Your wedding reception is where your guests will spend the most time. As we’ve said before, you should count on spending at least 40 percent of your budget on the reception. This includes the food, decorations, drinks, music, etc. But a beautiful reception doesn’t have to break the bank. Once again, count on your friends and family to help out. People love to share in important moments and you may be surprised by how many people will be willing to help you decorate the hall the night before.
Let’s first talk about the flowers and table decorations.
If you’re having your reception in a hall like the American Legion or the Moose, be prepared to deal with the décor that is already there. As an example, at the American Legion you may find a multitude of war memorabilia on the walls. You’ll want to deal with this with a great deal of respect and imagination. One of the best ways is to draw attention to another area of the hall or keep it focused on the tables and wedding party area.
This is a good time to think about the location of a gazebo or arch. Locate it in an area away from the permanent memorabilia and you’ll find it to be a great distraction. You can drape Christmas type lights on it and decorate with flowers, locate the wedding gift table there, the wedding cake, etc. Use your imagination.
So what about other decorative ideas at the reception?
Use the bridesmaid’s bouquets to decorate the tables, the head table, or the cake table. You don’t have to have expensive floral arrangements everywhere to make a beautiful reception hall. There are many, many alternatives and most can be put together with supplies from the dollar store. The following suggestions utilize supplies that can be found at the dollar store or other discount stores and make for gorgeous table decorations.
Centerpiece suggestion #1:
Buy some glass cereal bowls and place colored glass marbles in the bottom. Add water half way up and put a floating candle in each. Instead of floating candles, just add a regular votive in the middle of the marbles. When the reception is over, the bride and groom will have a matching set of bowls!
Centerpiece suggestion #2:
Get some small terracotta pots and some florists foam. Pick out some silk flowers in your wedding colors along with some greenery. Stick the flowers in the foam bunched tightly together and arrange to your heart’s delight!
Centerpiece suggestion #3:
Take a silk rose and separate the bud from the stem. Disassemble the bud into individual petals. With a clear votive holder and a glue gun, you will glue the petals onto the holder. Start at the top with the smaller rose petals. Place one petal next to another, with the sides touching slightly.
Once your first row is completed, you can start on the next. Make sure to cover any bare areas at the bottom of the first row, and work your way down the holder until the rose petals cover the entire surface. Take the leaf from the flower and attach to the bottom of the holder. This will give the illusion of a lighted rose once a candle is placed inside and lit!
Centerpiece suggestion #4:
Find picture frames of varying sizes. Gather together your favorite pictures of the bride and groom. Put the pictures in the frames and arrange on the tables surrounding them by clear glass marbles and some greenery.
Centerpiece suggestion #5:
Get some small baskets and decorate with ribbon. Print out some index cards that say “Advice For The Newlyweds” and lay them on the table with pens and/or pencils. Encourage guests to write something on the cards and place them in the baskets. Surround the baskets with flowers, greenery or pebbles. This can be a great ice-breaker for people who don’t know each other. Be prepared, too, for the jokesters in the crowd who may offer up some ridiculous and sometimes bawdy advice.
Centerpiece suggestion #6:
Take small grapevine wreaths and decorate with tulle and ribbon. Place a bottle of champagne in the center or a bottle of wine from a local winery. For extra fun, attach a balloon to the bottle.
Centerpiece suggestion #7:
Take two plastic champagne glasses and hot glue them together so that they cross when lying down. Hot glue four clear glass marbles inside each glass and tie a helium balloon to each. It will look like there are bubbles flowing out of your glasses as they lay on the table!
Balloons are not only festive and fun, they can help keep bored children entertained. Most dollar stores have helium balloons they will fill with purchase. However, you may want to look into a portable helium tank and do it yourself. Most party stores have tanks you can rent or buy and sell helium balloons in a multitude of colors to go with your other décor.
Want some wacky and unique centerpiece ideas? We found a couple online for the inventive and fun couples!
Buy glass fish bowls at the dollar store and fill them with – fish! You can find goldfish pretty inexpensively either at Wal-Mart or a local pet store. If you have the money, try to find beta fish in your wedding colors! One word of caution if using live fish: be sure to give their water lots of surface area to provide enough oxygen. The last thing you want is a bunch of dead fish decorating your tables. Let the children in attendance take the fish home – with the permission of their parents, of course.
Here’s another idea. Collect a bunch of board games, Ants in the Pants, Monopoly, Sorry, etc. Arrange them on the tables with decorative accents surrounding them. This can be great for the children in attendance, but don’t be surprised if the adults play with them too.
Another bride wanted to reflect the personalities of her and her groom. They were “country people”, she says and liked a cold beer on occasion. She took longneck beer bottles and steamed the labels off of them. She created their own beer labels on her computer and glued them on with a hot glue gun. She splatter painted them before attaching the labels and tied each with a piece of twine. Truly unique, we think!
We like the idea of taking a pint sized Mason jar and wrapping it with tissue paper tying a ribbon around the neck to secure it. Place flowers in the jar, potpourri or whatever you think fits you as a couple.
If you’re getting married around a holiday, you can come across some fun decorations that celebrate that holiday. At Christmas, spray paint pine cones silver and gold and surround them with pine sprigs. Having an Easter wedding? Use plastic Easter eggs and plastic grass you put in the Easter baskets.
If you’re having an outdoor reception, decorate around that. Use lots of live flowers and greenery to reflect the beauty of Mother Nature surrounding you. If it’s windy, avoid using candles and be sure any balloons are secured so they don’t blow away!
Now that you’ve got the place decorated, look for our next post about using favors as additional decorations.
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