Decorating For Wedding Receptions

Decorating for wedding receptions or for any party is something that can be done easily and inexpensively. It does not have to be perfect, just something simple and elegant that you can do on your own.

Don't be intimidated by what others will think. Don't think that it will not be good enough. If you have any artistic or creative friends, see if they will help you with ideas and putting things together.

A quick trip to a party store, a craft store, or even Wal-mart can provide you with everything you need to create a pretty wedding reception setting.

Before you shop, decide on the type of mood you want to create and what colors you want to use.

Long lengths of tulle and large bows are handy to have. They can be placed on tabletops, on the sides of tablecloths that are hanging down, on walls, on pillars in the room, and on any large trees or potted plants indoors and outdoors.

Use pretty rolls of wide ribbon to decorate the serving and gift tables much like you would use crepe paper streamers at a birthday party. Crepe paper streamers are also appropriate decor at wedding receptions. I have attended many over the years where crepe paper streamers were hanging and they look fine.

Metallic or Christmas green garland also make good hanging and wall decorations. Sparkly white Christmas garland is also great for weddings. As soon as Christmas decorations come out this fall, shop for wedding decorations. Beautiful garland is now made in almost every color and looks great anytime of year at a wedding reception.

To dress up chairs, wrap ribbon around the chairback and tie a big bow in the back of the chair. Lengths of tulle can also be used to tie into bows as well.

Helium-filled balloons are popular when decorating for wedding receptions. Consider placing large balloon bouquets in corners of the room. Place smaller ones on the gift table, favor table, place card table, and the bride and groom's table.

Candles make wonderful centerpieces. Place beautiful marbles or rocks in bowls of water with floating candles. Or group pillars of various sizes in threes or fives on tables around the room. Design experts always use odd numbers for displaying candles as it balances out better.

A word of caution with candles---if young children attend your wedding, try to place candles out of their reach. Hopefully, parents will watch their children carefully so no accidents will happen.

Strings of small white Christmas lights can be used to decorate tables, wedding arches, walls, and large plants or potted trees, whether your reception is inside or outdoors.

Some brides use large branches when decorating for wedding receptions. Branches should be bare and fairly thin and long. They can be used plain, behind a drape of tulle for a pretty effect.

Branches can be spray-painted white or metallic and decorated with white lights or small clear Christmas balls.

Cover the branches with a coat of decoupage glue and then sprinkle with glitter. Then put a string of clear or light blue Christmas lights on the branches and it looks beautiful.

Place the branches in a large heavy vase or pot and secure in some florist foam. If it shows from the outside, cover the pot with some pretty cloth.

Use pretty tablecloths, either cloth or vinyl. Sprinkle wedding confetti on each table around the centerpiece.

Use your imagination and come up with creative ways for decorating for wedding receptions.

Wedding reception decor really depends on what you and your fiance like, where the reception is held, and how much money you have to spend. You can create a lovely space for your reception without spending a ton of money. Just be creative.

Simple wide bows tied on the backs of the chairs at your reception will really dress the room up. Matching tablecloths, either cloth or vinyl, make a perfect background for your homemade centerpieces. Candles and flowers are the most popular centerpieces but there are many other things you can use for centerpieces, including edible centerpieces. Look through this site and you will get some great ideas.

Balloons in clear, white, gold, and silver provide a touch of elegant fun, whether they are used in centerpieces, along the walls, or on the ceiling in "clouds." The clear balloons can be filled with glitter or shiny confetti.

Wedding reception decor can also include miniature Christmas lights. They can decorate large potted real or fake plants or trees. They can also be placed on tables and along walls.

Tulle or other easy-to-drape cloth in pastel colors will look very pretty draped on the walls and railings.

Set up your food as a part of your decor. Place it on pretty serving trays and interesting dishes. Make the food look like art by the way you present it. Presentation is everything.

Use lots of candles and/or flowers all over the room. Candle pillars or tea lights should be displayed in groups of three or five. A centerpiece that involves floating candles with flowers in it can work wonders for any table. Candles in jars are also very pretty, especially for an evening wedding. Scented is better as a great scent gives a feeling of comfort, all part of the party atmosphere you are trying to create.

A wedding arch is perfect for an outdoor wedding. Wedding arch reception decorations will look beautiful in a backyard or in a garden.

An arch looks great on the beach with the ocean behind it.

It can also be used for indoor weddings--in homes, ballrooms, and even in churches. My niece used a gold-colored arch decorated with flowers and tulle in the church sanctuary when my husband officiated at her wedding. The arch looked great.

The bride and groom stand underneath or in front of the arch and the officiant stands behind it. This gives the photographer a fabulous photo opportunity.

You can find non-decorated metal arches for between $20 and $50 at craft stores like Michael's and Hobby Lobby. Also, they can be found at home decorating stores like Garden Ridge. Wedding arch reception decorations can be purchased plain for diy enthusiasts or already decorated. Obviously, the decorated ones will cost a lot more so it pays to do it yourself.

If you choose to decorate it by yourself or with the help of your family or friends, it is not difficult.

It can be painted any color you want with spray paint if it is wooden. Flowers and/or greenery look beautiful and very natural, especially if the arch has a trellis-like pattern to it.

For a fairytale look, you can cover the arch with tulle and then wrap white Christmas lights around it from top to bottom. You can even sprinkle the tulle with glitter glue for more sparkle.

Balloons on the entire arch will give the look of a festive occasion and what could be more festive than your wedding ceremony and reception?

A wooden one can be hand-built if you know someone who is gifted in woodworking.

Do you have any decorating ideas for wedding reception elegance? Any good money saving tips?

Do our future readers a big favor and pay it forward as you let them know what has worked for you.

A great source of decorating ideas for wedding receptions is looking in wedding magazines.

Visit Barnes and Noble or another big bookstore and notice how many wedding magazines there are.

Take the time to flip through them, month after month, and you will get some great tips. There are a ton of photos that can be helpful as you plan your wedding. True, most of the photos are advertisements of wedding dresses, but there are some good articles complete with tips that can be helpful to you as you plan your wedding.

Some of the articles will be about how to save money and others will tell you how to spend a whole lot of money fast. So get ideas but realize that unless you do a lot of the things yourself, you will not be able to afford these designer weddings.

The internet allows you to read some of the magazine articles online so that can be very convenient, especially when you have so much to do and so very little time to get it all accomplished.

Martha Stewart magazine comes out four times a year and is filled with helpful photos and wonderful decorating ideas for wedding receptions.

Another helpful tip is to go through your mother's, grandmothers', and aunts' wedding albums for ideas on how they made their receptions special while saving money. Don't forget to check with your future mother-in-law and her family as well.

Watch some wedding episodes of old television shows and movies that are about weddings for additional ideas. Almost every sitcom and drama has had at least one wedding and there are some helpful scenes that you can apply to your wedding.

Check soap operas when you hear they are having a big wedding as well. Color schemes, flowers, and other designer decorations are shown. Record them and watch the design portions you like over and over.

Wedding In Hawaii

by Susan
(San Antonio)

e got back from the Hawaii trip on Tuesday evening. It was a trip of a lifetime. The wedding was spectacular and just like out of a movie.

Although the wedding was not Christian, the decor,etc, etc, etc could be used by anyone.... anyone rich anyway!!!....Just to give you a taste...the bride, about my age, wore a custom designed, hand made flowing gold silk dress with a matching 17 foot gold silk train. The train was "sprinkled" with gold silk rosebuds and the bodice was covered with them as well. She looked like a queen.

The flower girl/granddaughters scattered magenta orchids down the long aisle runner instead of rose petals. The wedding was held in a huge white tent large enough to seat several hundred people and then have tables to serve them brunch, etc. The enormous pillars which held up the tent had huge bouquets of yellow orchids which encircled each pillar. Spectacular! The flowers at the altar, arrangements on the tables, leis on main participants and immediate family...well, I could go on and on. Beyond imaginable! The pictures do not begin to do justice to the beauty and fragrance of it all. The wedding began at 10:00 and the party continued until late afternoon. It was one of the most spectacular events I have ever been to.

Susan,
It sounds truly incredible. I would love to see some photos of it all. Thanks.
Juanita

Wedding In Hawaii Is Fragrant
by: Linda

A wedding in Hawaii is fragrant if you have access to the many beautiful blooms that are native to the islands. However, they are also very expensive. If you have plenty of money, no problem.

I went to a wedding on Oahu and the flowers all came out of the garden of the bride's parents who live there. Spectacular flowers and fragrance. They would have been extremely expensive if they were purchased but since the bride's mom cut and arranged them herself from her garden, it saved a lot of money.

Of course, not everyone lives in the Hawaiian islands. However, they can grow roses, daisies, and many other flowers in their gardens and use them for their bouquets and floral arrangements as long as they pick the right season to get married.

In Hawaii, there are flowers year-round because of the beautiful warm weather.

Tablecloths

by Viola
(Cincinnati)

My daughter is getting married in November. We are
doing all the planning ourselves. During my web surfing I found and just love your website. I have enjoyed watching your videos, I plan on making the bird
seed favors from the same glasses from Dollar Tree. (great idea by the way).

Just wondering if you could do a video on how to add risers on a wedding reception buffet table, so the food will be at different heights? I get the concept of adding items under the table cloth or adding fabric in wedding color scheme.. I just can't fold the fabric where it looks attractive.

Thank you!
--I am afraid that I have not been able to get the tablecloths right on risers. But I am definitely not Martha Stewart. When I do things they normally don't turn out picture perfect, but that is okay. The food will be there so the lack of smoothness will be fine. I would just drape the cloth. Best wishes on your daughter's marriage!
--Juanita

Wedding Bells?

by Kay
(Peoria, IL)

First of all, thank you for sharing.

This would be my second marriage, and I would like to have a church wedding ceremony. With limited funds, would like to have a very, very small wedding and reception. I was also thinking of "wedding bells theme".

What would be appropriate for a christian wedding? Can wedding bells theme be mixed with "calla lily theme"? What are some beautiful colors to be used
with color scheme?

I would appreciate any other suggestions you can offer to me please.

Thank you.

--Thanks for visiting my site. I like the idea of wedding bells. I used pink wedding bells on my wedding cake as a topper. Calla lilies would be just fine to use with bells. Colors are such a personal choice. I used several shades of pink for my wedding. My son just got married a week ago and they used navy and white.

The big trend right now is to use black and white.
Personally, I like pastels for spring. Choose your favorite color or colors and have fun arranging things. Or use one or two calla lily colors and go
from there. They are a pretty flower and I know they come in more than white, but the white ones are quite beautiful. I wish you the best on this marriage. May God bless your union!
--Juanita