How to decorate your wedding reception without renting a storage locker

Wood wedding welcome sign, custom designed and hand painted buy the chatty press in Boston and Portland Maine

You are super excited to marry your partner and continue your lives together in wedded bliss. You are also pretty darn excited about the wedding reception too! (The party is half the fun!) There are so many details that are part of the reception, like welcome signs, menus, table decor, centerpieces… the list seems to go on and on.

As a custom wedding invitation designer (and details lover!) I live for creating one of a kind decor and reception details, but no one wants to have a bunch of “stuff” that they don’t know what to do with after the wedding day or even taking up all the space in your spare bedroom! Here are a few tips to help you keep the wedding decorations you buy to a minimum, and reuse the ones you love!

  • Rent instead of buy!

    Look for event designers and rental companies who specialize in unique furniture, props, and decor. A Family Affair, a wedding planner in Maine, has vintage furniture, bistro lights and a myriad of table decor! The larger the inventory a professional has, the less you have to deal with after the wedding. 

  • Choose pieces that you can repurpose in your home!

    Vintage lanterns look amazing near a fireplace or on your back deck. How about mercury glass candle holders you can bring out every Christmas season? Choose picture frames that match your wedding decor but will also look fantastic hanging on the walls of your home. Whether its a bar cart, a beverage dispenser, a cake stand or even napkins, if you are purchasing it, make sure it is something that is your style!

  • Leave off the word wedding on your welcome sign!

    Everyone knows it’s a wedding! They got the invitation and showed up! When I am designing a custom welcome sign for my clients, I always recommend we create a piece that can hang proudly in their home. Instead of “welcome to the wedding of Jamie and Quinn,” why not choose to personalize it with “Jamie and Quinn • Est. July 2020” that way you can hang it in your home as a statement piece!

  • Don’t store it just because you feel like you have to.

    It’s okay to let things go after the wedding. You will have photos to remember everything by, so don’t burden yourself with feeling like you have to keep that beverage dispenser that served lemonade or that donut wall you spent three weekends crafting! If you don’t love it and aren’t going to use it again, sell it to another couple who will love it. Think of it as spreading the love! Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, and even Tradesey are great places to sell ( and shop for) wedding decor items.

  • Hire a stationery designer.

    When you work with a custom stationery design like myself, I can help you find the best impact for your budget when it comes to things like bar signs, dinner menus, custom napkins, and even welcome bags! We can find a beautiful way to have one dinner menu on each table, rather than one on each place setting. Perhaps that will allow you to splurge on a custom illustrated signature drink sign or personalized cocktail napkins. And coffee course when you work with me, I’ll carry the design through to every detail you can dream of so you don’t have a mish-mash of styles (or worry about tracking a hundred different packages from Etsy). Enjoy a nice dinner and time together as an engaged couple, and I’ll help tackle those details!

Photography by LAD Photography

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