Decorating Ideas for Reception Tables
Impressing your wedding guests with gorgeous reception tables is easy when you have a step-by-step guide. Do a little planning to find the perfect decorating ideas for reception tables, and you'll enjoy a reception that's both beautiful and memorable.
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Instructions
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Develop a theme to dictate the decorations you should consider. Start with the time of year or season in which your wedding is taking place. Do you need spring/summer decorating ideas for reception tables? Or should your decorations be for fall/winter? You can also choose to go with a wedding theme that has nothing to do with the season, like "champagne and roses" or "black and white." You'll also want to decide how much you'll spend on each table, so you don't start planning for ideas that you won't be able to afford.
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Choose from a variety of themes for a summer reception. Use seashells for a seaside theme, along with blue accents, and sand dollars instead of place cards. Fill the bottom of clear glass pillar candle holders with seashells and blue sea glass and put pillar candles on top. You can also use a flower theme. Pick one or two flowers that are the same color as the bridesmaids' dresses. If you choose flowers with large blossoms, you can float them in water with floating candles for table centerpieces. Use fans and paper lanterns for an Asian summer theme.
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Choose from a different set of options for winter. For this season, you might go with holiday decorations. Create centerpieces with small twinkle lights, evergreen boughs and red berries. Other decorating ideas for reception tables in the winter include blue and silver decorations that are reminiscent of snow. Use blue tablecloths overlaid with squares of silver or vice versa. Accent the tables with snowflake "sprinkles". For centerpieces, fill bowls with personalized blue and silver ornaments that double as favors. You could also glue the ornaments to a tree-shaped cylinder of Styrofoam (available at any crafts store) that you've spray-painted silver. Many wedding reception venues are already decorated for the holidays, so ask about décor ahead of time. You'll save money on decorations if the venue is already prepped for the holidays.
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Use flowers for spring weddings. Offer small sprouts planted in personalized terracotta pots as place cards/favors. You could also create a centerpiece with seed packets. Cover a Styrofoam wreath with moss, then glue seed packets on top. Lay the wreath flat on the table and place a candle in a hurricane shade in the center. Other decorating ideas for reception tables for spring weddings include decorative bird accents and pastel table coverings.
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Consider special table decorations. There are plenty of leaf-shaped candleholders available. Carved pumpkins don't have to look like jack-o'-lanterns. Have an artist carve pictures (or your names and wedding date) into them by cutting away the top layer of thick skin only, leaving the flesh intact. This creates a luminous work of art when a light is placed inside. Cornucopias and scattered leaves also make good accents for fall reception tables.
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Adapt your favorite decorating ideas for reception tables to fit your needs if your theme has nothing to do with the seasons. If you're having a color theme, like black and white, simply paint the items the appropriate color. Other, more specific themes will dictate the decorations. For example, with a champagne and roses theme you can scatter rose petals on the tables and set out personalized champagne flutes that guests can use for the toast and also take home as favors.
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Tips & Warnings
Turn just about any decoration into a favor by personalizing it with your name, the groom's name and the wedding date.
Once you find the idea you'd like to use, go to a price-matching site so you can easily compare prices to find the best deal. Find a link to one in Resources.
Careful of the height/width of your centerpiece. You don't want guests sitting across from each other to be hidden by the centerpiece.
If you use candles, make sure they're unscented so guests can fully enjoy their dining experience.
Check the rules for your wedding venue because they may affect your options for decorating ideas for reception tables. For example, you may find that your venue requires candle flames to be enclosed, so you'd need to use hurricane shades or something similar for tall candles.
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