DIY Reception Site Decorating Ideas
What is the “elephant” in your reception site? Many receptions are held in centers, a club room in your community or someone’s home where there is a display case , a swing set, or something else that really needs disguising to make your reception the vision that you’re trying to attain. When I first began decorating receptions, I came across this many times. Often the best place for the bridal table or cake table is right in front of the monstrosity we have to hide. I’ve decorated a room that looked like a gym and one that looked like an underground parking lot (no exaggeration), the key is fabric and your favorite new friends at the hardware store. You can use very inexpensive fabric, i.e. dress lining, sheets, etc. to accomplish your goal or find more luxurious fabrics in white or ivory in the closeout section of your fabric store. You will be making a curtain. Don’t panic if you don’t sew. You can always use that iron on tape. The only “sewing” that’s required is making the hem at the top of the curtain for the rod to go through. You don’t need to hem the bottom, just make sure it’s long enough so you can fold the bottom under and puddle it on the floor. Make allowance in the height measurement of your fabric for the 2″ hem at the top.
Supplies you will need: Fabric, iron on mending tape, 1 ” PVC pipes, PVC corners and connectors, acetone if you need to remove print on PVC pipes (not necessary if hidden by the fabric), white duct tape to reinforce connectors if necessary, white plastic umbrella stands or cans filled with plaster. Depending on how wide your curtain needs to be, you might need a stand or two in the middle with a vertical pole for support. There are connectors that will allow for this as well. Optional: tulle, silk or fresh flowers, more fabric to swag over the curtain.
1) Measure the area that needs to be hidden. You need to be concerned about the height as well as the width. If a bridal table or other table is being put in front of it make sure you allow for that in your measurement. Make the curtain so it not only covers your “elephant”, but will go a little beyond the width of whatever is in front of it.
2) Multiply the measurement by 2 1/2 for the width of your curtain. Some fabrics are very wide so you will need less. Make a 2″ hem at the top of your fabric for the PVC pipe to go through.
3) PVC, purchased from your local hardware store or home improvement center has corners you can purchase as well as connectors to make it as long as you need it to be and, in this case, as high as you need it to be as well.
4) Fill plastic umbrella stands with water or sand to give them weight . You can do this on sight to make the transporting of them easier. The PVC pipe fits well into the umbrella stand. You can also fill large coffee cans with plaster, insert the PVC and make sure it dries with the pipe straight. You should spray paint the can so it doesn’t stand out, but blends into the curtain.
I have some pictures to demonstrate what you are aiming for:
Display Case in bad need of disguise
Curtain covering Bookcase
Ugly Wall
Curtain hiding ugly wall (my balloon decorating days)
I hope these visuals will inspire you to see you can disguise just about anything. These pictures are from my early decorating days, but I think you’ll get the idea when you see them. When you watch what Party Planners do with fabric nowadays, you’ll see this is something you can accomplish on a limited budget yourself. Twinkle lights, tulle, swags of fabric, flowers, all will add to the romantic and elegant look you can achieve over the curtain. I’d love to hear what you’ve come up with to accomplish the “hiding the elephant” at your reception.
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5 Responses to “DIY Reception Site Decorating Ideas”
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This is a great idea and the DIY tips make me feel empowered! Awhile back I helped plan a family reunion and it would have been really nice to create a “wall” of quilts to hide the dumpster next to our gathering spot. I had the idea then, but didn’t know how to execute it…..
I am hosting an anniversary party in our backyard poolside and need some unique ideas for decorating……floating candles, white lights, stations of appetizers and drinks. I am looking for a few truly “out of the box” ideas that will really make this party memorable!
Hi Cheri,
I’d love to give you some suggestions, but I have a few questions first.
What style do you like? Formal, Casual,Tropical?
Are there architecural elements on the site you can take advantage of in decorating, i.e.
trees, umbrellas, staircase rails,arbor?
Are your guests sitting down for dinner or mingling and munching?
Can the pool itself be decorated or is it going to be used by your guests?
Are you “crafty”, or do you have a friend who can spearhead the decorating if you’re not?
Answering these questions will help me to visualize what we have to work with.
I would say somewhere between formal and casual—no swimming just drinks and appetizers poolside (stuffed cherry tomatoes, fruit skewers, etc.) We don’t have an arbor or staircases but have various deck areas that people can spread out among and there’s a privacy fence surrounding the entire pool area with a wooded area behind. The pool is inground and I’m planning on putting in some floating candles. My friend and I are somewhat crafty. Thanks in advance!!
Whatever you decide to do in decorating should be done en-masse (if that is really a word). In other words, don’t just use a few candles in the pool. With such a large space you want it to have some powerful focal points. The area sounds lovely in itself. First I would suggest you make a floating centerpiece for the pool:
1) You’ll need 2 large pieces of styrofoam as a floatable base
2) Fishing line (monofilament wire)
3) Whatever you decide to float. You can make an arrangement, use a potted flowering plant, or put votive candles on it by creating a well in the styrofoam to hold the glass votive holders. You can put flowers in the center and candles around it. The point is to make a statement.
4) If you are making an arrangement you will need florist foam and a container which is then placed on the floating device.
4) Banana leaves or silk leaves or something to disguise the white styrofoam. They can be pinned on to the styrofoam using straight pins.
The base is assembled with a hot glue gun at least a day or two before the party so the glue will completely set. If you are making a centerpiece secure the florist foam into the water container saucer and the water container saucer onto the base with hot glue. Whatever you decide to use for the floating centerpiece secure it to the disguised sytrofoam. If hot glue doesn’t work, try the kind of wax you use to secure candles in place in a holder or you can go to your home improvement store and they have a product called Museum Wax , which is a waxy product used in Museums to secure things in case of a natural disaster (I might not have the name right it could have Earthquake hold in the name, but they should know what you’re talking about). There are also glues in a tube (not crazy glue, but more looks more like a tube of toothpaste) that work very well and will last forever.
If making an arrangement, add water to the containers so that the florist foam will become soft and saturated. It’s easiest to insert the flowers while the base is floating in the pool, of course that means who ever is making the arrangment will have to stand in the pool, After the flowers have been added anchor the float to the center of the pool by stretching the monofilament wire from each corner of the float to planters or
anything else heavy at the edge of the pool.
MAKE SURE THE FLOAT IS BALANCED so it won’t capsize in the water!
Choose a festive color scheme and keep it two toned or limited to two colors for a more sophisticated look.
Make sure your food stations have some interest by making levels of the trays of food. (see my other post about buffet tips). If you have some pretty floral or print table cloths, utilize them at the food stations. Put the print on the table first, then a solid coordinating cloth over it scrunching it over your props. Or you can do it visa versa.
Think tall and big!! You can’t have too many twinkle lights or candle light for a party like this. It turns the space from a pretty yard to something spectacular when it gets dark. Twinkle lights also provide surprising light in areas that might otherwise be dark.
If there is a place you can hang the lights vertically and make a “twinkle light curtain” that would be spectacular. From a tree, from the fence, etc. If you have to, borrow lights from your friends, make sure they are white only bulbs. Write their names with a magic marker on the ends of the lights so everyone gets theirs back. Use a power strip hidden somewhere that they can hang from. If the party starts after dark you won’t have to worry about disguising the dangling end of the lights. If it starts during light, use two large headed silk flowers with their stems removed and either use velcro or double edge tape with them back to back to create an “envelope” to insert the plug at the bottom of the lights into. So to visualize this, you will have a “curtain” of twinkle lights with flowers at the bottoms. You can make them hang at different levels.
If there are trees or bushes cover them in twinkle lights as well. Wind the lights around the base of the tree and into the branches (you might as well leave them there…you will love how it looks).
If there is a place where you can hang wide ribbons from a tree or something where the ribbons will gently fly around in the breeze, that’s a beautiful look also. Lots of them, and long.
If you are making arrangements for the tables, think tall again. Use branches or twigs and some orchids and your done. If you can hang votive candles in glass holders from the twigs (you’ll have to add ribbon and make a “nest” for the votives to sit in).
Remember, the magic happens when the sun goes down and your yard is all aglow.
Use favors in your theme (http://www.favorsbyserendipity.com/wedding-favors-theme-ocean-1.html ) for additional decorating.
Have each couple stand in front of your favorite decorated spot and take a picture of them for the couple of honor and for them to keep as a rememberance. You can also use a picture frame ( http://www.favorsbyserendipity.com/wedding-favors-frames-1.html ) as a favor so they can put their picture inside.
I hope this helps and if you use any of these ideas you will send me pictures. I’d love to see what you came up with.