Today, let’s talk wedding decoration, shall we? Broad topic, especially since there are as many different secular ceremonies as there are styles of decoration. I will give you a few basic ideas which you can endlessly tweak to your liking, keeping in mind that 3 main elements are usually found in every secular ceremony: the aisle, the chairs and the arch/altar.
The aisle
It is a basic element of any secular ceremony. The bride will walk down the aisle, maybe so will the groom, the best man/maid of honor and the wedding party moments before. The aisle usually divides rows of chairs but it doesn’t have to. For example, for my secular wedding ceremony, I came on a fisherman’s boat, so facing the guests who were seated in front of the lake. Therefore, my aisle was the deck from which I disembarked!
An aisle can be decorated in different ways: a carpet, candles or lanterns on each side for a winter or indoor ceremony, flower petals or even tree leaves for a lovely fall ceremony.
The chairs
The chairs can be decorated with covers or pieces of tulle. It is also possible to have the chairs bordering the aisle adorned with flowers or lanterns.
Different types of chairs exist, from the most basic to the more sophisticated “Napoleon” style. You can also, depending on the style of the ceremony, use very unique seats.
The arch or the altar
If you want to add a beautiful arch to your ceremony, you can decorate it with flowers, net fabric or even both. The arch can be made of wood, plastic, metal or even naturally stems from the branches of a tree.
If you don’t want an arch but want to decorate in a simpler taste the place where the officiant and the newlyweds will be, it is absolutely possible to simply put a small table as an altar. You can adorn it with a tablecloth, flowers or decorative elements matching the style of the ceremony or the rituals.
Other decorative elements
You can think of many other decorative elements for a lovely secular ceremony: wooden ladders used as shelves to put flowers or decorative items, ribbons, fairy lights or paper lanterns placed through the trees, wine barrels to mark the start of the aisle for a ceremony with a nature theme, the initials of the newlyweds in big letters, etc.
If you want to see more ideas, visit my Pinterest account. I pin inspiring images of secular ceremonies.
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