When planning your wedding, undoubtedly you are looking for some great wedding decor ideas. Well we’ve been in the industry for a long time so we’ve seen what works, and what doesn’t. So often we see people over spending on things they just don’t need to. Regardless of your wedding budget it’s best to focus your decoration ideas on what works.

Where to focus Your Decorating Budget First ?

You don’t need to get too complicated, keep it simple or you’ll be in a twizz on the day, we’ve seen it all too often. Armies of helpers running about stressing to get everything done in time. Things do take longer than you think. So for the best wedding decor ideas here’s where to start.

1: Draping, yes of course we’d say this. But it’s not self indulgence. Wall drapes and ceiling drapes give the venue the clean blank canvas look everything can be built on. Now if you have a stunning venue then of course you may want to skip this part. But don’t be too hasty ceiling drapes make all the difference to the ambience as well

2: Table centres. Yes wedding table centres is the next stop before anything else. There are some great ideas for wedding table decorations which we will cover in a bit. These are what people will be looking at for most of the wedding.

3: Chair covers. Whilst some people love them, other hate them, wedding chair covered are a great way to get your wedding colours across. With sash bows they can look great. If you have great chairs, then it’s not totally necessary. This can be skipped if you are on a budget

4: Wedding entrance. A great wedding decor idea is to spruce up the entrance. This is where guests will all pass. And although this sounds rather ethereal, a wedding entrance is almost like a mini portal. Yes we’ve seen it, guests walk in and their demeanour changes. If the entrance is done well it sets the tone for everything else.

5: The bar area. Nearly all wedding guests will end up at the bar. This is a great area to spruce up and there are some great bar hire ideas. You can choose from rustic wooden bars, mirrored bras, traditional, the choice is endless, we like the round bars with a tree in the middle. It’s a nice statement piece.

6: The little touches. This is where you can add your own wedding decor ideas, those little DIY wedding decorations. Wheel barrows, book shelves, well the list is pretty much endless. But our word of advice. Keep it simple. You don't want to be constructing lots of little bits and pieces on the day or the day before. When everything gets delivered to the venue, well it can be a while just sorting out what goes where.

The Wedding Entrance

We touched on the wedding entrance way, but it’s worth delving a little further. The entrance is one of the first things people see, and it doesn't cost that much to make it special. Create a personalised wedding welcome sign. Or decorate a garden trellis with flowers. A balloon arch can look good, they are certainly fun.

This is an area where you can add your own wedding decor ideas as well, if you want to do a display or add your own touches, then we suggest the entrance is a good place to do it. So often we see weddings where people aren't really sure where everything goes, there’s so many trinkets and hanging items and so on it can get confusing. Whilst you have been imagining the wedding decor and where everything goes for months, often those helping are new to it.

A Few Pics of Weddings we have Helped

How Can I make my Wedding look Expensive?

OK so let’s get to the point here, you want to look like you’ve spent more money than you have. We get it, weddings are expensive enough as it is without going crazy for things you don’t need to. But also you want to create your perfect wedding and hopefully impress, or at least put on a good show for family and friends.

So let’s start with wall drapes. Yes we know this is totally self serving, but there’s simply no getting away from it. They work. Your wedding is now on a par with the most expensive weddings. And whilst we understand for some it’s a bit out the budget, white wall drapes totally transforms the look and feel of the wedding. As one of your wedding decor ideas wall drapes should be at the top.

Lighting is a very underrated element of weddings. We don’t see nearly enough weddings utilising lighting. That maybe fairy lights, up lights, lit table centres are all wonderful wedding decor ideas. If you have the budget then hanging fairy lights behind the walls look great, it really makes the wedding look magical.

Artificial flowers, strangely we’ve seen people balk at these, yet there are some great artificial flowers out there. Just don’t go to amazon or ali express, there are some cheap looking flowers on there. That doesn't mean all of them of course, but photos can be deceptive. We know, we’;ve tried them.

Bunting is so under used for wedding decor ideas. And no we aren’t talking about cheap bunting which can look terrible. Hired bunting can look amazing. We have some of course, but there are specialists out there that hire nothing but bunting. It’s not that expensive, it looks great and gives great coverage. Don’t buy bunting and expect to sell it, the hired bunting is expensive and made of good material.

Hay Bales and barrels. Now this obviously depends on where you are having your wedding. If it’s all indoors well scrap this idea. But if you have an outdoor area then this really isn’t a bad option, especially if you are thinking of hiring furniture, which can be expensive. Hay bales and barrels give that country look and feel, and country look and feel looks expensive.

Festoon lighting is another great idea. Use it to light outdoor areas rather than standard lights, which can look cheap. Festoons have the use of being decorative and practical

So if you are looking for wedding decor ideas on a budget hopefully this will have helped give you some pointers.

Wedding decor ideas to avoid (in our opinion)

Paper hanging lanterns. Yes these look great in the pictures don’t they ? And you can pick them up pretty cheap, but unfortunately all too often that is what they look, cheap. And that’s what we want to avoid.

Balloon table centres. Whilst balloon arch entrances aren’t a bad idea if you are on a budget, balloon table centres aren’t the same. They can be fun, don’t get us wrong. But they don’t look expensive.

Lot’s of different table centres. This isn’t very common, but we’ve seen it. People rushing out to bric a brac stores to buy vintage items like old books, hurricane lamps, candelabras and so forth. This isn’t to say don’t do it. But with a much mash of table centres the wedding can look a little busy. And busy doesn’t look expensive. Less is more sometimes.

Keep it simple. We can’t think of the amount of times we’ve seen the culmination of excited brides ideas end up in all sorts of array. The maid of honour is best by your side rather than trying to put together paper flowers.

Some Unique Wedding Decor Ideas

Let’s have some fun, what if budget wasn't an issue ? What would we do? Having been in the industry for many years we’ve seen quite a lot so let’s look at ideas to amaze and wow guests. Some wedding decor ideas are pricey some not so much, depending on how you look at it.

Plants and trees, no one can make things as beautiful as nature. And there are options to hire real plants and trees. This isn't something you skimp on either as one or two simply wont make a difference. Or there are some great artificial trees you can hire. You can hire trees of up to 20ft, hang festoons and fairy lights from them or create areas. You can use real trees and plants as table centres as well. Potted nicely with fairy lights they look amazing.

How about a punch fountain for one of your wedding decor ideas? This is such a fun idea that never fails to get guests chatting, don’t make it too strong mind you. And yes we are talking a real fountain. And yes we’ve done it and it works amazingly. Use it as an entrance piece or you may find uncle Eddie asleep at it’s base before too long. And whilst champagne fountains sound great, the champagne goes flat.

Real ivy garland. When hung real ivy garland looks great. It’s not hugely expensive, but it can add up when you start hanging it everywhere. Still it looks great and let’s be honest you can’t beat the real thing.

To Surmise your Wedding Decor Ideas

Bigger is better, big impactful statements make the biggest difference. When implementing your wedding decor ideas start with the biggest first. That means draping, walls, entranceway and chairs.

Don’t get bogged down too much in detail. Yes details matter, of course, but it’s all too easy to lose focus on what will be memorable and impactful. It’s easy to spend money on things that look lovely in photographs but in reality no one really notices.

You don’t have to go crazy with the budget. Weddings aren't cheap, but equally if you skimp too much it can look like a badly put together party.

Sometimes less is more when it comes to your wedding decor ideas, if you get too busy the statement is lost. Not only that it can take ages to set up when people are better disposed at far more important tasks. Weddings don’t need to be stressful.

And Some Last Touches We thing are nice

Wishing tree. Have a tree with envelopes guests can write messages of love and support, or worldly advice for the newly wed couple.

Post box, like the wishing tree only no one else can snoop at the envelopes.

An old fashioned typewriter. Have guests type messages of support and advise on the type writer, just remember auntie Ada will see what the best man writes.

Barrels, oh how we love barrels. Inexpensive, rustic, decorative and useful.

Cocktail making class. Yes we even do our very own cocktail bar with classes for some entertainment.

Archery range? Yes we’ve seen this and it goes down so well. If you are having an outdoor wedding some entertainment goes down very well.

A pea lit dancefloor. Not too expensive and makes a great central focus area.

Starcloth for the disco area. If you have a seperate room for the disco then starcloth is a great addition to the day.