everyone Where They Needed to Be: We kicked things off at rehearsal, gently walking through the parts of the the ceremony space with Kylie, Riley, the officiant, and their wedding party so everyone knew their spot and their cue. We helped line the parents and grandparents up the exact order they would be walking down the aisle. (Did you know there is wedding etiquette about which person walks down first? We have you covered!)

Decorating for the wedding: Our team arrived early that morning to put linens on every table (rented from Hitch Studio as well!), decorate with vases, candlesticks, wicker mats, blue runners, our blue glasses, and since the flowers arrived as loose stems freshly cut from a flower far, we also got to cut and arrange every single fresh flower into bud vases and vases for the reception tables. It turned out SO PRETTY! The best part of hiring Hitch Studio for your wedding planning and decorating is that you get to use everything in our rental inventory to decorate your guest tables for FREE! Anything (that doesn’t need to be laundered) is absolutely included in your centerpiece decor (candles, cylinder vases, artificial flowers and greenery [although they chose REAL flowers!], frames for reserved tables, wicker mats, etc. See our full inventory of wedding rental items here!)

Flipping the room from the Ceremony Space Into the Reception: This is one of my favorite parts of working at Country Road Barn, because the ceremony and reception can happen in the very same room, which is what Kylie and Riley chose to do! Hitch Studio’s staff was ready to flip that space quickly while guests were off at cocktail hour. Our team moved the ceremony aisle decor, got the head table moved and placed exactly where it needed to be so it was ready the moment Kylie and Riley walked in as newlyweds, and placed the bridesmaids bouquets in the vases at the head table so they could make their grand entrance.

Helping with wedding party photos and family photos: Then on wedding day, our team helped round up family members and the wedding party for photos. We love assisting the photographer with this! Plus, it’s exactly the kind of thing a wedding coordinator should be handling so you (or friends and family) don’t have to.

Wedding photography coverage timeline comparing four service packages

During the Dinner and Dance: If you look at the graph above (I LOVE visuals!), where the 3 Carat package shines is from social hour through the end of the night. It’s our full-service package and it really takes the stress off after dinner. For example, our staff was flipping the room during social hour, we helped line everyone up for the grand entrance, we collected the napkins after dinner (also a fun color rented from Hitch Studio!), we helped the photographer with the cake cutting photos, we made sure that speaches didn’t run too long that they miss their sunset, we refilled snacks and desserts all night (the cutest cupcakes and seven different kinds of cookies made from scratch from her grandmother!), and we held her bouquet and helped position her veil for sunset photos. We also brought the basket of custom t-shirts Kylie and Riley (with their cat! Haha!) had made so they could do a t-shirt toss to their guests — which, if you haven’t seen one, is such a fun, high-energy moment for a reception and totally worth the planning.

Taking It All Down So They Didn’t Have To: At the end of the night, our team handled the full teardown — every vase, every wicker mat, every last piece of decor — so friends and family didn’t have to stay to pack up their own wedding. We boxed up the leftover cupcakes, we carefully wrapped their personal decor back up (like the antique lamp she brought for the guest book table), we packed up the guest book, her bouquet, the extra snacks, etc.

As you can tell, if you’re renting chargers, napkins, or having a dress change, want us to greet your guests, and help EVERYTHING run smoothly before and after dinner, a 3 Carat package is best for you.

Why Top Level Wedding Coordination Is Worth It

Days like this are exactly why our 3-Carat wedding planning package exists. Kylie and Riley got to be fully present for their ceremony, their reception, and every moment in between — watching their favorite people celebrate them instead of running the show themselves. That’s the whole point of hiring a professional wedding planner in South Dakota… so the couple and family get to actually live their wedding day, not manage it.

I’m sending a huge congratulations again to Kylie and Riley! You two were such a joy to work with and your day at Country Road Barn was absolutely stunning. And a big thank-you to Country Road Barn for once again hosting the kind of wedding that reminds us why we fall in love with South Dakota barn venues.

If you’re dreaming of your own rustic barn wedding in Watertown, SD and want a team who’ll handle every detail from rehearsal to teardown, we’d love to be part of your day too. Tell us about your wedding! Take a look at their photos and vendor list below!