Wedding decorations on a budget
The credit crunch is hitting everything, even the happiest day of your life. There’s no need to cut corners when it comes to beautiful decorations for your special occasion, all it takes is a little bit of lateral thinking, and a stash of sello –tape! Here are our top tips for creating your own unique wedding adornments on the cheap.
Table Centrepieces
• Summer weddings or those which are taking place near the coast can take their inspiration, and their decor, directly from the sea. Collect an assortment of sea shells and fill clear or coloured vases full of the free ornaments. Your shells can also double as place name settings with a name tag delicately tied around an individual shell.
• 
There’s something about candlelight which makes it eternally romantic -plus candles are dirt cheap, and you’ll probably be able to get them even cheaper if you buy in bulk. Have a selection of different candles to create different effects. A range of church candles of varying sizes arranged on top of a mirror adds an extremely glamorous touch to any wedding table. Alternatively you could have tea tree lights floating in a crystal bowl with a few choice petals or flower heads for an elegant centrepiece. If you have a bit of time of your hands, collect glass jam jars and decorate with coloured glass paint. Pop a tea light candle in after dark and you have your own coloured lanterns.
• For inexpensive floral centrepieces choose flowers which are in season to keep costs down. If you’re planning your wedding in advance, why not grow your own? Sweet peas are very easy to produce and grow like wildfire in the summer months, they come in a rainbow of colours too so you can coordinate them into you theme easily. You could also call on friends and neighbours for flowers from their gardens.
• 
Head to the park and pick up some broken branches from any kind of tree, the more spindly the branch, the better. Spray your find in either silver or gold and decorate with clear fairy lights.
• Utilise your bridesmaid’s bouquets by using them as the centrepieces for your table. After the actual ceremony they have little need for their posies so why not put them to good use during the reception?
Kelly Cooper is the Editor of Wedding News and oversees the work of all the writers. Kelly has worked extensively in the media for the past 10 years, first as a trainee with her local newspaper in Norfolk, and before going it alone as a freelance journalist where she wrote for a number of women’s publications, including bridal magazines. The experience and knowledge which Kelly brings to the role of Editor at Wedding News has been invaluable enables the site to progress and develop on a variety of levels.
I have since looked into the shepard’s hooks and I love the idea..they look very cute and do not take a lot of room in the aisle. I am currently trying to locate some that have a stand instead of a pick to stick into the grass.
Smr789…thank you so much for your suggestions aslo..i love the lei idea. I wanted to incorporate leis somewhere, but I never thought to use it as an barricade to the aisle. Cute idea! I will definitely find a non-busy and coordinating way to put all these great ideas together. I will let you ladies know what the end result is.
You can spend a ton of money on centerpieces but on the other hand, you can also do it yourself for very cheap and save that money for other parts of your wedding!