photo by katclay on flickr

One of the most exciting and important aspects of planning your wedding party is choosing your wedding party decorations. The decorations will set the mood depending on the type of party you’re going for and form the basis for your theme. When considering decorations you need to think about decorating the room or marquee (which will depend on what type of venue you’ve chosen for the event), decoration features for the dance floor and of course table decorations and centerpieces.

You can tailor your wedding party decorations to your budget. There are lots of ways you can go all out and spend a fortune but if you’re on a budget, the decorations are an easy way to make a saving. Don’t worry that your wedding will look ‘cheap’ – you can save lots of money by making your own decorations rather than buying them premade and this will allow you to achieve exactly the look you want rather than settling for someone else’s idea of what makes a great decoration.

Start by thinking about the location for your wedding party because this will affect the type of decorations you choose. An outdoor beach wedding party will have a much more relaxed feel than a formal location for example. And if you’ve chosen a romantic or dramatic setting like a castle or stately home, it is likely to need a lot less extra decoration than a room you’ve hired in a more modern building.

You can get ideas for wedding party decorations by browsing through wedding magazines and wedding party supplies stores. However try to think a little creatively and don’t buy all your supplies from specialist wedding stores where they will be expensive. You can create lovely romantic looks with more every day materials and the end effect will be more special and personal to you. Candles, flowers and ribbons are the obvious and most popular basis for wedding party decorations but you can choose whatever fits your theme and mood.

To ensure a tied together theme for your wedding party, your decorations should match your dress, wedding cake and wedding party favors. The easiest way to make sure of this is to choose a theme and stick to it. Even just picking a color scheme can help with your decorating ideas or you might want to choose wedding party decorations to go with the season.

You’ll need to think of decoration ideas for the main venue, the entrance, the gift table, guest tables, walls, chairs, ceilings, buffet table, bathrooms and other areas. This can be a bit overwhelming so start by focusing on one area – the tables for example and base the rest of your wedding party decoration from your ideas for this. If you’ve seen a great idea that you love in a wedding magazine or on a wedding party site online, use it for inspiration and the rest of your ideas will follow easily.

Flowers are the usual basis for any wedding party decoration scheme and you can use a mixture of fresh flower arrangements, garlands and centerpieces and scattered petals for a romantic effect. Flowers also look great combined with candles – think about floating some flowers in a bowl with floating candles for beautiful table decorations. Ribbons are also an easy way to add a touch of romance and can be tied around chairs, used in centerpiece decorations and used to decorate your wedding party favors.

Lighting is also a simple way to make a dramatic difference to the atmosphere of your wedding party. Fairy lights look beautiful both inside and out and really help to create that romantic look and feel. For table lighting, candles are definitely the way to go and come in so many shapes and designs that you should have no problem choosing some to complement your wedding party theme.

photo by chatiryworld on flickr

When you’re planning your wedding party, you’ll also have to think about the wedding party gifts that you’ll be giving to your friends and family. Most people give two different kinds of gifts at their wedding parties – small gifts or wedding party favors that are given to every guest and larger more expensive gifts that are given to the bridesmaids, groomsmen and other people who have helped significantly with the wedding.

To find the perfect wedding party favor, you’ll want to choose something small that your guests can take away as a memento of your special day. These favors can form part of your wedding party decoration as you will place them on the table in front of each guest’s place setting. Popular ideas for wedding favors include small boxes or bags of chocolates or sugared almonds, soaps, candles and other small items.

Cute and unusual ideas for wedding party favors include personalized wedding tea in packaging with the name of you and your partner, boxes of matches, fortune cookies, mixes for special cookies and cakes, seeds to plant and even personalized water bottles. The best wedding favors are not necessarily expensive; they should just show that you’ve put thought into them. Often the most treasured favors are home made.

For your bridesmaids and groomsmen you should choose a more special gift that really expresses your gratitude for their help on your big day. Jewelry is always popular and can form part of the wedding outfits. Or you may prefer to give a personalized gift such as wine glasses, good quality pens or photo frames.

A great gift idea for bridesmaids is something they can pamper themselves with before the event. You could even make a day of it and have a spa day together with all your wedding party bridesmaids. You can buy personalized toiletries bags containing potions and lotions for beautifying and slippers and robes to match.

Your best man or groomsmen will love to receive a personalized shot glass (which will probably come in very handy at the wedding party!), cuff links or even a watch that will both look great and be useful after the ceremony. It helps to tailor the gifts to the personality of the person you’re giving them too so if they enjoy taking care of their appearance, they will appreciate a grooming kit; golf fans will love golf themed gifts and so on. Personalizing your wedding party gifts to the people you’re giving them too will show how much you appreciated their help and you’re not just giving gifts as an afterthought.

A really fun and personal idea for a wedding party gift that is suitable for either men or women is a ‘magic bean’ plant. These beans can be personalized with your own message and when planted, your message will appear on the plant as if by magic. You could also give terracotta pots for planting that match the theme of your wedding party decoration and will be a great reminder of the day.

photo by wedding-photography-by-jonathan-day on flickr

One of the most important aspects of planning your wedding party is deciding on your venue. The location you decide to hold your wedding party will impact on your theme, your wedding party decorations, and the number of guests you can invite and will probably take up a large part of your budget. Choosing a venue is an issue of both personal taste and practicality. You’ll probably want to choose somewhere with a romantic feel if possible but locations such as castles are often expensive and may not hold as many guests as you would like. You should also consider if your venue offers catering, a bar service and staff. Finally you may prefer an outdoor wedding party which has its own set of considerations to make.

You should start by thinking about your wedding party guest list and considering venues that are equipped to deal with that number of people. If you really fall in love with a particular venue but it can only hold a smaller number of people, you will have to cut your guest list down or split your wedding party into a daytime and an evening event. You should visit several potential venues which will help you to get a clearer idea of what you want. Many venues are booked up for years in advance so plan plenty of time ahead if you have a dream location in mind.

Another important aspect of wedding party venues is their location and distance away from where you plan to hold the ceremony. Some couples choose to have their wedding ceremony and wedding party at the same venue, which is obviously the most convenient but others will prefer to have their ceremony in a church or other location and then move to a different venue for the wedding party. Think about how your guests are going to travel to the location and how much suitable accommodation is available nearby for guests who are travelling from far away and will want to stay overnight.

When viewing potential wedding party venues be sure to ask about the capacity of the venue, the number of bathrooms and extra rooms for the bridal party to change clothing, staff and set up costs, length of time the venue will be made available to you, decoration services and any limitations on decorations, catering, bar service and entertainment considerations. You should also check for availability of parking for both the wedding party and the guests.

If you’re considering an outside wedding party then you will need to arrange hire of a marquee or covered area in case of rain and ensure there is sufficient security. Extra care also needs to be taken in arranging an area for the buffet table, bar and so on. For these reasons, couples considering an outdoor location often choose to hold their ceremony outdoors but have the wedding party at an indoor venue for convenience.

As well as finding a venue that meets your budget and personal requirements, think about its potential for decoration to match the theme that you are planning. A plain room will cost a lot less than hiring a stately home or a castle for your wedding party but with some clever wedding party decorations and lighting it can be transformed into a romantic and memorable location for your wedding party.

photo by yuyunz on flickr

When you’re planning your wedding party, it can be difficult knowing where to start. There are so many options to consider such as decorations, food, venue and so on, it can be rather overwhelming. Most people find it helps to plan wedding parties around a theme. This gives you a central concept to tie everything around and helps to reduce the list of possible options when you are choosing decorations, invitation and favors.

It can help if you try and match your theme to the location and season of your wedding. A winter theme would seem very odd for a summer wedding! Try brainstorming a list of words that come to mind when you think of the season the wedding party will be held in – cherry blossoms and birds for spring, snowflakes and ice sculptures for winter for example. This can give you a good basis for a wedding party decorations and the like on a theme. Also think about where the wedding will be held. Beach weddings lend themselves well to an outdoor free feeling theme with relaxed arrangements of fresh tropical flowers. If your wedding is in a castle you might like to consider a fairytale theme complete with a Cinderella style dress and a wedding cake fit for a princess.

Many couples choose the location where they first met or a common interest as the basis for a theme. An easy way to do this is to name the guest tables along these lines – e.g. famous mountains for a couple of hiking enthusiasts or even a list of countries you plan to visit in your round the world honeymoon trip!

If you want a really unusual theme that will get your wedding talked about and surely remembered by all your guests, you could consider a gothic wedding, a medieval wedding or even a pirate wedding! Obviously these ideas are not for everyone but if you and your partner both agree it could make for a really fun idea that you’re both sure to enjoy.

When you’ve got the general idea for your theme you can start to have a look for wedding party supplies that match. Certain themes are more popular than others and you may have to get a little creative and make your own wedding party favors and other items if you’ve chosen something that is really unusual. You might also want to give your bridesmaids and other assistants wedding party gifts that match your theme which is a really fun way to ensure they remember your wedding fondly.

Browsing through wedding magazines can help to give you an idea of the effect you want to create at your wedding party and can give you some ideas for themes. They often also list wedding party decorations and suppliers so you’ll know exactly where to buy that particular wedding party favor.

If you’re really stuck for ideas then you might want to start with just your favorite color. This can be used as the main color for bridesmaid dresses and then also used in the wedding party decorations. Black and white can look very good when done well and adds a bit more interest to the usual white wedding. Purple is also a very popular choice. Pink lends itself well to a spring theme complete with cherry blossoms.

Whatever theme you choose, you’ll find lots of ideas for wedding parties here at My Wedding Party Plan

photo by yaffamedia on flickr

Finding the perfect wedding party favors is an important part of planning any wedding party. The favors you choose should both reflect your personality and help your guests to remember your wedding. It can help if you base your wedding around a theme and then choose wedding favors that fit in with this theme or you can just go with the popular and traditional wedding party gifts.

The best wedding party favors are small gifts that will be useful to your guests as a keepsake, rather than something that can be used once or eaten and forgotten about. Popular items for favors are candles and tea light holders, coasters, miniature photo frames and photo albums, and candies or small soaps within a personalized box.

The favors you choose will of course depend on your overall wedding budget. If you are not on a strict budget then you can choose some really luxurious favors for your wedding party such as items made from silver. The price will usually become lower per item when you order more favors so they may not be as expensive as you anticipated if you have a large guest list.

If you have limited funds, you can still have really lovely wedding party favors with a little creativity. Many people choose to order items from wedding party supplies stores with which to make their own favors. This also makes them really personal to you for that special touch. A really simple and inexpensive idea but one with lots of meaning is to give each guest a small envelope containing seeds for them to plant at home. You can also easily make your own soaps, candles and pretty bags containing candies or other small items.

For themed weddings, you’ll want to choose favors that match the theme of the wedding party. Lots of online wedding party supplies stores organize their favors by theme to make this easy for you. If you’re planning a wedding party on an Asian theme, you might like to give personalized chopsticks, cherry blossom candles or coasters decorated with the Chinese character for love. Castle shaped candles, key shaped bottle holders and anything heart shaped will look beautiful at a fairytale themed wedding party.

You can also choose your wedding party favors by season. If you’re having a spring wedding, naturally themed items work well – candles with designs of beautiful blossoms and delicate foliage, lightly scented soaps and even a small plant or packet of seeds. For a winter wedding, think towards snow crystals and icicles – snowflake shaped items look lovely as part of a table setting. Or why not give each guest a decoration for their Christmas tree? For those on a budget, Christmas is the ideal time for making your own cookies and candies for a cheap but personal wedding favor.

Most commercial favors range between one and three dollars per head and the price will usually vary depending on how many you buy. There are several online sites specializing in wedding party favors, with great selections, or you can visit your local wedding supplies store. If you’re choosing to make your own favors, the price will depend on your ingenuity and creativity! Try looking for your supplies in non wedding stores for extra savings.