Indoor Shepherd Hooks

PhillyGal34

I would like to line my aisle with lanterns with candles or lights... I am thinking of buying shepherd hooks and putting them in large vases with stones.... do you think this would work? Clearly they cannot fall over or there might be a fire! Does anyone know if they make indoor shepherd hooks? or do you have another suggestion? I also cannot afford for them to be super expensive so I was thinking I would get cheaper hooks, paint them and go from there! thanks for any suggestions!

trix1223

You'll want to check with your church/venue to see if they'll even allow such a thing.  The church I work in won't.

FWIW:  Don't worry so much about the aisle of your venue.  Define the front where the ceremony will be, because that's where everyone's focus will be.  Once you spend the 20 seconds walking down the aisle, the attention is completely gone from that.

So, IMO, I'd take the money you'll spend on shepherd's hooks, candles, stone, and everything else you need, and upgrade your floral bouquets in the front of the church.  That's where your photos will be, and that's what guests will be looking at.

And it will be one less logistical thing to think about.  If you do have them you have to figure out when to set them up.  Who lights them?  When exactly do they get lit...before guests arrive?  After the mothers are seated or before?  And how do they get extinguished?  And how do they get cleaned up after the ceremony?  Someone is going to have to take care of them and return them to you.  It's a lot of logistical issues.

Just food for thought.  GL

PhillyGal34

I am not getting married in a church, we have an entire group of people setting up the ceremony ballroom so that is not as much an issue and i was actually thinking of doing LED tea lights because of the issues you raised (extinguishing, etc) .... i am not really a flower person and didn't want a lot of flowers at the ceremony so i was thinking of doing candles instead. i will have some flowers, but not a lot... i thought it would help set the mood though. 

crakd

check out pew candles.   most rental companies carry them.  they are hurricane lamps on tall posts that clip onto the pew- no falling over! 

oops-  just read the part about not being in a church.    i would look for floor standing candle holders- saw some at tj max for about $6 over the weekend.  or, again, rental places will have them.

PhillyGal34

since we aren't getting married in a church we don't have pews! great idea though!

crakd

haha i wasn't quick enough editing.    good luck!

jennya.esq

I'm doing the same thing!  Lining our outdoor ceremony aisle with chinese lanterns hanging from shepards hooks.  Indoor, you should be able to get away with buckets or potters of some sort with enough stones in the bottom to hold the hooks in place.  Good Luck!

PhillyGal34

have you found them anywhere cheap???

Noodles8579

you could take terra cotta pots filled with pebbles and then wrapped up in fabric to match your ceremony decor.  might be more stable than a vase. 

for indoor hooks, try save on crafts website.  http://www.save-on-crafts.com/wrhablgoclea.html there are hooks with bases.  they don't seem to be as tall as a traditional shepherd's hook but may work for you. 

PhillyGal34

good point, if i use heavier bases (terra cotta) i will need less to fill it with as well... since the base will be sturdier!

Rita092010

You could always get pots and fill them with that bagged cement with a hook in it (or some sort of long cilindrical hole (insert a PVC pipe or something?) then put rocks over it.  Place the hook inside of the pvc pipe and it shouldn't fall over. It will be heavy enough that you won't have to worry about lanterns falling and it wouldn't cost much for rocks since you just need to cover the upper layer so you can't see the cement.  Just a thought.