Ever organised a function with a spectacular venue and got quoted $45 per person for a decorating company to bring flowers to your special day?
We recently had an engagement party held at the Rosebay Club (Deck Bar) in Sydney. Amazing venue, beautiful location and not as pricy as you’d think. I strongly recommend it, as you get the entire venue for your event with a private bar and a deck overlooking the water.
Although the venue is beautiful on its own, there are also personal decorating touches you always need to add to make the event look and feel like it should.
Having already chosen a buffet dinner, DJ and a drinks package, the budget was stretching a bit more than expected.
Decorating companies that deal with weddings and functionsare used to pricing their packages per person as oppose to giving you a fixed number, so costs can quickly escalate.
I had another idea – decorating on a budget. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out – decorating the venue on your own when you don’t know what it will look like can be quite stressful, especially because there is no practice run! It’s decorate a few hours before the actual event and you get one chance. Still, I believe in giving things a go and believing in yourself is important.
This was my inspiration board:
There is much inspiration if you search for it, and with the power of Google Images and a bit of creative flair, its easy to customise any design to suit the look and atmosphere that you wish to create for your function.
It’s easy to create anything with flowers and candles.
1. Get some glass jars. Tall/long/short/square/round, doesn’t matter. I went with
2. Buy some candles. Floating candles work best when you fill the jars with water. It creates a magical glow without any arrangement effort
3. Go to the local flower markets early in the morning and get bunches and bunches of flowers you like. I chose roses for their classic style and vibrant colour
4. Purchase some decorating ribbon
5. Buy any additional decorative bits and pieces you think will add to your creations. I got some different types of rocks to put at the bottom of the glass jars and some little glass beads to reflect the water and the candles.
Now its time to get imaginative and creative.
I brought everything to the venue on the day, and with the help of our bridal party and my fiance we created as much floral ambience as we could.
We poured water into the jars, filled them with rocks and pebbles, placed rose petals into the water and finished off with some floating candles.
The jars were spaced around long rectangular tables and later on more rose petals were sprinkled around.
This is the final look that was achieved:
The venue was amazing when we walked in after a few hours of decorating, with all the candles lit and rose petals scattered around the white table cloths. The room was glowing with ambience and it was by far better than what I expected it would look like with lights dimmed!
It was flattering to receive compliments from our guests on the decorations and the atmosphere. Thank you to all my helpers!
Just goes to show that with a bit of creativity, you can achieve professional standard themed events at a much more wallet-friendly rate!
If you have any questions on the decorations or are trying to achieve a look of your own, I am happy to help with ideas and suggestions.
Here are just a few more shots from the engagement party:
Our Cake:
By Celebration Cakes
Our Wishing Well: ( Also hand decorated with artificial flowers and butterfly magnets)
