Park Pavilion Decor

shauntae930 · April 2013

I will be getting married at a local park. I have to rent two pavilions in order to have enough parking for my rather large guest list. (Just under 300) What I'm trying to figure out is has anybody decorated a pavilion. Its got ten tables in each pavilion that cannot be removed from the pavilion but they are old, worn wood. I'm going for a rustic/vintage feel but think that that wood is a little too worn. Please help with some ideas for decorating these pavilions that isn't going to totally kill my budget!

[Deleted User] · April 2013

I'm going with mostly white decorations because I'm scared my park wedding will turn "birthday party" looking with the way I tend to add things last minute.
You could use different vintage sheets for tablecloths and maybe seat covers if needed. Or old lace or crochet table cloths. I'm doing banners and/or garlands with tissue paper flowers every few feet on 2 of the pavilion sides so it somewhat blocks access to people walking through that way and gives a tiny bit more privacy. We were going to hang things on the inside from the rafters but I'm hoping keeping it simple will be soothing and elegant rather than the less we put up, the less we need to make and take down.
I have 5 million ideas and very little $, so if I'm headed in the right direction for you, let me know, I'll keep em coming.

shauntae930 · April 2013

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_outdoor-weddings_park-pavilion-decor?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:666Discussion:9fd97627-386f-4b6d-9d52-6cfb528aa759Post:116a8821-0bb7-48f0-a96f-873416c8adb1">Re: Park Pavilion Decor</a>:
[QUOTE]I'm going with mostly white decorations because I'm scared my park wedding will turn "birthday party" looking with the way I tend to add things last minute. You could use different vintage sheets for tablecloths and maybe seat covers if needed. Or old lace or crochet table cloths. I'm doing banners and/or garlands with tissue paper flowers every few feet on 2 of the pavilion sides so it somewhat blocks access to people walking through that way and gives a tiny bit more privacy. We were going to hang things on the inside from the rafters but I'm hoping keeping it simple will be soothing and elegant rather than the less we put up, the less we need to make and take down. I have 5 million ideas and very little $, so if I'm headed in the right direction for you, let me know, I'll keep em coming.
Posted by mauraacro[/QUOTE]

Love your ideas so far! Definitely keep them coming thank you!

bunni727 · April 2013

Hi! I got married in a public park, so I hope I can help.

Collecting mismatched sheets in your color scheme sounds like it would be really pretty. The best way I can recommend to avoid the birthday party look is to avoid plastic tablecloths like the plague. Real fabric, no matter how cheap, will look better. We just did table runners, as we were okay with the wood and were on a pretty tight budget. I used 15 yards of the cheapest walmart gingham, and was able to make 16 runners for $10. For the buffet tablecloth, I just got one of the sale fabrics I didn't hate cut to the right length for about $8, so less than $20 for 14 tables, a sweetheart table, and a buffet. That's even less than the cheapest plastic tablecloths, and it looked much more sophisticated.

I don't know if it is an option for you, but it can't hurt to ask: H called the city tourism department that runs the park where we got married, and asked them about their maintenance routine. They usually make sure the park looks it's best by memorial day, so he asked if they would mind moving the schedule up a bit (we got married May 12). They made sure the park was mowed and leaves were raked, and they even made sure the picnic tables had fresh paint on them. That was a huge relief, because the fresh paint not only looked better, but kept guests from getting snagged on a splinter.

If the benches can't be freshly painted, I'd put a chunk of the budget towards covering the seats with something.

For centerpieces, we did groupings of flowers (fake, arranged by yours truly), candles, books, and doilies. I spent less than $200 on all of the reception decor, including a couple serving items and the punch dispenser. Here's some pics:

[Deleted User] · April 2013

Bunni, your work paid off, it looks amazing!
Since I was headed in the direction you were looking for, here is what I've found, have done or want to do.
I got a 100 ft white fabric aisle runner on craigslist (I think they're around $25 at Michaels) My picnic tables are 7x3 so this would have covered 14 tables with no drape but it looked great on the guest tables. I ended up getting a free roll of white fabric from someone so I'm now using that instead. I made 200 cloth napkins out of 3 different cotton prints (Walmart .75/yard clearance) and will roll silver plastic forks and knives (WebRestaurant $3 for 50) in them tied with jute. Centerpieces are glass jars (from our recycling) painted white on the inside so they stay shiny and don't get scratched. We are using paper flowers glued to sticks so I used leftover white house paint because it didn't need to be waterproof. Votives in baby food jars (from a nearby day care) painted white at the top. Paper lanterns will go in 1 of the vases on each table ($ store ghost lanterns that I covered with paper flowers)
2 sides of the pavilion will have white ribbon garlands with tissue paper flowers hanging down. I really want the fabric banners but then I'll want banners for food, drinks, cake, gift table etc, so I'm trying to stop.
We bought a new mailbox that I repainted and put our last name on for cards. Dorky me also repainted U.S. Mail to say Us Mail..
Here's a trial of our table. The flowers will be more full and the green vase was just to see how tall the lantern needed to be, it will go into one of the flower vases though. It's not a great picture but it at least explains recycled jars, sticks, paper...My table is bigger than the picnic tables so hopefully once I add more flowers, figure out the lantern etc, it will look more complete.

shauntae930 · April 2013

Thank you both those ideas have been really helpful.

QueerFemme · April 2013

We bought ivory fabric tablecloths for the picnic tables. It made a dramatic difference in how they looked. As far as decor went, I tried to go very minimal and and scaled back for colors. We did a fabric square under the centerpiece in our colors. I was really trying to avoid hanging too much up as far as streamers, or garland or anything that, to try to avoid the birthday party effect.

The first picture is the picnic area. But, we had our ceremony there as well, so that is set up behind the picnic space.

the second is a close up of our centerpieces.

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