Key Wedding Decorating
Elements
Decorating for you wedding
is one of the easiest ways to bring out your creativity when planning
your wedding. There are many choices to make
and the options are endless. The opportunity to really express
yourself, your tastes and your personalities as a 
couple
through the design and decor of your wedding
is becoming the norm in weddings.
Sometimes this
means decorating to complement a special theme
wedding or maybe by just using your favourite
colours or flowers. The key here is to use your imagination and
wedding vision to guide you. The vision of your
wedding is quite connected to the wedding
decor because of the visual aspect of it. You’ll
find that the decorating options are endless.
Using the internet for looking at wedding decor
pictures is a wonderful way of helping visualize what you like
and want for your wedding. This will help you
define your vision for your own wedding. Plan
well, plan early and plan organized.
Choosing Your Wedding
Colours
The easiest
way to choose your wedding colours that go together
is to just take a look at fashion or home decorating.
That said, it’s really best that you follow the current
wedding colours trends. If you use current wedding
trends it will really help with availability and accessibility
of wedding decorating items
you will need to buy and rent for your wedding.
If you want to see what the current wedding colour
trends are, just open the most recent wedding
magazine and you’ll find the colours stand out as you flip
the pages. Wedding colours completely change
every few years. New colour combination trends enter the wedding
market while others fade out over a few years.
There are two main recent trends in wedding decorating
that are not the usual decorating practice of
choosing 2 to 3 colours, and they are extreme opposites. The first
goes along with the recent wedding trend of planning
theme weddings. If you are planning
a theme wedding, your decor
will reflect your theme throughout. Theme’s can be reflected
in everything from the centerpieces to the wedding
guests’ favours. Theme decorating will
also be one of the main elements of your wedding
that actually makes it a "theme wedding".
A theme wedding is all about using items connected
or that represent the theme. It doesn't’t mean you can still
choose a colour scheme, because you will. It’s more about
the significance and meaning of objects in the room that follow
and create the theme.
The second recent decorating
trend is to decorate monochromatically, using
very little to no colour. Having everything one colour gives the
room a soft and romantic ambiance. When using a monochromatic
decor you can use texture to make traits of the
decor stand out. For a monochromatic decor use
white, silver, gold or cream but the most common use is white.
If you choose to go with a monochromatic decor,
it’s important that “everything” is the same
colour and most surfaces are covered in that colour. Mini lights
under tables’ skirts can really add to the dream like feeling
of the room. If you do use lighting under material, make sure
they are the kind that don’t heat up and are made for this
purpose. If you plan on using a little of colour,
use it in only a few details of the room’s decor.
Soft colours will blend better and bright colours will really
stand out.
Wedding
Reception Decorating
There are many
wonderful ways of adding elegance to your wedding
reception with wedding decorations.
Some of the main elements of decorating including
the linens for the tables, lighting, centerpieces, furniture like
chairs and seating areas, backdrops, wedding favours, individual
decorations, the ceiling and even special effects. When it comes
to the bigger items, renting is generally best. It is a lot more
economical to rent for the use of only one day.
Some
venues have decor items available to you with the rental. Ask
them when you are booking the hall.
Wedding
Flowers
Most couples use flowers as a large part
of their wedding's decor. Flowers
are 
picturesque
and romantic. They are also available in a vast array of colours
and shapes.
Flowers can be used in many aspects of the wedding
decor including, bouquets, centerpieces, attached
to arches and backdrops, in the women’s hair, pew bows,
petals sprinkled on guests tables and more.
The season of your wedding
is in will highly affect the cost and availability of certain
flowers. The price and availability of flowers will depend on
when the flowers grow locally. Exotic flowers that have to be
imported are going to cost considerably more and may not be available.
Some couples use the meaning of flowers
to make their wedding flowers special. It could
be a flower that has a meaning from the past, the first letter
of the flowers could spell out the name of someone special to
you or the meaning could be taking from the formal meaning of
flowers. See our list of flower
meanings.
Inspect your wedding
reception location closely so you know what you have to work with.
If the ceiling is an eye sore, invest in renting a ceiling canopy.
If the chairs are out dated, in bad condition, dirty or don't
match, chair covers can be rented and will make the room's decor
flow beautifully. Making a floor plan with all the measurements
of the room, electrical outlets, lights, washrooms, doors and
stage if there is one, will help you plan your wedding reception
decor. Use your floor plan to decide where tables should go and
plan your decorations according. You will need linens and decorations
for the head table, all the guests’ tables, bar, cake table,
gift table and entrance table.
Centerpieces are another important component
of you wedding reception’s decorating.
The trend for today's weddings is to have grand centerpieces that
become a very big part of the reception decor. Centerpieces should
either be short enough that people can see over them as they sit
at the tables, or the centerpieces should be higher than eye level
with a tall stand allowing your guests to see one another across
the table.
Decorating Tables
There’s
several tables that you may need to be set up and decorated
at the wedding reception including the guests’
tables, cake table, caterer’s table, buffet, dessert table,
music table for disc jockey, guests’ sign in table, bar,
gift table and head table. When you have the tables set up and
decorated, place a note on each of the vendors’ tables to
identify where they need to set up incase you’re not there
or your busy when they arrive to the wedding
reception. You should also decorate the tables
very similarly.
Unique Elements
Because many
couples are planning unique weddings,
there are businesses that offer unusual elements to wedding
decor including ice sculptures and special effects like
pyrotechnics and fog.
Dripless Candles
Always use dripless, enclosed candles kept up high and away from
flammable items like clothing, curtains or dry plants. Most places
of wedding reception only allow enclosed candles.
Keep candles away from the bar. You don't want anyone's sleeve
catching on fire. The Bride should also be extra cautious around
candles if she is wearing a veil. After wearing the veil for awhile
it's easy to forget it's there and veils catch fire extremely
quickly.
Napkin Rings
Napkin Rings can be used
for a more formal meal. They can really add to the overall look
of formality to the tables. An idea for napkin rings is to make
them from lengths of ribbon looped and then sealed with a dab
of wax impression with your initials. Stamps and sealing wax are
available at some stationary stores. You can also use the sealing
wax to close your invitations. The napkin rings can also be decorated
with a few dried flowers tied to the ribbons. I've even seen crystals
or beads glued to see through ribbon or lace in the initial of
the couples last name.
Decorative Table Runners
Table runners are a way to
add interest to a table’s decor. They add a splash of colour
to the table. They can be made of lace or glittering gold or silver
material. Another nice touch that adds a romantic feel to the
room is to drape shears behind the place of wedding
ceremony or behind the head table.
Chair Covers
Chair
covers are one of the things that cost extra but really add to
the overall look of your wedding reception.
If appearance is important to you, you may wish to invest in covers
for all the chairs. Some wedding reception locations
have chairs that really lack appeal so chair covers are a great
way to handle this problem. Some rental companies offer these
while there are other companies that specialize in chair covers.
Compare the prices, selection and the quality of the covers.
Final Note on Decorating
for Your Wedding
Plan
your wedding decorating early.
You will have many items to find and coordinate and it may take
some searching to find the perfect decorating
items. If you start early you can source bargains. If you leave
things last minute and end up scrambling to put things together,
you won’t have the same availability of items, you decrease
your chance of finding sale items and you may not be as happy
with the end result. If you require rented items, you will need
to reserve them well in advance to ensure the items are available.
Wedding Planning Budget Tips
Check dollar stores for candles, balloons, candle holders and
other items you can use for decorating.
If you are planning an ethic wedding
you can use things from your culture to decorate many items and
tie things together decoratively. Your families may have items
in their homes you can use. Make sure everything is returned to
their owner right after the wedding reception by asking the owner
to take the item home with them after the reception is over.
Professional Wedding Decorators
Hiring someone to do your wedding
decorations can be a real time saver. It takes away many
of the stresses involved in the planning and putting together
the look of your wedding. Although it will cost
more to have someone else do it for you, they have the professional
experience to give you the look you want. Ask to see pictures
of work they have done and discuss the overall appearance and
feel you want. When you meet with your event decorator
make sure you take with you any samples of colours and textures
you are using in your wedding to help the decorator
coordinate everything. If you are able to get a floor plan of
the place of wedding reception and/or ceremony
or if you can make one yourself, this can also be an effective
tool in planning the decorating.
Find out from your place of reception and ceremony what time the
decorator can have entrance to the location to
begin decorating for your wedding. Also find
out what time things must be brought down and clean up by. Make
sure your decorator has these details confirmed.
Please keep in mind that many facilities have multiple weddings
on weekends and it’s important to be courteous to the other
weddings.
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Also see our
Wedding Reception Planning page for more
decorating ideas
