How to Decorate a Church Sanctuary for a Wedding

The decorations in the church sanctuary where you take your wedding vows should be beautiful as well as tasteful. When deciding on how to decorate the sanctuary, remember that the church is a house of worship, and the decorations should reflect this atmosphere. Use white or ivory as the primary color, with the colors used in your wedding theme as accents. Before planning your decorations, be sure to check with the church to see what is allowed. Many churches have rules regarding where decorations can be placed and what kind of fasteners can be used to attach decorations.

Things You'll Need

• Silk flowers and vines
• Florists wire
• Tulle
• Ribbon
• Floral arrangements
• Votive candles

Instructions

1. Make and hang lush garlands of flowers and greenery around the doorways leading into the sanctuary. If your attendants are wearing red, a garland of white gardenias and petite red roses would provide an eye-catching decoration as guests enter the building and pass through the doorways into the sanctuary. Make the garland ahead of time by buying silk vines and using florist wire to attach silk flowers between the leaves.

2. Make a smaller version of the doorway garland to drape across the front of the pulpit. Use a bit less color for this garland. Attach white or ivory tulle bows (see next step) to the corners or the center of the pulpit.

3. Make bows for the ends of church pews. For each pew, cut a 24-by-60-inch strip of white or ivory tulle, a fine netting material. Cut a 36-inch length of matching ribbon. Tie the tulle strip around the center of the ribbon and then tie a simple shoelace-style bow with the tulle. Leave long tails hanging down. Fluff out the loops of the tulle and trim the ends of the tails on an angle. Tie the ribbon around the ends of the pews.

4. Place floral arrangements in the colors used for your wedding theme at the front of the church. Put one arrangement on each side of the altar. If the church has steps leading up to the altar, place arrangements at the top of the steps. Putting arrangements on the steps is not recommended, as people in the wedding party could trip or bump into them.

5. Place votive candles on window ledges on the sides of the sanctuary. Votive candles are safer than pillar candles. Wax from pillar candles also could spill over onto window ledges. Flickering votive candles are particularly attractive for evening weddings.