Image by Derek Wong Photography. Keep reading on to see how to have a wedding reception on a budget
Prioritizing a budget-friendly wedding celebration doesn’t mean sacrificing dream decor elements. Before diving into the planning process, it’s important to curate a comfortable and realistic wedding budget that’s best for you and your partner. After your budget is complete, fun planning begins—including decorating your wedding ceremony and reception.
When it comes to reception decor, the endless Pinterest-worthy options can be overwhelming. To avoid pushing past your budget and to create a stress-free planning season, we have compiled nine top-notch budget-friendly decorating tips to show that you don’t need to drain your bank account in order to have the wedding of your dreams.
1. Use Items From Your Home
From decorative pillows and blankets to chairs and rugs, there are many personalized decor elements, found in your home, that represent your style as a couple and preserve your wedding budget. Look around your house and get creative with ways you could use décor you already own to decorate your wedding reception. In addition to saving money, you guarantee your wedding will feel like “you.”
2. DIY Wedding Décor
With weddings shifting focus from quantity to quality, “do it yourself” wedding decor has become increasingly popular. DIY wedding elements—from signage to photo booths—are an easy and affordable way to get loved ones involved in the wedding planning process and cut back on costs.
3. Repurpose Ceremony Décor
Reusing décor elements—like seating and backdrops— throughout your day is a major time, money, and stress saver. You can use your ceremony seating as part of your reception seating. You could even carry your eye-catching ceremony backdrop over to the reception as a sweetheart table backdrop. There’s no reason you should have to spend money on duplicate items, especially if you want to keep expenses low. Want more examples? Here are more clever ways to repurpose your wedding décor from ceremony to reception.
Image by Elizabeth Salazar. See more of this real wedding here
4. Think Outside The Box For Centerpieces
There are no rules when it comes to centerpieces. Floral arrangements, books, mismatched glassware, lamps, lanterns, and geometric gold table décor are all great centerpiece options. We recommend carefully crafting a reception table color palette and running with it.
Tap into your creativity by looking around your house for sentimental items that could be used. If you’re looking for more centerpiece ideas that don’t involve using things from your home, check out these affordable Amazon wedding decor options.
5. Drape Lights To Transform Your Reception Space
Wedding lighting is undoubtedly one of the most underrated elements. It’s amazing how lighting can truly transform a space—a huge plus when decorating on a budget. Whether your wedding reception will be taking place outside or inside, you can instantly add elegant and warm touches by strategically hanging twinkle lights.
6. Add Florals And Greenery
Whether it’s garlands of eucalyptus, giant tropical leaves, potted ferns, or olive branch wreaths, greenery has the power to add life and a sense of natural elegance to wedding décor without the large price tag of traditional floral arrangements. The best part is that you can add greenery just about anywhere and it will look great—on the backs of chairs, down the center of tables, even on the ground.
7. Rent Items To Save Your Wedding Budget
Wedding rentals are a budget-friendly couple’s best friends. There are endless rental opportunities—from seating to decor—that are offered at a fraction of the cost. As a bonus, you’ll save time and money not having to find everything yourself. Not to mention, you don’t have to worry about transportation on the day of the wedding. We consider that one quite the win.
8. Shop Secondhand
While renting large wedding items is always a great idea, there may be unique items that simply can’t be rented. Rather than buying those items new, save some money by shopping at secondhand stores. It’s amazing what can be found at local thrift stores or even flea markets. While shopping, keep an eye out for everything from small centerpiece items to larger seating options. With a little creativity, the possibilities are endless.
Image by Laklin Brooke Photography. See more of this real wedding here
9. Make Big Statements With Select Pieces
Rather than incorporating dozens of different over-the-top design elements, focus on one or two big items that will have a large impact on the look and feel of the space. With extra money left in the budget, find large ticket items—like these jaw-dropping Amazon wedding decorations—that complement the meaningful details and will leave a lasting impression.
There are many eye-catching decor substitutes that won’t break the bank. If you’re looking for more budgeting tips that go far beyond the reception, you won’t want to miss the best wedding budget tips from top wedding planners around the world.
Image by Jaime Denise. See more of this real wedding here
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I must admit all the 9 tips are good and easy to apply, thanks for sharing.
Wow! – what a wonderful Inspiration – Great Photos! Thank you
I love the idea of hanging lights! It just feels a lot better seeing those things sparkling at night <3 Probably gonna use that idea when i get married next year.
thanks for sharing such nice wedding decoration styles. all styles are east to apply
Good stuff!! Keep sharing such informative posts with us.
Thank you for giving me the idea of adding old fashioned candlelight as a decoration for my reception. We’re almost ready for my wedding, aside from a few more aspects that needed tweaking during the reception. In addition to the candlelight, we might also invest in good event lighting to achieve a cozy and vintage theme we want for our guests.
Thanks for giving such lovely ideas
such a brilliant ideas. M just loving it.
The pictures are unbelievable!!! Just the simple things, but even the chairs are so nice :P
Thanks for sharing very important ideas..
Great Ideas!!
After reading your blog post I feel very happy or satisfied. Thanks for sharing a good piece of stuff. I’ll definitely share this with my friends.
Great ideas you shared on this blog. I get the really useful information on this blog. Amazing!
I love your blog. very informative and helpful for me
Such a helpful blog! I’m grateful that I saw this. Thank you for sharing these budget-friendly ideas for wedding, this can help a lot of couples out there.
Wonderful article! We will be linking to this particularly great content on our site. Keep up the good writing.
I like your advice about renting wedding decorations to save money on my wedding. That makes a lot of sense and would also help Mother Earth by reducing waste. I plan on getting married soon, which is why I’m starting to look for a events planner. I’ll note your tips so I could use them. Thanks.