Designing Your Wedding

2. Let there be light— candlelight, that is. “For candles, less is not more. The more candles you have, the better. It really makes the ambience so awesome.”

3. Choose chairs with character. “I think changing out your chairs adds so much. Instead of plain white folding chairs, I used mismatched, vintage farm chairs. They were all painted white, so they looked cohesive. A lot of rental companies have cool vintage pieces.”

4. Make your own napkins. “I started months be- fore my wedding sourcing vintage indigo mudcloth fabric. My mom and my aunts sewed the napkins used at the wedding from that fabric. It was really pretty and special. And at the end of the night, I had a set of napkins that now I use all the time.”

5. Go green to save green. “Use more greens than blooms. Greens are more affordable than flowers, and they have that wow factor. It’s simple
and organic. A garland of greens down the center of the table is pretty.”

6. Be canny. “For one
of my girlfriends, months before her wedding, we started collecting metal cans from soup and beans. We removed the labels and, instead of filling the cans with flowers, planted them with succulents. I know it sounds crazy, but it actually looked really pretty. And at the end of the night, guests got to take them home.”

7. Use your collections. “I collect bottles at flea markets and antique stores. You can put 20 down the center of a long table and fill each with only one or two flowers. It makes a lot of impact. Do all clear bottles, or amber glass, or blue-tinted glass.”

8. Create a one-of-a- kind guest book. “My husband and I met in Paris. So
 I found a beautiful coffee table book about Paris and had guests write a note to us on their favorite page. Now, the book sits out on our coffee table at home.”

9. Just have fun. “Even 
if you don’t have a big budget, as long as you add little personal touches, that’s what will make your wedding a step above.”