I spent so much time on our wedding planning and working on the reception and other details that I totally didn’t think of church decorations. It really only hit me about two weeks before the big day when one of the ladies on the church asked me what I was planning on doing for decorations, and when I would need help to start decorating the sanctuary. I was shocked that I hadn’t even thought of it myself, and didn’t really have an answer. At that point so close to our actual wedding day, with all the other stressful details I was working on and considering more important I found myself wondering, “Do I really need church decorations?” After much thought and kicking myself for forgetting such a major detail, I came to the conclusion that my church decorations should have been at the forefront of my mind, and that I had let so many other things get in the way, and I’ll tell you why.
To me, a wedding is not about having a great party that everyone can talk about for a while and then forget. To me, the wedding is about two people pledging before God to love, honor and cherish each other for life. It’s a beautiful thing and it’s really why everyone is coming to your wedding in the first place. The ceremony is the most important part of the whole wedding, and should have some decorations. Here are some great ideas for church decorations.
Pew Bows
In my panic to come up with church decorations, I headed up to my aunt’s house and we set to work hitting every Wal-mart in Dallas and the surrounding areas to buy them out of a particular ribbon I liked. Then, we stayed up all night learning how to make them and making enough for every pews in our church (luckily there were only 14 pews total). Once we learned how to make them they were made quickly and ended up adding a lot to the church. Sparkly ribbon bows with lots of tulle gives a fluffy dreamy look, and they turned out beautifully. You can also put things in the bows, such as ribbon flowers, real flowers, or anything really. they turn out really beautiful. If you are wanting to make pew bows and are getting married in a larger church, you don’t have to do every few, just do the first few where your family will be sitting, and then go 5-10 pews back, depending on your preference. This is also one of the best wedding decorations for outside weddings as well. Check out my other article, How to Make Pew Bows for more info. Or, if pew bows aren’t for you, check out my other article on Pew Decoration Ideas.
Flower Arrangements
As you’ll see in my Affordable Wedding Flowers article, I had wanted to use all natural flowers on every pew. I had been to weddings like that before and the smell of the flowers was intoxicating, and I loved the idea. One trip to my florist though squelched that idea. Way too expensive! So instead, I opted for two large flower arrangements to be placed on the altar, and that turned out really pretty.
Pictures
Although most people most bridal portraits at the reception site, my husband and I posted large prints of our favorite engagement portraits at the ceremony entrance, and at the reception as well. For the ceremony, we just had one sitting next to the basket with programs, while at the reception we had one sitting on a table at the wedding where people could sign the matte. I love the idea, and looking back I think everyone should do it. It’s something that is a true keepsake. It was signed on your wedding, and notes from friends and family are fun to read afterwards.
Candles
You’ll have to check with your church before you do this, to make sure you don’t need to get a permit from the fire department or something. You can rent large candelabras and fill up the altar with beautiful twinkling candles. Its romantic and beautiful, just don’t get your veil too close to the candles, or you’ll have one of those Funniest Home Videos from your wedding.
Personally, I do consider the church decorations to be extremely important. You may have a totally different situation, if your church has beautiful stained glass windows which you want to emphasize, then you may not need to do as much to decorate as I did. But the answer to the question, “Do I need church decorations?”, I believe YES!
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December 12th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
[...] is a continuation of a previous article, Do I Need Church Decorations, and I thought I would explain one of the points in the article. I talked about how my aunt and I [...]
January 30th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
[...] pew decorations, and go into a little more extensive detail about it in previous articles such as Do I Need Church Decorations and How to Make Pew Bows. I knew there were lots of ideas for pew decorations that I could go with [...]