Guest Post: Decorating your wedding guest tables

Hey everyone! The lovely Ann Harris of Beauty Makeup Online got in touch to write a very interesting guest post about decorating your tables. Enjoy! xx

                                           Simple&Classy - How to decorate your wedding guest tables

Wedding decorations differ significantly not only in distant parts of the world, but also in the same country, depending on different cultural influences in specific areas. Also, based on variable attitudes towards nature and society, wedding tables are decorated in line with the prevalent opinions. For instance, if the society and area where your reception is taking place pays a lot of attention to religion, there will have to be some religious regalia, even if you are not too fond of religion. Also, if it is tradition in your area that flowers are placed on wedding table(s), people expect to see flowers and they will gossip that “there were not any flowers at Mike’s wedding” and automatically the soup will seem cold and the cakes too sweet. Simply, people make associations and have conditioned reflexes, which in return dictate their opinions and attitudes. Knowing all that, the safest solution is to go with traditional, middle-of-the-road wedding tables decorations.

Religion on the wedding table

When it comes to wedding and religious ceremonies, many people who do not really belong to religious circles still decide to have religious decorations, due to the expectations of their guests. In this field, the most explicit symbol is the cross, at least in Christianity. It can hang from the wall behind the wedded couple or be placed on their wedding table. Also, the cross as a religious symbol can be made on the tops of cakes, as well and that way also decorate wedding guest tables.

However, even if the belonging community is highly religious, the groom and the bride sometimes refuse such symbols, especially if they know that they will have guests who belong to other religious groups or do not belong to any.

Flowers for diversity

Probably the most widespread decorations for wedding tables are flowers. If your wedding is going to take place in the flower season, you can choose from the variety of flower types. Nevertheless, being married in less flower-friendly parts of the years does not mean that you will not be able to have various flower bouquets and decorations, but simply that their price will be higher. In addition, some parts of flower arrangements will have to be made with plastic versions, as well. Although this might seem a little bit cheap and too informal, most guests will not be able to tell the difference, especially if the florist does his task flawlessly.

When choosing the flowers for table decorations and bouquets, you need to accompany it properly with the wedding tablecloths and make everything match and give the impression of compactness. You do not want your wedding reception decorations look as if Al Pacino fromScent of a Woman arranged it.

Cutlery and crockery make a difference

Organizing a wedding reception or party consists of many stages and numerous duties need to be taken care of to make yourself satisfied, in the first place, and then all the guests that you invited. One of these things that need special attention is the wedding tableware. The choice of the tableware depends on the type of the reception you are organizing. Throwing a modern wedding party, where the majority of guests are your friends, means that everything is done on-the-go and the catering part is usually either a buffet table or the meal is ordered at a specific time, eaten as you chat and stand and the party is going to move on.

On the other hand, a more traditional wedding reception does not support of those swift let’s-eat-and-dance solutions, but you need to have a seat for each and every guest, together with proper decorations from the first two paragraphs and adequate tableware. If the place where you are going to have the reception has its own crockery or cutlery, you can go and see if they suit your aesthetic and hygienic standards. If not, special tableware can be rented for the reception, but you have to be aware of the fact that such a service is a little bit pricey, especially if it includes silver cutlery, china crockery or crystal glasses.

Wedding without proper decorations will most likely not be recognized as the real stuff by your senior guests, so if making an all-generations reception, do it in the traditional way.