food\decor ideas for summer indoor\outdoor wedding?

Question

Anybody have any good ideas for affordable ways to decorate an outdoor wedding venue?We will getting married outside in summer.The venue has a gazebo and a wide cement area for seating.What ideas do you have to make it more charming?Also how whould you decorate a small reception area that only provides tables and chairs?my colors will be purple and silver.
I want to provide food for my guests about 40 people any good ideas?we are thinking about just a light lunch but not sure what whould be good to serve.

Answer 1

there is a book that helped me a lot planning my wedding called bridal bargains. that would have some ideas for you I think.

to decorate --helium balloons, big potted trees, white christmas tree lights, gauze hung from the ceiling?
chair covers, table cloths: two different colors on each table (different shades of purple?)

food ideas:
a pasta station: different noodles, different sauces

dessert buffet: pies, puddings, ice cream sundae buffet

mini quiches, cheese and crackers, shrimp cocktail, two kinds of salad, fruit kabobs with yogurt dipping sauce, roast beef carving station, oysters, watermelon

or: have a picnic theme for the wedding?
fried chicken, coleslaw, corn on the cob, watermelon, lemonade, strawberry shortcake, ect.

meat dishes are more costly than non-meat dishes and less exotic foods are less costly than more run-of-the-mill ingredients.


(you could also burn cds with the wedding music and rent speakers for an 8 cd changer for the reception, for the ceremony designate someone or hire someone to play the right song at the right time.).

have fun! best of luck to ya with planning!

Answer 2

Great colors!! Purple & silver with green grass surrounding the gazebo: TOOO Beautiful!

My ideas: I would do a double layer table cloth for the table, the purple one going to the floor while the silver one is shorter but on top of the purple. Have two different types of purple & while flower centerpieces to mix around.

A light lunch is a good idea. Finger foods would great great: a large mixture of finger sandwiches, veggies, fruits, and cheese platter. Have some warmer things like chicken kabobs & shrimp kabobs. Try some Asian appetizers like dumplings, wontons (both meat and cheese), egg rolls, crabragoons. Are there going to be kids? If so, make sure to include chicken fingers/ nuggets, fries and cheese sticks. You can have alot of food that people can get full on and they can all be "finger foods"

Just have fun planning and good luck!

Answer 3

i would dec the gazebo with floral vines of brighter colors, with your purple being featured and prodominant
i would do bright flowers for the isle too
you can use gerber daisys and carnations to save money

a reception of appetizers would be nice

corn fritters
pot stickers/dumplings
stuffed mushroom caps
mini egg rolls
those variety appetizer packs from bjs
lil quiches
fruit kabobs
shirmp wrapped in bacon
cheese pepperoni and cracker trays
veggie n dip trays
maybe have a few intersting dips - hot - that aren't usual
artichoke and spinach
crab dip

centerpieces- get shallow bowls from ac moore or michaels, fill with a layer of purple and clear or silver flat glass marbles
get some floating candles and light them at the reception.

http://myworld.ebay.com/shenvalleycandles - she will make you custom floaters in a variety of scents..!

oh or if you wanna get really creative http://www.incredibleedibles.net/
do up some of these as centerpieces and it doubles as a way to feed them too!

Answer 4

I would do a backyard barbecue in Utah Try maybe pristine white table covers with a large bowl or basket of lemons or oranges as the centerpieces:cold sandwiches potato salad and watermelon or fried chicken, potato salad, coleslaw, baked beans, and watermelon with lemonade or a western motif bales of hay sunflowers cowboy hats and boots etc with the same menu. A luau in FL with a roast pig and leis and the whole works this is actually very low budget and pretty easy to do especially with the dollar stores these days they are a wonderfully convenient and inexpensive

Answer 5

Candles and ballons are cheap, take up space and can be really pretty if done right. Any wal-mart or dollar tree have all kinds.

I would make finger sandwhiches, like egg salad or tuna sald. Little things, and someone on here said that they were haveing a "candy - bar" set up with all kinds of different candy as party favors.

Answer 6

Finger food and 2 or 3 simple hot dishes. Offer cold cuts or a make your own sandwich station with all condiments on the side.