When it comes to decorating your wedding venue, you don't have to spend an absolute fortune in order to create something truly magical. The best wedding venue decorations are often handmade or upcycled. And if you choose something fun that’s personal to you and your partner, you can’t go wrong.

Blooming flowers

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©EvolvePhotography

Blooms are the go-to decoration for wedding venues. But avoid overly formal floral displays and drop pretty wildflowers into jam jars instead. Or for something even more sustainable, have spring flowers planted into tubs or pots and at the end of the day hand them to guests to take home.

Pretty bunting

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Who doesn’t love bunting? It’s an absolute must-have if you’re thinking of having any kind of festival wedding. And these days, it’s easy to buy bunting online in all kinds of colours and prints and have it personalised with your names, date or initials. If you’re feeling really adventurous you could always make it yourself or get some willing members of the wedding party to lend a hand. Or you can even hire wedding bunting for the day. 

Greenery and herbs

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Greenery and herbs always look attractive on the table, especially against fresh white tablecloths. And it helps brings a bit of nature into your wedding venue if you’ve decided not to have flowers. Leafy eucalyptus and olive branches look pretty. While something like monstera leaves or banana leaves give you a more tropical vibe. For the herbs, you can’t go wrong with rosemary, thyme and mint and they smell divine.

Wood and natural materials

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In recent years, there’s been a shift away from plastic wedding favours and table decorations. Conscientious couples looking for a more sustainable wedding are opting for a more natural look and using materials like wood and paper to decorate their wedding venue.

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A place name that doubles up as a coaster or a pebble engraved with a name are lovely keepsakes of the big day. Wooden signs are always fun too. The Ash Barton wood store has lots of old pallets, bits of wood offcuts and wooden signs from previous weddings you can use for your own big day.

Paper lanterns

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It's easy to see why paper lanterns are fast becoming popular with happy couples who are looking for a quick and easy way to decorate their venue. Bright and colourful and fairly inexpensive, paper lanterns can quickly transform any wedding space, from marquees to barns. Paper lanterns are available to buy in all sizes and colours. Or why not hire paper lanterns for your big day?

Family photographs

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Photos of family and friends are a fantastic way for guests to quickly learn who’s who at the wedding or to see what the happy couple looked like growing up. They’re also a lovely way to involve those much-loved relatives who are unable to attend.

Pin them to the wall, hang them across the venue with pegs, or slip them into frames and create your own family tree.

Photo backdrops

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A photo backdrop creates a space at the venue for you and all your guests to have your photographs taken throughout your wedding day celebrations. A blackboard with your names and the date of your wedding day is always fun. Or have a backdrop that reflects the style, colours and theme of your wedding day. You can make your own or hire a photo backdrop for the day.

Fairy lights

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Twinkly fairy lights have the ability to make any wedding venue look special. Hundreds of white lights festooned across the ceiling of your venue always ramps up the wow factor. If you have your wedding at Ash Barton, you haven’t got to worry about buying or hiring fairy lights as they’re already in place and free to use.

Something completely different

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It’s your wedding day. So decorate your wedding venue however you like. At one Ash Barton wedding, a Hogwarts-loving couple had table decorations made from tea pots with pages from Harry Potter books spilling from the spout.

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Another well-travelled couple chose to hang paper snow globes from the ceiling featuring their holiday and travel destinations.

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While another couple, who are fans of Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet film, decorated the venue with a painted scene from the movie.

Free to use wedding decorations

There’s also the famous goody cupboard at Ash Barton. After each wedding, various bits and pieces are left behind including wedding decorations, tablecloths, props and signs. You can help yourself to anything you find in there and use it for your own wedding day.