Weddingbee boards

Sorry guys... I know this is a real pain, but I'd love opinions on my decor so far. This is my reception venue:

Different to the one I originally wanted, but this one lets you bring in external caterers and your own booze, without charging you corkage. Everyone say with me: "FREE BAR FOR ALL!!!!"

I will think about decorating the church and the gardens (which are actually part of a public park, but I should be fine as long as there are no candles, I think... fire regulations don't allow candles) later. For now, I'm thinking centrepieces, colours and chair sashes.

As FI and I met in the army, and he is considering getting married in uniform, I considered a rather patriotic colour scheme... ivory, royal blue and navy blue, with splashes of red. I was going to combine this with a tea party theme. For centrepieces, I was going to have a cut glass decanter full of port on each table, like this:

Along with a blue and white, china cake stand like this, containing cupcakes with red, white and blue icing:

Also, a large silver fruit bowl containing blue fruit (eg plums, some of the darker grapes, blueberries etc).

Also, a cut crystal vase containing whatever blue flowers we can pick up at the supermarket the day before:

And finally some ivy, if I can fit it in somehow, to tie in with the green curtains. All the centrepieces would be mismatched, from ebay and things, to keep costs down (we're on a strict budget). White or ivory tablecloths, with bunting around the edge of the table like this:

And now the dilemma. I love royal blue, and would really like the bridesmaid's dresses to be in this colour:

However, I'm worried that it may be too much... you know, too "disco".... to have my satin chair sashes in that colour. I am, therefore, torn between this colour and navy for the chair sashes. What say you, bees? Plus, do you have any words of advice? Decor too much? Won't work? Any advice appreciated!

I should probably say at this point that I AM British, actually! We met serving in the British army, and still have friends and relatives in service. FI is currently a serving police officer as well, so we have friends in the emergency services also. So the patriotic theme would be a bit "God Save the Queen". I've got flags etc and bits of decor planned to match that, as well.

Sorry guys, but *bumpety bump*. Leaning towards the navy option for safety reasons... but that royal blue is just so pretty!

And... *bumpety bump* again. I see people are leaning towards navy. I might have to try and match it to the colour of the army and police formal dress uniforms. What about church decorations? Do you guys think I should do royal or navy blue for the church? Wish I could discuss these things with a family member really, but none of them live locally, FI couldn't care less about decor or colour schemes, and my BMs... well, you know... they have actual lives. All they think about are the dresses and the bachelorette!

I'll tell you what... I am loving the colour of those bridesmaids dresses in your pic already! I'm also loving the picture of the blue flowers and greenery along with the books. I might have to see if I can get some books in to decorate the place as well.

I guess my only worry when you have so much blue is how to incorporate splashes of red. Truth be told, if I could get away with it then I'd love to slip the odd vase of sunflowers here and there as well, because I really love them, but I wouldn't use them as centrepieces (it's just to much). Maybe in the entrance or something... I should also say that we have rented a small entrance hall with doors off to the main hall pictured here, a loo, and a food prep area, so there's lots to decorate even when you don't include the church etc!

The chair sashes would be about £80/120USD to buy outright... but of course I could always resell... seeing that pic with navy napkins is making me think about navy napkins with navy chair sashes, actually. FI says no to blue table runners though, because he doesn't want the blue colour near food. He says when you put that colour near food, it makes people think of mold, which isn't very appetising (I can sort of see what he means... like the mold you get on cheese, bread and crumpets).

For the top table, I was going to use a large flower centrepiece plus a few bits and bobs like the ones on the other tables. Obviously this requires me to make something the day before, but I feel like I'm up to the challenge...

I'd love to use candles, but the venue says no due to fire regulations, so that's why I'm stuck with things like cake stands and fruit bowls (which are irritatingly expensive when compared to candles, but at least I can resell afterwards, I suppose).

I'm not sure if my guests will wear hats or not. Technically they should, at least inside the church, but I don't know if they will. I've got a birdcage veil a little similar to that pic for the reception though (in ivory). I have a lovely veil for the church, but it's too long to wear for the reception!

Wow, thanks for the responses! Firstly, the decor pics made me giggle because I am planning to buy some metal signs with the union jack and the crown on them which say things like "Keep Calm and Drink Beer". I have my eye on one very similar to the one you posted. I also have my eye on some of those little flags for people to wave, but I'm worried it might be a bit much. I want to hint at the theme and have little reminders, and I've already broken my own rule by ordering two vintage union jack flags (I couldn't resist... they were SILLY cheap).

Not sure about table runners period because we're doing bunting around the edges of the tables... that plus quite a lot of centrepieces might be too much... I also smiled when you mentioned a pub theme though. Like I said before, we are Brits, and we are getting in kegs of real ale for the guests and having a mini beer festival, so bringing in aspects of the pub theme is par for the course! I think I can combine tea party, pub, and Jubilee aspects though... what do Brits love, after all? Tea and beer!

We're decorating the day before because we're on a budget. With all my decor, I will almost certainly exceed my budget, but I want something which looks stunning. Besides, I'm now in a position to up the budget a bit (not much!). The day before will be key, and I've booked the venue for 3 hours in the evening to decorate it... because we want quite impressive food, we decided to spend the food budget on catered starters and main courses, and to cook our own desserts, wedding cake, and do our own evening buffet. We are both fairly accomplished cooks, and I am fairly confident. Although I have never catered for 100 people before, I have done several Christmas dinner parties all by myself, with no help. They take about 3 days to prepare (I make my own sauces, chutneys, jams, chocolates, truffles etc from scratch). So with a few helpers and my trusty recipes, I think we should be fine.

As far as flowers go, I think it might be silk boutionnaires, which I will DIY, and the rest will be supermarket flowers bought in bulk, and arranged by me the day before (any earlier and they will die!). The only thing I will have to buy in is my bouquet, I think. I'm just not capable of making the style I want, although I will probably make a throw bouquet from silk flowers....

The day before is going to be a major STRESS FEST!

Awesome. Love the flag swags. That also gives me a great idea of how to make the top table a bit different and unique. Less keen on the blue glass but that picture of the fruit on the cake stand made me think "duh!" of course I can use red fruit as well for the fruit displays! That makes life so much easier.

In other news, the venue nixed my fireworks. But all is not lost quite yet! Time for a plan B. I just need to find someone with some private land near to the venue who would be willing to set them off...

Well, we can't change venue now! But I am an obsessive who tends to get what they want. And I want fireworks. Now, follow my logic...

The venue says no. But all that means is that I can't set off any fireworks inside the venue grounds, right? That doesn't mean I can't set them off on private property near to the venue grounds, where they can still be seen by my guests. Sending random emails now...

Centrepiece mockups are here... obviously they will all be mismatched, but this gives you an idea.

- The cupcake stand will have blue and white iced cupcakes.

- The silver basket will contain blue and red fruit.

- The decanter will contain port.

- The silver pitcher will contain wooden flowers like this, in white and various shades of blue, if they aren't too cheap looking (I ordered a bunch online, and I am waiting until they arrive to make final decisions).

- The whole thing will be surrounded by ivy.

- The table will have red white and blue bunting around the edges, but in rather whimsical, soft, mismatched fabric rather than the very "hard" reds and blues.

... as for fireworks... they are proving elusive... the council is being difficult...

@BooRadley:  For a second you threw me. I thought "****, all that blue with the centrepieces, it is too much!". Then I thought "it's my wedding, and if I want it to be too much, then that's exactly what I'm gonna do!".

I think it would be different if the centrepieces were larger, but that photo I posted makes them look much bigger than they actually are. The tables are also quite large, so I think I can get away with having those centrepieces with ivory linens, navy sashes, and navy napkins (navy being the more neutral colour of the two blues... I don't think I could get away with it if I used the royal blue).

... the next stage, decor wise, is to collect more centrepieces, get my flowers in and make all the floral arrangements (if appropriate), and then to search for deals on things like linens. I think it is coming together slowly, though!

Wooden flowers are here... what are we thinking? Obviously I'll have to do something about cutting the stems down. Maybe 3,000 of these for the whole wedding, including church, floral arch, bouquets, etc etc?

@RedSergeSpouse:  Wow, you have mad photoshop skills! I love it. Very happy with my tables looking like that.

I got the wooden roses off ebay, from seller corbie6. She/he has a workshop in Ely (UK based), which isn't that far from where I work, so I'm thinking of going down there, seeing the workshop, and selecting flowers. I have a teeny tiny flower budget because all my silverware/pottery and other bits and bobs have worked out as being so expensive, but you can buy these in bulk for about 5p each.

You can read about the roses on my thread here: http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/wooden-roses-opinions-please

They were almost universally unpopular, but that pic is pretty awful, to be fair, and I think they'll look nice when they're done (the above post also shows pics of the same roses when they are arranged properly and photographed without a flash). Besides, as I explain on the thread, I'm doing so much cooking before the wedding that I simply can't do real flowers and arrange them myself (which would be the alternative). But the wooden roses will be arranged nicely on the day, because i can do them months in advance!