Wedding Decoration Tips: Creating Ambience

So you're getting married. Congratulations!

You want to create a memorable and beautiful wedding experience for you, your fiance and your guests...something they'll remember for all time and look back on fondly.

You've done all the work necessary to look gorgeous in your dress, from sitting on an exercise ball chair at work every day to eating a healthy diet full of fresh veggies and plenty of fresh water. Your skin is glowing, your hair and nails are ready to go, and now all you need is a little ambience (and maybe a tiny heart tattoo to commemorate the occasion).

Some wedding decoration tips to help make your special occasion extra special include:

Sweet touches: From a harpist gently playing as your guests arrive to providing the little ones with bubbles to blow, you can create sweet little moments to make the day and evening feel magical. Spray sparkles on the greenery, rig gauzy materials to softly blow in the breeze, add fishbowls in beautiful Japanese urns...it's just a matter of getting creative. Think back to what gave you that feeling of magic when you were a kid, and try to recreate a little of that feeling for your guests, without, of course, getting said guests dirty or inconveniencing them. Have tutu skirts or tiaras for the little girls, for instance, and place thoughtful things like extra wipes, hand lotion, scented creams, brush and hairspray, etc. in the ladies' room. Everyone loves little sample-sized things, so include tiny mouthwashes and even little sparkly glosses as bathroom niceties. A little basket of goodies will go a long way toward making your lady guests gush! Another nice touch is to have a spot for kids to fall asleep safely later in the evening, so your adult guests can have some time to themselves. A little corner with sleeping pads and blankets should do the trick, and we all know that sometimes, all it takes to feel magic is to be able to dance and enjoy a little while the kids are safely sleeping!

Lighting: beautiful things can be done with the right lighting. the difference between soft, subtle, hidden or twinkling lighting and a glaring ceiling flourescent light at a wedding is enormous. Since most banquet halls and other such places have the latter, you might have to get a little creative. Of course, if they have a chandelier or two on a dimmer, by all means start with that. Then, your creative touch comes into play: scatter a few tiny sidetables around the edges of the room with lamps on them to add some warm, unfocused light; add hurricane lamps or hurricane lamp candle holders to your centerpieces or on side tables (candle light is a stunningand simple way to create ambience...if you're worried about safety you can always use flameless candles); string tiny fairy lights around plants, through greenery, from gauze draped from corner to corner on the ceiling; string little lanterns above the crowd or have Moroccan or Mexican lanterns in groupings...the light which plays out of these cut-metal lanterns is absolutely stunning. This is especially effective if you have an exotic wedding theme. For an adults-only wedding reception (for safety reasons), place an elegant firepit table with a few chairs at the entrance or out on a patio (see photo), so people can lounge outside and still enjoy the magical feeling.

No matter how you do it, your wedding is sure to be beautiful, if for the only reason that it is a celebration of love and joy. Enjoy your special day, and Happy Wedding Planning!