Gazebo Wedding Decorations

You’ve chosen the setting for your wedding ceremony – a beautiful gazebo with a lovely pond behind it. The decision you need to make now is whether to use the wedding gazebo as is, or enhance the setting with some nice decorations. If you are at a loss as to how to decorate this structure, here are some great tips for gazebo wedding decorations.

It will be easier to decide on decorations if you have your color palette and theme (if any) picked out before you begin. Keep color swatches with you when you shop for your gazebo decorations, so you can easily match or blend colors. You may also want to tuck a small inspiration photo album in your purse. You can then pull these pictures out in the stores to help you find just the right gazebo wedding decorations.

You may also want to ask the wedding gazebo owner about the types and colors of any flowers and plants that are planted close to the structure, and if these flowers will be blooming at the time of your wedding. If so, think about utilizing these built-in wedding decorations – perhaps choose the same flowers and complimentary colors for your wedding decorations. You could save a lot of money on flower arrangements by incorporating existing live plants!

A very classic and traditional way to decorate a gazebo for a wedding is to use tulle. This can be an inexpensive decorating tool, that will add a touch of romance and fantasy if hung right. Shop around for just the right color and try to buy entire bolts of tulle on sale. If you purchase too much for the gazebo, you can always use the leftover tulle to decorate tables, aisles, and other wedding receptions elements.

You don’t have to wrap tulle around the wedding gazebo. A prettier use might be to attach it to the inside top of the gazebo and let it hang down – like a romantic canopy over the bridal couple. You can also swag the tulle around the banister of the gazebo. Get creative in attaching the tulle – use flowers to hide the attachment areas.

Instead of tulle, you may want to use flowers and flower garlands. You can usually purchase these at craft stores, or in bulk online from stores like Oriental Trading Co. You could also use fresh flowers – though creating the garlands would be expensive and time-consuming. Flower petal strewn around the steps and floor of the gazebo add a nice romantic touch.

If the gazebo owner does not want you to use glue, nails, or staples to attach your decorations, you will probably need to buy some ribbon to tie the flowers and garlands in place. You could also use tulle cut into strips, either alone or mixed with ribbon, to use as ties. Ribbons come in such a variety of colors and styles that you are sure to find the right look.

Another idea for gazebo wedding decoration is to use strand of lights. You can wrap the lights around the pillar of the gazebo, or intertwine the lights with the flower or tulle garlands. Of course, the lights will only provide a romantic, fairy-tale effect if you can see them, so this idea would probably work better for evening or night weddings.

When you decorate the gazebo, consider extending the decorations out to where your guests will be sitting. Use the same tulle, ribbon, or flowers to decorate chairs and aisles. Make your guests feel they are part of the wedding ceremony, rather than just spectators looking at a stage.

Be creative when choosing your gazebo wedding decorations. You are really only limited by any restrictions the owners of the gazebo have. There are an infinite number of ways to decorate your chosen gazebo – tulle, ribbon, flowers, lights, crystals – even hanging butterflies – be creative in your wedding decoration ideas and your ceremony is sure to be one you and your guests will remember for a lifetime!

Simple Stunning Weddings

The three biggest trends in weddings today are simplicity, personalization, and color. Wedding design expert Karen Bussen highlights these elements as she shows couples how to design their own weddings without going crazy or broke.

Simple Stunning Weddings is the first wedding design book to focus on the where of the wedding. Location is the first and most important decision brides and grooms must make: everything else flows from that. Bussen showcases 12 popular wedding settings, including the city loft, country inn, art gallery, botanic garden, and private club, and demonstrates how to make them extraordinary. With the site as the starting point, she creates unifying themes with color, flowers, and personal touches. She explains how to deal with vendors, how to spend the wedding budget, and when it makes sense to hire a specialist.

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Handmade Wedding Invitations

Like many people, you are probably on a tight wedding budget. You don’t have to sacrifice style to fit into your budget though. There are many areas where you can cut costs. Handmade wedding invitations will save you money and add an extra personal touch to your wedding.

Your partner may want to help out with making the invitations. If not, then ask your wedding attendants to help out. Make it a fun, early hen party that your younger attendants and flower girls can also attend.

If you like to scrapbook, you may already have some ideas for invitations, and the necessary supplies. If you need some ideas for designs, check out some scrapbook magazines at Barnes & Noble or your local scrapbook store. Don’t forget to browse your wedding shop’s invitation catalogs for some design ideas. If you find one you like and you can’t get a physical sample, you can always check out the company’s website and print a copy.

Many couples who choose to make their own wedding invitations like to incorporate a favorite photograph. Some ideas include a photo of you holding hands featuring the engagement ring, or a professionally done portrait of the two of you.

If you are making your wedding invitations, make sure you leave plenty of time to make the invitations, and still get them out to your guests in time for them to respond. To be on the safe side, add an extra day or two to your time line to allow for mistakes and re-dos. You may find that your chosen design is harder to make than you first thought, or you may change the design after making a few. Leave time in your wedding planning for this.

Before making the final decision on whether to make your wedding invitations or to have them commercially printed, you will want to price out the materials. In most cases, doing it yourself will be much cheaper, unless you need to purchase expensive tools. Ask the local scrapbook store if they have a cropping room with tools that you can use if you don’t have them at home. This will save money.

Handmade wedding invitations maybe the perfect alternative to high-priced commercial invitations. If you want to do it yourself, but aren’t feeling creative, check out one of the many print-it-yourself wedding invitation kits on the market. You can find these at most office supplies and stationary stores, and stores like Target and Walmart. Your local wedding store may also carry these low-price alternatives as well.