Does anyone have any low budget, yet elegant decorating ideas for a church wedding? I have a friend who has to say the least been through tremendous hardships this past year. She will be getting married in a month, and her budget is low. I want to help her to make her day as memorable and elegant as possible... Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!:o


HER COLORS ARE RED BLACK AND WHITE IF THAT HELPS!

A wedding is wonderful without anything but the people and the church,
Ask the church many have sets of flowers, and even some various decoratoins.
Also there should be some good rental places that do wedding supplies,
But in general, the wedding is great with noting but the people.

I have some ideas for you bear with me as I am working and will be finished in the next 15 minutes. I used to arrange flowers etc... for weddings

If you intend on using fresh flowers use flowers that are in season. Tulips, calla lilies, lily of the valley, iris, White lily. I think any of these would make very nice bouquets.

The bride could carry just one type of flowers or mix 2 for a simple but beautiful bouquet. For instance if she chose to carry tulips and calla lillies then she could let the birdesmaids and maid of honor carry tulips. The flower girl could carry lily of the valley. Boutonnieres could be made from tulips with a sprig of baby's breath or lily of the valley. They are so simple to make. For the bridal bouquets you could make those out of three or more and wrap ribbon down the length of the stems or just down a few inches. For the birdesmaids and maid of honor the same could be down with the choice of flowers for them.

Pew bows are fairly easy to make. A pedestals on each side of the alter with pots of seasonal flowers would be pretty and a nice bow tied around the pot/vase and flowing down.
Candles are always inexpensive and elegant.
You could go to a craft store and buy most of your material. Get books from the library or even one from the craft store on weddings... You will get step by step instructions on how to make bows and how to make boutonnieres.

Also different flowers have different meanings for instance l
illy of the valley= you complete my life.
calla lily = beautiful
White lily= viginity, purity

It has been a while since I have arranged for weddings so I am a bit rusty but I hope that I have given you some ides. p.s it would be wroth checking out 1 of Martha Stewarts wedding magazine, she usually has very simple yet elegant ideas that are very easy to make.

Weddings, Wedding Dresses, Wedding Cakes, Wedding Decorations, and Wedding Invitation Ideas -- marthastewart.com click the video on the right and it will give you some very nice examples of bouquets some of which would be so easy to make.

Thanks a lot! I was also thinking that lillies would be great just not how sure how available they will be since we are in Hawaii... But, I'll definitely see what I can do.. I was also thinking of solid white orchids since they are plentiful here. Again, thanks!

I would have mentioned Orchids but where I live they are so expensive.
Orchids = love, beauty

I don't personally think it's important to add flowers to the church because the bride and bridesmaids will have flowers they are carrying and often the groom and groomsment and other important people in the faimly like the mothers of the bride and groom, godmothers, grandparents... That's a lot of flowers at the front of the church and plenty in the pictures!

If this is not enough for the taste of this bride, she might consider using some lush green plants that have some size to them and then adding some cut flowers in those water tubes to them. Sticking some flowers in a green plant looks very fresh and is a lot less costly than an arrangement that's all flowers. Roses, lillies, magnolia blossoms... just about anything will work. The church may well already have the plants but go look at them... sometimes they aren't the greatest looking things in the world!

If the church has plants but you just don't like the pots, you can wrap some fabric around the pots generously and just staple it in the back. It can look really luxurious and is inexpensive. Finish with a ribbon and stick some flowers in the top and you're set for cheap.

Another idea is to use the same flowers in the church that are used for the reception. You can just ask someone to bring them from point A to point B. I did this for my wedding, and it worked out great.