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Diane Warner, a nationally known wedding consultant and prolific author of popular wedding books, has graciously agreed to contribute articles and insights to Internet Wedding Links on a regular basis. We are proud to offer this new feature and hope you will check back often to benefit from her entertaining, common sense approach to the whirlwind experience called "getting married." Here is her 5th installment titled " Creating an Ambience with Flowers, Decorations and Music." To preview or purchase Diane's books, visit her Web site.
Before we talk about flowers, here's a quick trivia question: What musical selection has become the new, "trendy" choice for today's wedding ceremonies and receptions? [See answer later in this article.] FLOWERS The average cost of a basic floral package runs about $800, depending on where you live. This basic package usually includes: * One bridal bouquet You will also need reception flowers, corsages for guest book attendant, cake cutters, musical performers, etc., plus garlands for railings and staircases, pew arrangements and fresh flowers for the wedding cake or the cake table. As a matter of fact, if you order all the flowers your heart desires, you an easily spend over $20,000 on the floral order alone. Here are a few good ideas to keep these costs down: *Free Flowers and Greenery Take advantage of any free flowers and greenery offered by friends or relatives, such as cut flowers, ferns, evergreen or magnolia boughs and flowering shrubs. Use these to decorate the pews, the altar, pillars, candelabra, doorways, tables, arches and reception tables. Tight rosebuds and baby's breath can be fashioned into boutonnieres for the men and corsages for the women and, if you're really brave, into bouquets for the bridal attendants. *Silk Flowers Watch for sales at Oriental import outlets, such as Cost Plus and Pier 1 Imports, and create boutonnieres, corsages and bouquets months ahead of time for a fraction of the cost of fresh retail flowers. *Wholesale Flower Mart By purchasing your flowers from a wholesaler a day or so before the wedding, you can save between 50% and 60% on your floral budget. This idea will only work, of course, if you live within a reasonable distance of one of these marts and if you have talented friends or relatives to help assemble the bouquets, corsages, boutonnieres, etc. * Supermarket Flowers Did you know that most major supermarket chains now offer reasonably priced floral wedding packages? Call around and you'll be surprised how many items are included for less than $250. For example, here is a package priced at $229:
*Existing Decor Take advantage of any existing floral decorations that may be available at the ceremony and reception sites. *Mix & Match Mix and match these ideas. For example, decorate the reception tables and wedding cake with the pink roses from Aunt Millie's rose garden; make the men's boutonnieres and the bridesmaids' bouquets in advance out of silk flowers; order only the bride's bouquet and the two mothers' corsages from a retail florist; order everything else from your supermarket florist. By the way, here are a few creative and affordable bouquet ideas for the bride and her attendants:
DECORATIONS On average, wedding decorations run about $750. Here are a few of the more affordable ways to decorate your ceremony and reception sites: * Balloons Helium-filled balloon bouquets can be used as table centerpieces; tied to chair-backs; or set on the floor as "fillers" of color. They can also be used to form an arch over the head table, the receiving line, cake table, or to frame a door or window. Also, single helium-filled balloons can be used to cover the ceiling of the reception hall. *Tulle Netting Tulle netting is inexpensive and can be used in many ways: to swirl along the altar railing or down the center of the reception tables; to tie into bows to decorate the pews, candelabra and pillars, or instead of ribbon in the floral arrangements. *Candles Use candlelight to soften a "homely" site and give it an elegant glow. Of course, this idea works best for an evening wedding. *Tiny White Christmas Tree Lights These tiny white lights do wonders for a setting, creating a magical feeling, especially when used along with candles. Wind the strings of lights around evergreen garlands; wrap them around silk ficus trees; drape them over doorways or along bannisters. *Crepe Paper Streamers Tastefully used, crepe paper streamers can provide an indoor or outdoor setting with a lot of color for the money. *Satin Acetate or Fabric Bows Generous five or ten-yard bows three inches or so wide can be used as filler for floral arrangements or to decorate pews, pillars, railings, candelabra, reception tables, archways, doorways, etc. They are rather pricey to purchase ready-made, but can be made yourself for less than a dollar each. Look for the illustrations in "BIG WEDDING ON A SMALL BUDGET", or follow these directions: Allow five to ten yards of ribbon for each bow. Starting in the middle, fold the ribbon back and forth, always turning it over in the center so the right side is showing. Then tie the center tightly with florist wire, leaving three inches of wire exposed for fastening the bow to the pew, candelabra, etc. Once the center is secure, pull each loop of ribbon while twisting it so that the loop faces forward. Let the remaining ribbon stream down. [Trivia hint: It's from a musical] *Rent or borrow items that will carry out the theme you have chosen, such as carousel horses; large white bird cages with live or "fake" love doves; Tiki torches; old-fashioned street lamps and park benches; portable gazebos; a wishing well, and so forth. (By the way, if you'd like to see a gazebo that can be created out of fabric, click up BEAUTIFUL WEDDING DECORATIONS & GIFTS at my website: www.dianewarnerbooks.com. You may want to pay your local party rental store a visit before firming up your decorating plans. MUSIC The music ties everything together -- the decorations; the flowers; and the theme in general. Give a lot of thought to your musical selections and how they will be performed. The cost of the music, by the way, usually runs about ten percent of the total wedding budget. * Ceremony Depending on whether your ceremony is traditional or non-traditional, you may need:
These may be professional musicians, friends or family members, but once you've chosen these musicians, you'll need to select your musical selections. Here are a few popular choices: PRELUDE SELECTIONS: "Arioso" by Bach PROCESSIONAL SELECTIONS: "The Bridal Chorus" from Lohengrin by Wagner ("Here Comes the
Bride") RECESSIONAL SELECTION: The most popular, by far, is "Wedding March" by Mendelssohn SONGS SUNG DURING THE CEREMONY: "The Greatest of These is Love" by Bitgood And, finally, the answer to the trivia question: "All I Ask of You" from The Phantom of the Opera by Webber, Hart and Stiltoe (popular for the ceremony or the reception) *Reception To provide background music during the meal and dancing or entertainment after the meal, you will probably decide to hire or enlist a DJ; a dance band; an instrumentalist (such as a harpist or pianist); a small instrumental group (such as a stringed trio); a soloist or a singing group, all depending on your theme. An affordable alternative, of course, is to furnish your own pre-recorded cassette tapes to be played throughout the reception. Here are a few of the most popular dance selections: THE COUPLE'S FIRST DANCE: "Unforgettable" by Irving Gordon THE FATHER-DAUGHTER DANCE: "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" by Cole Porter THE MOTHER-SON DANCE: "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" by Stevie Wonder Until next month when we'll talk about the wedding edibles, here's my best word of advice: Try to avoid a "cookie-cutter wedding" by doing everything you can to create a special ambience for your ceremony and reception -- one your guests will remember for years to come. END OF ARTICLE OTHER FINE ARTICLES BY DIANE WARNER:
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nce you've chosen your theme and booked your ceremony and
reception sites, you're ready to make plans for your flowers, the decorations and the
music. You'll notice that all three involve the senses -- the fragrance of the flowers;
the sight of the decor; and the sound of the music -- and all combine to create the
ambience for your wedding.