budget wedding reception decoration tips?

Question

Hi!!

My friend is doing a wedding reception for his sister and her husband. He asked me for help about decorating the place. I gave him a few ideas but we still would like more ideas though.

So far, we decided on food, music, and making our own centerpieces for the tables (round). But the hall is dark with no windows (it's in a church) and we want to decorate it like lighting, tulle, balloons, and maybe flowers (but prob not b/c of budget). We were wondering if anyone of u guys have some ideas abt how to decorate the room though since the color of wall is just this: http://www.tri-valley.k12.il.us/sjones/plywood.jpg

We can't go beyond the limit of like $1000 and would like to cut down expenses whenever we can. And plz keep in mind, that we are the only ones doing the decoration not some wedding planners, etc.

So guys, do you have any ideas about how to decorate this? Any other ideas/tips would help too ^_^

PS: we were thinking abt having red and either white/tan color for tables

Answer 1

Lighting: Clear christmas lights work nicely and also things with a sort of wedding theme like bells. (Now is the time to scour the awesome sales on Christmas items that you might be able to use. After Christmas retailers tend to mark things 50% off or more.) Candles which you can find inexpensively at any dollar store can add lighting and can be part of your centerpieces.

Walls: You could cover the walls with fabric/tulle. You could a more opaque fabric on the wall first and then embellish it with tulle on top of it. Check out craft and fabric stores and check out what they have. Sometimes you can find some really great stuff in the bargain bins.

Next check out discount and dollar stores for things you can use to decorate the place. Tablecloths, candles, cheap bud vases to use to create centerpieces, fake flowers and greenery, ribbon, etc.
You can use ballons to decorate the bride and groom's table and the area around the buffet table (if that's what your plan is for the food).

This is all I can think of at the moment. Good luck and hope this helps.

Answer 2

For centerpieces you can buy clear glass bowls at the dollar store. Float votive candles in the center and add just a few flower petals. Go to a florist and tell them you would like to buy all of the flowers they will be tossing at the end of the day the day for several days before the wedding. Tell them you will give them X amount for what would have been a total loose for them. Float a few petals in each bowl along with the votive.

Pillar candles wrapped in bits of ribbon and setting on clear glass saucers would work as well.

Next go to the local fabric store. Talk to a sales person explaining you will be buying in bulk and see which fabric they can sale for the absolute cheapest price. If the same fabric comes in several different colors (say pastels) it can be hung as panels along the walls.

There is a possibility the church would be pleased if you were to paint the walls. It might be worth while to ask.

The church may have tablecloths already. If not sheets are pretty cheap.

If you have friends that have house plants get everyone to bring them. Put them in corners, on either side of the door, etc. If they have large ones hide a light behind the pot and prop it as an up-light.

Hope this helps! :)

Answer 3

I have seen alot of weddings and this is one area where ppl make the most mistakes - decorating on a budget as things tend to look 'cheap' if not done right. Remember sometimes less is more. There is no better and romantic decoration for a wedding then candles....but in high quantity and EVERYwhere. For the Centrepieces I would rather see 1 amazing flower then a bunch of cheaper everyday flowers. Tulle is nice for the draping of the head table but again don't over do it. Have a white table cloth with a red overlay on the table and then you can place white tealights around your centrepieces. Please do NOT use christmas lights even if they are white - everyone knows they are christmas lights and tends to look tackyish. You can try renting some candleabra's - cheap and beautiful.

Answer 4

Candles (hurricane lamps, if you can affordd them) and confetti make great centerpeices. Especially on top of fabric napkins, of which red is probably an abundance at the moment. Maybe even small mirrors.

Of course, Christmas lights. And greeenery. You can probably get plenty of christmas garland cheap right now too.

Try to find, or borrow some sort of archway. I know this sounds nuts, but try photography studios. Some of them have great props you may be able to rent cheaply.

If it comes down to it, cover the walls with sheets. You can probably find white sheets at discount stores, like Big Lots and the like. Just fold the ends under and staple to the wall. Use garland to cover the 'seams', wrapped in lights.

Pretty poster boards with pics of the bride and groom displayed scrapbook style on the walls will add detail, give the guests something pretty to look at and let them see how happy the couple is.

I would suggest not using balloons, because it looks cheap. You can use silk flowers, just keep them simple. I used them at my wedding, then kept the arrangements for our home. I still have them too.

Anything people have in their homes- mirrors, maybe even a couch in the corner to relax, candles and pretty stuff will add charm to the event.

Answer 5

Try going to a couple of fabric stores to find inexpensive white fabric that you can cover the walls with. Hang it up and put some spotlights in the corners so you add some indirect lighting. Keep the centerpieces to a size appropriate to the dimensions of the table and attach bunched white balloons from the ceiling with streamers coming down to the center of the table. Find interesting greens such as lemon leaves to decorate the table center. Go to Wallgreens and get battery operated votives (6 for $ 5.00)and place them in the center (they will last all night. Skip the red......it's a wedding.

Answer 6

Maybe if you could,get some large plants in pots,maybe friends could loan some to you or get some cuttings from cedar trees and use white Christmas lights.Do you live near a road in the country?Drive down with friends and look for cedar trees to cut.What time of the year will this take place?Also,for tables where food will be try setting books or boxes at different heights all over the table and drape soft ,pretty fabric over all of it.Set the food on all the uplifted areas,and place flowers or greenery around to look nicer.

Answer 7

Well the cheapest thing you can do is check around and see if any of your family and friends have fake or real ficus trees. (If your budget and time allows you can also get the 40% off coupons for michels craft store and buy a few every week. This will require more than one person doing this as you are only allowed one coupon per person per week.)

Also now is a great time to pick up white christmas lights for cheap.

Line the room with the trees filled with the lights. If your budge allows and the style of the wedding fits you can put red roses in the trees as well.

This will light up the room a little and if you are like myself I only had to buy a few trees as I had many friends who had a least one if not a few trees.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

Answer 8

Suggestion for tables. The colour of the walls are pretty yucky. I'd avoid the tan as it's quite similar to the walls. Whit is o.k, the room is dark anyways, it won't stand out too much.

Cost effective table covers - I worked for a guy that made quite a bit of money from a staple gun. He'd literally hire out venues, host parties. The table tops were covered with a linen that were 'fitted' to the underside of the tables, you guessed it - by staples.

Anyone you know good with their hands ? Origami would be the ideal solution for table centrepiece. Thinking laterally - the flowers could be a family tree ( name/place cards ).

Regards

Paul Josef Narloch
www.knob-snobs.co.uk

Answer 9

go to the dollar store and find some tea light holders with hangers....get battery operated tea lights for them..hang them by cheap ribbon (the kind on helium balloons) that you should be able to buy at the same store...this will give some nice lighting...shop at walmart and get the Christmas lights called expandable blanket or something like that and hang them behind head table with some ribbons hanging down from the top to the bottom..picture frames from dollar store with pictures of the bride and groom at all different ages can be placed on the tables---two or three will be nice, or you can get dollar store plates and place colour sand or rocks on them with the battery operated tea lights buried in this...a silk flower or two all kept in the colours you want and you have cheap center pieces...

Answer 10

see if the location has tablecloths available; look at fabric store remnant piles for good swatches, they dint all have to match if they are the same color, or you can just have fabric under the centerpieces. get tulle, its cheap, and use it to wrap the favors in (you can also do these cheaply). for instance, we used birdseed, which you can get anywhere for cheap for the "throwing" favor, and used tulle and ribbon we already had for the wrapping. also..to make the birdseed smell good, use spices like lavender and cinnamon...*smile* have a good time and congratulations on the nuptials!!