My Wedding Decor Secrets

I like nice things and I don’t have any money.  What can I say?  It’s kind of the story of my life.  This all meant that the #WinnettWedding had to be somewhat of a compromise between what I actually wanted and what was realistic. Once we’d landed the venue, photographers, caterer, day of coordinators, videographer, music, dress, suit, hair, makeup, transportation, and accommodation, there wasn’t as much left for my decor as I would have liked.  Thankfully, my friends had some really great pieces of wedding decorating advice that I’d like to pass on to you.

When all is said and done, weddings are freaking SO expensive.  I feel ya on that one.  Below you’ll find a few ways I was able to get that high end look I wanted, but for less!  We all can get a bit weird about money and I know everyone is working with different budgets/priorities, which is why I’m quite transparent about pricing where I could be.   Hope this helps – happy planning!

If you’re new around here, be sure to catch up on my posts about the rehearsal dinner, our full wedding day recap, and my 15 favourite wedding moments!

STATIONARY FROM MINTED

Not particularly decor, but still notable.  Truthfully, I wanted a hand painted custom stationary suite.  My mom is an artist and I was hoping to include her work on the invitation – how special, right?  What I didn’t have, was the resources to make that happen.  Since I’ve stalked Minted for years, I knew they were an easy option and would be able to get the stationary to me in time.  Adam and I also had a super awesome (if, I do say so myself) wedding website, read all about that in my post here.

Simple Sprigs Invitations, envelopes w/gold liner and Thank You Cards from Minted – $550

TABLE NUMBERS FROM ETSY

I thought there was no chance I’d ever be able to afford pretty laser cut table numbers.  Then, one fine day, I stumbled upon the Virginia Artisans!  Still unsure about the price, I broke down what it would cost to craft some myself vs. the cost of each table number.  Ordering 20 of them, with rush shipping, worked out to be about $13 per table.  I was at the point of throwing money at problems and this was the ideal solution.  We were able to re-use them again at our second wedding reception (that’s right, we had a second wedding), but more on that next week!  Great quality and definitely sellable afterwards (I just haven’t gotten around to that yet…), I highly recommend.

Set of 20 Gold Laser Cut Table Numbers w/stand from Virginia Artisans on Etsy – CAD $264 TOTAL

LARGE STRING PARTY LIGHTS

I wanted bistro lights more than anything, but I really didn’t like the astronomical price tag that came with them.  I ended up ordering two 100 ft. strands from Party Lights, thanks to a tip from my website designer.  Not only did these lights provide that cozy outdoor glow, they’re also ideal for photographers and videographers to capture those low light moments.  The lights arrived within the time stated and are exceptional quality.  In fact, they survived two more weddings a few months after ours, and are now living in my mother in law’s backyard!  This purchase certainly went a long way, and I’m confident you’d be able to sell them after the wedding to get some money back.

(x2) 100 ft. Green C9 String Lights with G50 Bulbs – CAD $359 TOTAL

PURCHASE VINTAGE FURNITURE

My goal was to create a little living room area for guests to hang out in during the reception.  I was stressing about renting vintage furniture though, due to high costs and the logistics of delivery.  I mentioned this to my friend Nadia, who told me that she created a lounge for her nuptials, but just purchased some vintage furniture on craigslist and then sold it after the wedding!  It was the perfect plan. I subscribed to craigslist alerts for ‘settee’ and ‘vintage chair’ and saw some of the weirdest and overpriced furniture in my inbox for two months until I stumbled upon a woman with impeccable taste who was downsizing into an apartment!  Was able to fit her settee and matching 2 chairs, as well as 2 larger sitting chairs (one is pictured above, which Ben is apparently using as a makeshift umbrella) into my dad’s minivan.  It was an absolute win!

5 Piece Vintage Furniture from Craigslist – $600 TOTAL (already rented out and will sell eventually)

SIMPLE TABLE TOP

Completely thrown off by styled shoots, I had the unrealistic expectation that we’d have blush pink pressed glass goblets, rose gold flatware, custom menus, and charger plates.  Now I realize that I can’t even afford to buy 8 charger plates for my own home, let alone 135 of them!  I ditched all these dinner party dreams and decided that classic white would just have to do, and it worked just fine.

DIY SIGNAGE

I come from a retail background, so signage is really important to me.  I wanted a bar menu, a welcome note, and a ‘Best Day Ever’ sign.  My mom and I found these gorgeous chalk frames at a bridal swap for $40 apiece.  We spray painted this Ikea easel gold for a crafternoon project totalling about $20.  Thanks to the wonderful folks at Spruce, I was able to pay $60 for custom calligraphy on the chalkboards.  As for the tables, my mom hand wrote everyone’s names with a gold sharpie on plain white place cards.  I wrote everyone’s table number on a reclaimed white window (that we found for $30 at the Surrey New and Used Building Supplies) with a glass friendly gold pen.  It wasn’t all perfect, but still a lovely detail.

Assorted supplies for DIY signs – $200 TOTAL (the window and frames have been rented out again too)

FLOWER ARRANGEMENTS

I’m definitely not naive to the fact that Gloria from Flower Factory probably gave me a massive deal on our florals due to our longstanding florist/blogger relationship.  This is why I absolutely will not be disclosing how much we paid for our flowers.  I will, however, share that I saved a couple hundred dollars on delivery because I had friends drive up the flowers on Friday and then the bouquets on Saturday morning.  Friends who are willing to help with wedding tasks are the best!  I also decided on very small arrangements on the tables instead of grand centre pieces, which cut cost and added a ton of visual appeal.

When it came to wedding flowers, I truly had NO idea how much they cost.  I thought of a number that I was willing to pay, and approached the florist with it, just as my friend Tessa had instructed me to do.  I adore fresh flowers and appreciate all the expertise that goes into arrangements, but there’s only so much I could imagine spending on something that wouldn’t keep past the weekend.  If your flower budget is SUPER small (like a couple hundred dollars) I’ve had quite a few friends recently buy bulk flowers from the market and then create their own arrangements.

ITEMS FROM HOME

Obviously, I LOVE shopping, but in the final weeks, it felt ridiculous to go out and purchase a bunch of things to decorate the gift and card table.  I mean, does anyone even notice that stuff?!  I grabbed a few items from our own living room and created vignettes at the ceremony and the gift table.  My vintage suitcase made the perfect card holder, with our invite and a couple pictures held up with mini dollar store clothes pins.

All photos are by two of my favourite humans, Shari and Mike 

One last piece of valuable advice, was not to go spending crazy the weeks before the wedding.  The urge to purchase all sorts of last minute things is strong!  You’re likely overthinking though, and there probably isn’t really a need for them.  Ultimately, it’s about the love and how people feel on the day.  Your wedding is going to be amazing no matter what. Wishing all you brides to be the BEST DAY EVER!

Really hope this post was helpful, do let me know in the comments below if you have any questions.  I also made a Pinterest friendly image below.  Just hover over and PIN away!