DIY Wedding & Bridal Shower Decorating Ideas

Decorating a wedding or party can be great fun if you have a vision and pictures to help inspire you.  I love the challenge of  “decorating on a dime”, while at the same time having the event look like a million bucks.  For those of you who enjoy doing it yourself (or with your family and friends), these will be some helpful ideas.

Flowers usually take up a large part of the budget when decorating an event.  There are alternative centerpiece ideas that can be equally as elegant while bringing  in the color palette you desire to give your event that Wow! factor.

1- One way to accomplish this is with Pillar Candles. Finding candles in your color scheme, in various sizes and widths and grouping them together so you have a nice presentation on the table can look gorgeous.  Choose one color for all the candles.  Use a strong contrasting color in your color scheme in satin ribbon in two different widths, and wrap around the candle at two levels.  Depending on the size of your tables, I would suggest you use an odd number of candles per table ie.,  3, 5 or 7.

Duplicate the look with added flowers at base of candles and make the arrangement of the candles more horizontal for  the buffet table, escort card table or sign in table.  To keep the flowers fresh, use those little tubes that contain water and put the stems in them (the tube can be hidden from view)  If your site doesn’t allow open flames, simply use LED tea lights and embed them a little in the top of the candle.

2- Vases can be costly if you are having a large reception, so when I saw what Colin Cowie  did with glass vases, I immediately thought of an idea you can use for a fraction of the cost.  Now, stay with me here…don’t think this is too silly until you try it.

Start saving your milk cartons (orange juice cartons will work too).  Use both the quart size cartons as well as the 1/2 gallon size.  Rinse them out well and start stockpiling them.  You should figure on 5 per table if your tables are large round ones.  Since these cartons are obviously already used for  a liquid, you know they will  hold water for your arrangements.

Your objective is not only to have different width cartons, but you’ll want to cut them down so you have different heights.  Once your happy with the different heights, measure them and cut all of them the same way.

Practice on your different size cartons with inexpensive fabric so you can make patterns from a paper bag  for the fabric you will cut up.  Allow room at the top and bottom to iron a little “hem”  so the ends are finished on both ends.

Choose a beautiful fabric.   You can even be extravagant in your choice of fabric because it won’t take much, and most fabrics come in very wide widths. Once you’ve made your patterns you can figure out how much fabric you will need.

Simply wrap your gorgeous fabric around the container and hot glue the seam together (being careful to use the glue sparingly so it doesn’t seep out the edges when you press down.  When placing the vases on the table, make sure the seam side is facing inward so all the guests see are nicely wrapped containers.    Add a contrasting ribbon to top and bottom and fill with flowers that are easily arranged (see my tips on arranging flowers in a previous post).

If you feel your container needs more weight for the flowers you are using, place a glass of water in them to hold the flowers and this will give additional weight and support.  The containers pictured here  are filled with lots of roses, however, if you use a large bloom, you don’t need as many flowers.  Experiment with your flowers to determine how many you will need per container.  Make sure whatever flower you choose you do a “mound” design of them making sure the bouquet covers the top of the container  to make the arrangement look luxurious.

A crystal rose favor, if you’re using roses, would be a perfect remembrance gift for your guests.

If you use this idea, I’d love to see your pictures.  Send them to eileen@yourweddingwhisperer.com and I’ll post them so everyone can see your creativity.

Filed under Blogroll, Bridal Shower, Flowers, General Info, Reception Basics, Weddings By Color, Weddings by Seasons | Comment (1)