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We've done tons of posts about outdoor ceremony decor, window decor, even porta potty decor! But what about offbeat decor options when you're getting married in a church, that may or may not place limitations on what you can do? Church brides want funky decor options, too, so we scoured the archives of Offbeat Bride, our Flickr pool, and hunted down some kick-ass options on Pinterest. From all this research, what I can tell you up front is that, if you don't feel like decorating the church yourself, you should definitely have a wedding around a religious holiday. Take LeeAnn's photo pictured above. She and her husband got married around Easter time and the church had all of that beautiful draped fabric already in place for Easter!
But if you aren't so lucky, here are some rad ideas for both indoor and outdoor church decor:
Jenn and Sarah's DIYed paper flowers (and bubbles!) added color. Here is a tutorial on how to make poofs out of YARN too!
Multi-colored streamers used to great effect. Now that's impact!
Paper lanterns add just the right amount of whimsy.
Brianna and Charles crafted these petal toss cones from the envelope liners in their invitations. Perfect for the ends of the pews.
DIYed monogrammed aisle runner. I could totally see this with a little handmade screen-printing, if you had the patience.
Zara wrote a passage from the bible, 1 Corinthians 13, in Afrikaans on a long piece of black material with fabric paint.
If you can't have petals in the church, glue them down on the aisle runner to give the effect. Easy clean-up!
Memorial jar candles are cheap and easy to set up. Plus, they look kick-ass en masse, like at Pinkee and Pony's wedding!
Tiny jar candles leading up chruch stairs look totally ethereal. This could be done with bulk tea lights or even rainbow LED lights.
Marie and Mike have a glittery white, winter ceremony.
Punkins and gourds for an autumn wedding!
Wellies and wildflowers — is there anything more spring-like?
Check out these related decor posts:
- Wiffle balls and coffee filters poof ball tutorial
- DIY yarn pomanders
- Non-naked arches, gazebos, and chuppahs — an archway bling roundup
- Easy-to-pack decor options for destination weddings
- DIY driftwood arch tutorial
- Scalloped wedding banner tutorial
- Felt wedding bunting tutorial
- Make your own rustic burlap sack banners
About the Author: Catherine Clark
Catherine Clark loiters at her local library, makes art, watches movies en masse, plays video and tabletop games, poorly cooks healthy things, cuddles with her feline fur babies, and blogs at BijouxandBits.com.
In that picture with the glued-down petals, I believe I also see… soccer balls as pew decorations? Awesome.
I think they’re just white pomanders with a different colored flower accent. If you click through to the original source picture you can see it larger. But a soccer ball is a neat idea for a soccer loving couple!
The streamers and tea lights have suddenly made me wish I was having an indoor evening wedding instead of a mid-afternoon outdoor wedding. I’m totally contemplating ways to pull off the streamers at our reception house without the owners (FH’s grandparents) killing me for it.
I love how creative people are… I get so amazing by what amazing things brides come up with!
Thank you for this! It is SO HARD to decorate a church! Out of curiosity, have you seen any where there are three rows of pews, making two aisles?
My former church used to have this. I only saw one wedding there, and the decor was pretty basic with flowers and streamers. The couple walked individually down the two aisles and met in the middle.
I second the holiday wedding tip! The prettiest and most elaborate decorations are around Christmas and Easter (in the Christian tradition, of course) and make it easy to have a lovely space already set up for you. It’s a great money-saver and takes a few things off your to-do list.
Those streamers! Too brilliant!
Talking of Easter, be aware that if you marry during Lent a lot of churches will have no decorations at all.
Conversely, though, if you marry near Christmas the church may already be decorated!
My best friend got married new year’s eve, and the church was still swagged in greenery and twinkle lights, plus had three glittery Christmas trees. She didn’t have to do anything!
I once read this idea for a January wedding: Go to a Christmas tree vendor the day after Christmas and buy trees for pennies on the dollar. Keep them all alive until the day of the wedding, then cover them in white lights (also bought at after-Christmas sales) and stage them at the front of the church. I have no idea if this is feasible, but this OBB post made me think of that.
The hub and I had a January church wedding, and we bought decorations at the after-Christmas sales. We had a gross of super-clearance, silver, votive-size candles, plus similarly-discounted pillar candles. These were our only church decor, and it looked fantastic!
Very cool post! I’m not exactly a church person, but these are all gorgeous and really fun while still keeping the, well, “churchness” intact. I LOVE the rainbow streamers contrasted with the white walls and dark wood! So festive yet serene. And the Bible passage on the aisle runner? Fantastic! So many people could use that idea! Poems, songs, the opening words of “Star Wars,” anything you want to greet you as you take your actual steps toward marriage! Definitely sharing this one with some friends.
So many great and beautiful ideas, I especially like the simplicity of the white branches, the very colourful streamers and the visually stunning runners, thanks very much for sharing these great ideas
Best wishes
Jules
We went with glittery butterflies as pew decorations, and our church had its own spring decorations on the pillars: flowers, ribbons, bird’s nests, more butterflies. It was very cheerful, although there were so many butterflies used as decorations that I ended up describing our “theme” as “butterflies threw up on our wedding”.
These are wonderful — and are truly inspiration for any indoor wedding, not just church ones. Many of the venues I have been considering also place limitations on decorations. And, from what I’ve seen of sample pictures, people often default to “church-like” arrangements but then get stuck going beyond that. Thanks for the fun starting point on other ideas!
Awesome decor…Fantastic wedding photos to relive those glorious and special moments
omg, the rainboots flower decor is such an amazing idea.