Weddings Reception Decorations - any ideas for make your own decorations for an outside wedding?

any ideas for make your own decorations for an outside wedding?

our wedding is going to be in august and we are doing an outside tropical wedding....quit layed back. we are trying to NOT break the bank and decided to make most of our decorations for the wedding and reception (which are both going to be at our home). if anyone has any creative ideas that would be great. also, for the record this is not going to be a "traditional" wedding so any idea would be great

Public Comments

Have you considred Lumiairies? If you do it right they look quite pretty and not so childish. Pretty and cheap!
You can never go wrong with bows. They are very colorful, inexpensive, and take up lots of space.
you can get lays for all your guests. hit up your local partie store u can get alot of great decortations from there... you can even call your local floriest and see if they willl allow you to rent some tropical plants and things.
This website has some really cute ideas for a tropical themed wedding. To save money, instead of using fresh flowers you could use fake. http://www.alohafriends.com/Hawaii_weddingatmosphere.html Good Luck and Happy Planning!
do a luau type of thing with leis (can get pks at the $ stores) paper latterns, twinkle lights strung around. i dont know just throwing some things out there. give us more info and we might be able to come up with more ideas
i would do lots and lots of colored and white christmas lights if you can erect a pole in the center of the yard to string them out from... i would get lots of paper lanterns and tiki torchs. i wouldn't have crepe steamers, too 5yo bday not enough wedding hawaiian leis as decorations... and favors shop on ebay and oriental trading for the best savings! don't forget to post a wanted ad on your local freecycle and craigslist.
I changed my wedding plans, but before I was going to use a lot of hanging paper lanterns in my wedding colors (really bright) and in different shapes like squares, rounds, and stars. Also, I was going to have some that are prestrung with lighting for the evening. http://weddings.theknot.com/ODB/themes/realweddings/detailview.aspx?id=28160&type=3&wedding_details=Reception%2cReception+Decor http://weddings.theknot.com/odb/themes/realweddings/DetailView.aspx?id=21008
You could do glass containers of sand with candles. I would recommend citronella candles to keep the bugs away. And you can buy the big bags of play sand at the hardware store that will be much less than the little bags at the craft store.
You can get huge, aqua or orange sun umbrellas at Outdoor Depot on sale for $9. each and scatter around the yard in buckets of sand with big shells at the base. Also, on a few heavy-based tables, have big bowls with colorful (cheap) fish swimming. (Keep them in the semishade!) Music could be reggae and jamaican steel drum or hawaiin and do barbecue with tropical drinks. Send your invites rolled up in a bottle with a bit of sand and invite people to wear flipflops and resort wear! For favors give out small bottles of sunscreen and brightly colored sunglasses.
Tropical stuff should be easy to find, also try Oriental Trading. They have lots of tropical things, some are tacky, but you might see something that's perfect, too. Speaking of tacky, I shot a wedding a couple of years ago where the wedding favors were those multi-colored plastic leis that you can get at Party City. On them was attached a tag that read, "I got "lei-ed" at Jane and John's wedding." . I will add, the guests were exactly the kind of crowd that thought it was high humor So it was fine after all.