Decorate Your Wedding Tables On A Budget—In Style!

Deciding how to decorate wedding tables on a budget for your wedding reception can be a challenge. The traditional florist's arrangements can add a hefty cost to your wedding reception bill. You can save a great deal by choosing to decorate wedding tables yourself, and still have the beautiful wedding you've always imagined.

Creativity, imagination and a trip to your local crafting store will give you a lot of ideas for how to decorate wedding tables for your reception. To start you off and inspire you, here's a handful of wedding reception table centerpiece and decorating ideas that others have used to keep their decorating costs in check.

If you're loath to give up the services of a professional florist when it comes time to decorate wedding tables at your reception, one wedding table decoration idea is to talk to your wedding florist about providing the containers for the wedding reception table centerpiece arrangements yourself. You can shop discount stores for decorative vases or bowls and ask her to design arrangements around them to help yourself produce inexpensive table centerpieces.

One of the more simple yet elegant ideas to decorate wedding tables is using mirrors on tabletops as part of wedding table centerpieces. Mirrored squares and rounds are popular bases for centerpiece designs. A 12 inch round mirror without a frame generally costs less than $5 at a discount craft supply house. Frame the mirrors with silk flowers in your wedding colors and arrange several pillar candles of varying sizes on the mirrored surface to pull off dramatic yet inexpensive table centerpieces.

Speaking of candles, candle table wedding decorations always lend a romantic touch to decorate wedding tables. For your candle table wedding decoration, use tapers and pillar candles, or float mini tea lights in a clear crystal bowl. For an elegant, stylish table top wedding decoration, half fill a bubble bowl with colored marbles. Pour water over the marbles to a few inches below the rim of the bowl, and float several candles in butterfly or floral shapes on the surface.

Don't stop wedding reception table decoration with the center of the table. Make the wedding favors part of the ornamentation to decorate wedding tables by wrapping them in organza favor wraps that match or contrast with the table linens, or use placeholder tags that reflect the theme. Wire butterfly place card holders can add a whimsical touch to an otherwise formal arrangement.

Sterling silver picture frames are another place card holder idea that make a great idea to decorate wedding tables at the reception. Simply slip the seating card into the frame and set at each place.

Consider utilizing lighting to decorate wedding tables, as well. For a dramatic and romantic accent to the reception hall, place the wedding cake table under a white wooden decorated wedding arch. For a very pretty variation on the idea, purchase a wire frame rose arbor at a hardware or garden store for $15. Wrap the frame in silk greenery and fluttering ribbons and suspend a wedding bell from the center of the arch. It will frame the wedding cake beautifully, and provide a romantic backdrop for wedding pictures.

An unusual idea to decorate wedding tables for a Hawaiian themed wedding is to create hawiian table decor by fashioning the centerpieces from miniature outrigger canoes. Fill the canoe with greenery and tuck a single exotic bloom into each. Add individual dendrobium orchids or plumeria sprinkled over the greens for winning hawiian table decor.

Finally, here's an idea about how to decorate wedding tables with lovely, meaningful wedding table centerpiece decorations from paper for an Asian themed wedding. Fill a dramatic basket with origami lotus blossoms, roses and cranes, and surround with shimmering candles for splendid table top wedding decorations.