Do it Victorian Style for Your Wedding Reception Tables

Out of all the themes I have seen for a wedding reception, one of my favorite is Victorian. It certainly isn't something that I would have chosen for myself, but I love to see the Victorian style decorating when it's done right. To decorate Victorian, there are a few things you need to look for, and a few materials that can be used a lot to bring everything together.

One of my favorite details from the Victorian era was the use of pearls. I love to see pearls done right because they add a soft elegance to almost any theme. During the spring season, many brides are wanting to use a Victorian theme for their reception. One of the simplest decorations I recommend for your tables is a strand of pearls. Just as you would use these like garland for a Victorian Christmas tree, you can string them along your tables in the same way. Pearl strands are not easy to hang and then draw back up to your table as tape will ruin the look. I would suggest putting a long strand of pearls that goes from one of the table to the other. It's just enough to add that look but not too busy. In the center of your table, bring it together with a large heavy urn with soft ivory or other pastel colored roses. You can also use peonies depending on what colors you are using for your wedding. ivory or pink both work well with a Victorian theme. Choose your urns carefully, and look for something like a wedgewood blue lined with gold. This was a common color scheme during the Victorian era, as were the roses. With full pink roses or peonies in the wedgewood urn surrounded by pearls, it will give you just enough to speak Victorian. Then, to finish it off, you can certainly put some strands of pearls around the bottom of the urn and let it go. As far as your tablecloths go, you can do it simple by choosing ivory yet again. Or, if you want to add some variety, you could certainly do a pastel color that you are using in your floral arrangement, or that matches one of the shades in your urn. One combination I like almost better than the wedgewood blue and pink, is a pink and green combination.

The strands of pearls are something you can pick up at most craft stores. I always suggest Hobby Lobby or Michaels, and they usually have plenty available. You might even check in the craft section at Walmart. For the urns, you can look in all the same spots, but don't forget you can check at Lowe's or Home Depot for these too. They have a large variety of urns in stock during the spring seasons for planting flowers or creating fountains. The flowers are least expensive if you can grow them on your own. So, if you do plan wisely and follow the instructions. If not, check with a variety of florists to ensure you have the freshest flowers or you can use silk flowers. This can really help you get the theme you want while watching your budget.

The second table idea would bring you a little more cost, but definitely worth it if you want your tables to scream Victorian. Instead of a traditional tablecloth, go with lace. If you can find someone to make them by hand that is great because it has character. These are something you may even come across at a thrift store the only challenge would be finding the right amount. You can also look online and see what you can order through ebay.com. There is a site I found called Hertiagelace.com, but you are looking to spend anywhere from $40 and up here. There are tons of resources out there to order stuff online for weddings these days. I did a lot of looking online when we were planning our wedding last year, but in the end I still found a lot of stuff at Hobby Lobby.

Once you find your lace tablecloths, get yourself some small glass bowls to put your flowers in. Again, I suggest something soft and romantic like pink or other pastel colors in Roses or Peonies. Get about five or six full blooms per bowl, and sit those bowls on an ivory colored Dollie. Doilies are a really simple touch to a Victorian theme since they have that lacy affect around the edges. You can usually find those glass bowls for around $2 a piece at a Big Lots or Glass Warehouse, and the cost of flowers is simply dependent on whether you do silk, go to a florist, or you grow them yourself. You can usually get the silks for around $10 a stem at a Walmart or other bargain store.

For the head table, you may want to have some antique looking picture frames with photos in black and white of the bride and groom. This can add a nice touch to the reception as well. If you want to use this idea for all of your tables, you can probably find a very small frame for $1 at the Dollar Store, and you can get them in bulk quantities. You can also find a 2z3 frame at Hobby Lobby from $4.99 and up. Be sure to check out your local dollar store as they are all different. Then, you can just put in some wallet size photos that will work well around your flower arrangement.

There was an interesting idea I found on favorideas.com. If you are doing place settings, they suggested little Queen Anne chair place card holders in pewter and gold. They start at $2.50 and up at beau-coup.com. I had never seen these before, but these are the little things that add special touches. Again, just start googling these items and you will find many vendors are out there offering all kinds of products for your wedding theme.

For our wedding in November, we did a fall theme but we added one small Victorian touch to it. The "Sixpence in her shoe", was a must since my husband is a coin dealer. He had to go through some trouble to get this guy, but the pictures made it all worth it. My shoes were Ivory to match my dress, and the photos of the sixpence turned out great. The tradition is that the father of the bride gave this to her to put in her left shoe and it would bring wealth and happiness. So, instead of putting this little guy in your shoe, just put some six pence on the table. Or, if you can get enough of them, you can spread them around the outside of the base of the urn. You can print up a little card that gives the Victorian tradition of the sixpence so your guests will know what it means. The sixpence can range from $5 and up, and Target now sells them in a white satin pouch for $13.99.

So, if you really want to go all out Victorian for the whole event, you might be surprised to find that you would want to get married early in the morning. According to literary-liasions.com, the Victorian tradition was to have a breakfast at the home of the bride about a half hour after the ceremony. The bridal party would be seated, but the guests would be standing. I envision this as a lot of guests standing around drinking tea from Victorian style tea cups with big roses on them, and people seated here and there at small rounds tables with lace tablecloths down to the floor. Certainly, if you are having a sit down dinner at a reception hall after the wedding, Victorian tea sets make the grade on setting the atmosphere along with the flowers and pearls. If you can find a Victorian Tea Room or Bed and Breakfast, chances are they will have plenty of these on hand to serve your guests.

Last but not least, one idea that is more like a Victorian Garden theme, would be to do a medium sized wrought iron bird cage on each table, and then weave ivy around the bars with large pastel roses facing out of the cage. On the inside, you can put a small tea light. You can find these at Walmart, Hobby Lobby and Michaels. Depending on where you find the bird cages, they could be anywhere from $25 and up, but you can get a huge bag of tealights for $3.99. Try discount stores. Here in Dayton, Ohio we have one called The Christmas Tree Shops of Dayton. Everytime my husband and I go in we find miscellaneous decorative items including the smaller birdcages. You could then put a strand of ivy garland down the center of your table and sprinkle pastel rose petals which you can usually get by the bag at any craft store. You might want to call around for colors first to make sure they have what you need. There is a great resource called efavormart.com where you can get bags of around 500 petals for $5.99. Just make a list of what you want so it will help you narrow down your choices and save you time on phone calls, and help save your pocket book.