Ideas for Luminaries for a Wedding

Small Chinese lanterns can add exotic flair or honor a couple's Chinese ancestry.

Luminaries can add a special romance and beauty to an evening wedding ceremony or an outdoor reception that lasts into the night. Your choice of luminaries can say a lot about who you are and serve to subtly enhance the other decorative decisions and themes you choose for your wedding day.

Paper Bag Luminaries

Paper bag luminaries are classic, elegant and easy to make at home. Buy white or colored paper lunch bags. Fill each bag with an inch or two of sand and place a tea light on the sand. For longer-lasting luminaries, stick a votive inside a clean jar lid with a few drops of wax and place the candle and jar lid on top of the sand. Making luminaries together is a great activity for the family or wedding party in the days leading up to the wedding.

Hanging Lanterns

Many craft or home decor shops sell small decorative lanterns, either singly or in strings. Depending on how much maintenance you're willing to deal with, you can use either electric lanterns or lanterns made to hold small candles. If you choose electric lanterns, make sure that you will have enough extension cords to reach each lantern or string of lanterns. For lanterns that require a flame, exercise caution on windy days to avoid a fire hazard.

Tiki Torches

Tiki torches are easy to set up and last a long time with little attention. You can buy them at most department stores or home and garden stores, especially during the summer. Tiki torches are especially appropriate for weddings with a tropical paradise theme, as they evoke distant beaches and exotic settings. For a more functional but potentially less romantic alternative, you may want to use bug-repelling torches to reduce the number of mosquitoes at your ceremony or reception.

Christmas Lights

Nothing combines cozy, festive and celebratory feelings quite like strings of Christmas lights. Choose white lights for a subtler, elegant effect or a string with many different colors of lights to reach set the mood for a bright and joyous celebration. Another way to use Christmas lights is to create small origami balloons and thread the lights through them to put one or two bulbs into each balloon, creating a string of tiny paper lanterns.