Decorating the reception help/advice?

new2saving

Hi Everyone,

After some MSE advice, I have managed to find an excellent local venue that is really cheap and has enough room for 100 guests, comes with tables & chairs and has a seperate bar and toilets so all perfect for a cheap reception thats still nice. The problem I have is the venue sort of looks like a working mans club, sort of old and tired looking, they have told us we can do whatever decorations we want to it, but looking online alot of things are really expensive e.g. seat covers, flowers etc. Anyone got any advice how to get round this cheaply? I've looked on ebay but still all really expensive which counter-acts the supercheap venue

Thanks
Kerri

MILLYMOLLY

What about getting rolls of white or coloured cheap material and hanging around the walls with fairy lights ?

Have you looked for chair covers on freecyle etc what about hiring them

Table decorations could be bowls of retro sweets or vases with coloured stones etc (doesn't have to be flowers)

Are the tables big or like what you would get in a pub (seat about 4/6)
Sorry if this isn't much help

lollipop80

Personally I wouldn't get chair covers unless you really have to. I think the only people who notice things like that are the ones who are either planning a wedding themselves, or very recently married. Thinking about it, I went to a wedding 4 months after I got married, I have no idea if they had them or not, I just remember they had a turquoise theme and had a good buffet.

Spend your money on the tables themselves. I think people are more likely to notice these as they will be looking at them all night. For my wedding I bought loads of bunches of tulips and irises from M&S and put them into square vases. Looked really bright and matched our spring theme, and much cheaper than getting them from a florist (Think it worked out about £5 per table compared to the £12 the florist would of charged, and I would make money back on the vases if I ever got round to selling them).

Do you have a country baskets you can visit? They have table cloths and runners much cheaper than most places.

What kind of theme/colour would you like, and maybe we could help you look?

new2saving

Thanks everyone, there is a variety of tables one really long one which I was going to use for the main wedding party and then several smaller ones which are still rectangular but sit around 8 round, there is also those pub style sofa's that are against the walls if you know what I mean. My colour scheme is blue, silver and white . I haven't heard of country basket will have a google and see if there is one locally we have a Range store but thats still working out quite expensive. Love the material and fairy lights idea will start googling that . My friend has said she may be able to help get the material for this too. The company have said they have no restrictions on any table decorations including candles so have been looking at some of these quite cheaply as a starting point but do you think it would look quite plain instead of flowers? x

laura_hoggle

How about potted plants rather than flowers on the tables? I think lavender looks lovely and the pots can be covered in tissue paper or ribbon to match your colour, or a similar potted plant or flower- this would depend of course on the time of year. These can then be given to people to take home at the end of the night!

I was looking at making 'pinwheels' as decorations at one point, which would can be made to match your colour scheme and placed in old jam/food jars on the tables- something different!

Big home made paper flowers can look great too.

My friend got married a few years ago and hired a barn for their wedding reception, it was a complete blank canvas. They borrowed fairy lights from lots of different people and dotted them around the room, it looked lovely.

faithless

Have you had a look on Pinterest? If you search for wedding/table decs etc there are loads of pictures to use for inspiration.

I personally love candles and fairy lights for decorations and think groups of candles would look lovely as centerpieces instead of flowers. Just bear in mind burn time - tea lights only last about 2 hrs so you'll either have to get lots and get someone to refill them, or get larger candles - eg votives are tea light width but a lot taller so a longer burn time.

You could also try making tissue paper pom-poms and Blu-tac them to the ceiling. They look really effective and are cheap and easy to make - you just need loads of sheets of tissue paper (white or any colour you want) and some florist wire - both cheap on eBay.

Edit - Laura posted whilst I was typing and mentioned some of the same things, lol.

CompBunny

Haha another vote for paper pom-poms and flowers here

Just left a post here http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=58584105&postcount=20 with pics of some flowers I made, have posted them here before but can't help wanting to get the word out just how easy they are to make!

fawd1

OK, how's about...... White Linen and chair covers, with a blue sash if possible (can be hired, if too pricey, lose the chair covers but keep the table linen) Then, an idea like this? http://pinterest.com/pin/214624738463432489/

You could do hundreds and they'd be cheap as anything. Do a collection of silver and blue ones on each table with different flowers on each. You could have different sizes as well.

If you then want one central thing, you could get some of the big empty tin cans ( ask in offices for old coffee tins for the centre of the table, or in restaurants if you want the massive old oil drums- maybe a couple of these dotted around the room?) you can then buy some of those twig things, spray them silver or white and wrap some blue lights around them, then maybe finish it off with a couple of sprigs of white flowers? You can buy a bunch of roses in the supermarkets for about 5-7 pounds and using just two per piece you'd probably be able to get 3-4 tables done for less than 15-20 quid.

For me lighting is a massive thing so, depending on the time of year, have natural light for as long as possible, then add in a couple of lamps if you need it, but try and avoid having to turn on the fluorescent lights!! The room could look lovely only lit by fairy lights and candles, you'd have light coming from the bar area anyway. If that's too dark, do a couple of the massive tins decorated nicely, whack a lamp (no shade) in there and maybe cover the top with some tissue paper (make sure the bulb isn't too near the paper though, you don't want fires!)

fawd1

also just thought. FEATHERS!!!! always look awesome and pricey, even though they're not. Buy them in white or blue, or for a real statement piece, peacock feathers. You'd only need one or two per table for a real statement piece

Like so..http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10pcs-ostrich-feathers-wedding-party-decorations-25-30cm-/251145563504?pt=UK_Home_HomeDecor_Accessories&var=550175164467&hash=item3a79712d70

CompBunny

Fawd, those feathers would look lovely Nice idea!

new2saving

Oooh some of these look lovely my bridesmaid and I are both craft addicts so would actually really enjoy being creative with some of these . Found the other thread on sweet tree's which apparently you can do for about 4 pounds each and don't sound to hard to make just takes time. Could have a few of these on the tables (one idea was a sweet buffet anyway so this is a good alternative) and coould double as centre pieces too? What does everyone think does that sound too cheap and might end up tacky?