Ideas for decorating garden for friends wedding

[childminderjanet]

Hello,

Any ideas for transforming my friends very ordinary dull back garden, into something worthy of a wedding reception. She is hiring a bbq company to do the food and hasn't got much money left for the garden. The bbq will start at about 3.30pm ending 10.30pm Her colours are pink and white.
I have a few nice pots of flowers that I can take over and also solar lights and I wanted to tie bows/ribbons on to her trees but not really sure if it will look nice or not.The wedding is June 12th so need to get cracking. Any thoughts/ideas will be very much appreciated.

Bows/Ribbons sound great - what about tying some clusters of pink and white balloons onto the trees also? Will there be children there? If not, what about some outdoor candles?

tea lights look great in a garden - the more the better - but need to consider kids aspect

beg, borrow or steal lots of white fairy lights to go on fences and wallls

get metres of white voile and hang from garden poles to make canopies

\link{http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Funky-Lighting_String-Fairy-Lights_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQfsubZ3QQftidZ2QQtZkmz\outdoor fairy lights on ebay}

Fairy lights definately a good idea, and the voile canopies would be sure to add a touch of class. Not sure about the candles as there will be kids about, I suppose I could hang candles in lanterns way out of reach of the kids,that should work, making sure they are not to close to the voile canopies
Have suffered ballon distasters before outside so am a little wary, don't want to end up with a load of burst balloons hanging sadly round the garden
Thanks so much for all your ideas

I would do loads of fairy light, tea lights in Jam jars tied all over the tress work (out of the way of kids) but do need refreshing or lighting at dusk.

Heium baloons would work in pinks and whites (you can buy kits which are not too pricey). Loads of huge florist ribbon bows. Try to find a local florist supplies shop as you can get really cheap ribbons and stuff, it needs to be really wide to make an impact. Ebay has loads of 100yrd rolls for under £3 and 'pull bows' which are very proffessional looking. Look under floral supplies. You will want at least 2" wide ribbon.

Of you keep the colours really simple, eg white I think you could go quite mad with the bows and ribbons. Loads tied into tress will look really pretty during teh day and the fairy lights (all white) will continue the look into the night.

You could also do ribbon garlands along hedges or fences, where you run loopy ribbons along (and gather them up into bows everyso often IYKWIM.

how about some shabby chic bunting.I saw some in the cath kidston catalogue but I've thrown it out I'm afraid.Ebay might do something similar or Laura ashley

If there's kids there, you can take earth or pebble filled plant pots and 'plant' them up with bright coloured lollipops to be picked- the huge swirly ones are best- the adults tend to go for these too, like fabulous favours.

You can also strew either rose petals or confetti (if confetti make it yourself with a heart hole punch and tissue paper) along paths if it is dry, remembering NOT to leave the bride and grrom to clear up after!!!!

The other trick is to fill balloons with confetti and get drunken poeple to bash with sticks, like pinatas.

have a look on the confetti website - go to table planner.

i would put tall pillar candles into a vase to light in the evening - pink and decorate tables with pink rose petals.

See if you know someone or go to supermarket for flowers or florist for pink roses or white

tea lights can be picked up cheap at tesco, asda, ikea etc as well as pillar candles

arch of balloons in pink and white or in each corner a 3 cluster of balloons

good luck

hi

well my dd (11 weeks) wanted her input too unbeknown to me! As I turned around, I felt something wet, you can guess! She was wearing pink and white with fairys on, so thats her input. But not anymore. Had to tell you. Serves me right for leaving her with no nappy on for a second to type the last message, oops. x

tesco have fab peonies in pink and white variegated, saw them today. A few peonies go a long way

Loads of great ideas Thankyou
I'm feeling much more confident about decorating her garden now.
Off to order ribbon/bows from ebay thought I'd get a few different sizes, have also seen in woolworths battery operated mood lights £4.99 they are large round lights that slowly fade from one colour to another, will hang them in one tree to give wow factor. A few exotic blooms strategically placed.Loads of fairy lights and candles.And I should be well on the way to being done.

How much stuff do you think I can put up the day before? Or shall I leave it all until the morning of the wedding?

Put it up on the day depending on time of wedding (what if it rains). Make sure you have everything you need at her house ready though.

Think I'll start a wedding box then take it over on the day filled with all ribbons/candles/scissors ect that i'm going to need, as she has a houseful of people staying so I'm sure half the stuff would get lost if I left it at her house

Just wanted to say a BIG THANKYOU for all your fab ideas,the garden looked amazing and it was all done very cheaply. I spent the weeks before making all the bows with cheap waterproof florist ribbon v boring but it really did look cool on the day. Got a friend to make loads of bunting in pinks/ivorys, these went all round the garden and under the "party gazebo"(£80 from homebase) that had to be bought on the morning of the wedding as it was pouring with rain despite being glorious the week before and after. I took my best pots over that luckily went with their color scheme. I bought them a load of solar lights as a wedding present they were really chuffed with it all. They asked where I get all my wonderful ideas from guess I must just be gifted