Saving Money on Wedding Decorations

A wedding is probably one of the most important single social event productions any couple will incur - at least until they start planning their daughter's wedding. It can also be one of the most expensive.

An elegant wedding is possible without completely breaking the bank. Consider these simple tips for saving on decorating expenses.

'Tis the Season

By coordinating your wedding theme to any seasonal theme, you can save money on wedding decorations.

For my mid-December wedding, we chose red and green as the hotel where we married was already elaborately decorated with lights and poinsettias. Most churches would have been too.

When checking out the venue site, discuss how the facility will be decorated at the time of your wedding.

Many of our items, including a garland woven through the wedding arch, were purchased at after-Christmas sales the year before. Check out craft and discount stores after Valentine's Day, Easter, 4^th of July, and Halloween. You will be amazed at how many items are available that reflect the color scheme but not the holiday - like confetti, paper products, and balloons.

Think Use and Reuse

Use white Christmas tree lights to make the cake table, gift table, even the head table look more glamorous. After Christmas, these gems can be bought at 50% or more off the retail price. After the wedding, you can still use the lights for your home holiday decorating.

Designate seating assignments with 5 x 7 picture frames holding the table number. After the wedding, you have a matching set of photo frames to display your wedding pictures.

Centerpieces

The hotel offered me the use of Christmas-themed centerpieces at no charge. Since I wanted to give my centerpieces away, I made my own. Simple glass vases with Christmas red and green beads formed the base for an arrangement of seasonal flowers.

For my daughter's wedding, I created simple centerpieces to match her purple and green wedding theme. With a bit of luck, I obtained more than a dozen heavy glass square bowls when a local church moved and was going to discard them. Their trash became my treasure, as I filled the bowls with white, lavender, and purple glass beads purchased at Wal-Mart. Single bamboo plants from Ikea ($1.29 each) completed the arrangement.

Go Discount

Check discount on-line retailers. Oriental Trading Company has a large selection of wedding-themed merchandise that can add those special touches at a deeply discounted cost, including mini-bubble bottles, rose petals, and pew clips.

Something Borrowed

Don't be afraid to extend the tradition past the bride's adornment to the wedding venue. Many women save mementos from their weddings and are happy to share with friends and family. My wedding cake topper was from my parents' wedding.

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