Wedding Altar Decorations

-- Wedding Altar Decorations --

Decorating the altar is an important part of your wedding décor which many brides fail to plan out well in advance.

The way the altar looks will be the backdrop to your wedding vows and ceremony, so be sure to give this some thought when planning out your decorations!

First and foremost, be sure to check with the church before making any decorative choices, as there may be some restrictions and what you can and cannot do. If you are planning anything particularly out-of-the-ordinary, be sure to get an OK from the pastor, priest, minister or rabbi. Once you have their consent, go ahead and have fun!

Traditional Florals

Decorating the altar with traditional floral arrangements is a beautiful and tasteful way to personalize your surroundings. Speak to your florist, who will help create something unique. You will likely choose to have the flowers match your bouquets, centerpieces, and wedding flowers. For areas of high-concentration flowers, your florist may be able to make some suggestions that will help keep your prices low, such as having less expensive flowers in the same color scheme. Wreaths, potted plants, and floral garlands are all popular ways of decorating the altar.

If your florist is not experienced with your venue, he or she may wish to visit it to get an idea of what will be needed. Consider bringing photographs of your venue to your florist meeting to help give them inspiration. This will help the florist determine size for the arrangements, whether to create cascading or upright arrangements, and what types of flowers will look best.

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Unique Decorations

You may choose to bring in a few photos to decorate with, which can be a nice way to add a personal touch. If you’ve hand professional engagement shots done, this can be a nice place to showcase them. Or, simply choose a particularly nice photo of the two of you, and have it nicely framed.

Helium balloons, beautiful cascading material, and theme-oriented decorations are all possibilities as well. For example, at a fall wedding you may be decorating everything with apples – you could carry this theme into your altar decorations by featuring large vases filled with apples, an apple wreath, and ribbons in your wedding colors.

Candles

Candles offer a gorgeous, romantic back drop to your wedding. You can choose to feature just a few candles, or have your wedding ceremony in a room lit only by candles – and lots of them. There may be restrictions on how many, or what type, of candles you can use. If you are having a candle ceremony as part of your wedding, decorating with candles is perfect – though you may prefer to decorate with traditional flowers and have only your unity candles burning.

-- Wedding Altar Decorations --

Saving Money

Decorating can be an expensive part of your wedding. Consider taking the do-it-yourself route by creating unique ceremony decorations on your own. You may use silk flowers to create your own look, or be creative and shop around for ideas!

Bringing the decorations from the ceremony site to the reception site is a great way of stretching your dollar. If you are getting married close to a holiday, such as Easter, you may be able to have use of an already-decorated church – simply ask if they would mind leaving the decorations up for your wedding. Have a friend or know a local bride who is getting married around the same time as you ? Consider asking if you can purchase her slightly used decorations and even floral arrangements, if the weddings are close together. Be creative!

The backdrop for your wedding ceremony may include a Chuppah, a gazebo, an arch, or an arbor. No matter where you are choosing to say your vows, you can add your own personal touch to the venue by decorating in a way that brings out your personal taste and wedding style.

-- Wedding Altar Decorations --