black and white wedding dress

When you think about how many chairs are used in the average wedding reception, it becomes clear that this is key area of the overall wedding decor. So many brides make the mistake of overlooking the chairs at their reception, instead of finding ways to make the seating a beautiful addition to the wedding. Take advantage of the design opportunity presented by the seating at your wedding with one of these cute ideas for reception chair decorations.

If you do nothing else, take the time to decorate the bride and groom's chairs for the reception table. One pretty idea is to hang a custom initial on the back of each chair. The letters are usually created from natural materials such as moss or flowers (carnations work especially well). Use a pretty satin ribbon to suspend the initial on each seat. If you wish to take it one step further, add more embellishment to the custom initials. A bride who will be wearing crystal wedding jewelry can hang her initial on a strand of sparkling crystals instead of a ribbon, for example.

There are many exquisite ways to decorate the rest of the chairs for a wedding reception. Slipcovers are one popular idea. Full slipcovers are ideal for dressing up less-than-attractive rental chairs. They add a feminine look to the reception, and are a great place to bring more color into the room. The entire slipcover can be in your signature wedding color, or you can opt for white slipcovers with colored sashes. If your venue has pretty seating, such as chiavari chairs, consider a sheer tailored organza slipcover which will allow the chair underneath to show through a bit.

It is not always necessary to cover wedding chairs with slipcovers to make them prettier. If the chair itself is already attractive, you might just want to add a little decoration to it. For a formal evening wedding, gold tassels would be an elegant addition to the backs of the reception chairs. Make the bride's chair extra special by designing a custom tassel made entirely of crystals - all the better to complement her crystal wedding jewelry, of course. The tassel motif would be wonderful to use selectively in other parts of the wedding design, such as on the napkins or as a design motif printed on the place cards.

For a garden wedding, it would be fantastic to decorate the reception chairs with fresh flowers. Swags of greens and flowers are a beautiful way to dress up the backs of white chairs. If it is too costly to do for the entire wedding, at least think about draping swags on the chairs at the head table. Floral pomanders are another cute decoration to hang on the backs of the wedding chairs. Create the pomanders in a cheerful color like bright pink or yellow so they really stand out against the white chairs. Add a colorful ribbon in a polka dot or gingham pattern for a whimsical touch.

Looking for more cute ways to decorate your reception chairs? Use your wedding theme as inspiration. Tie sand dollars to the chair backs for a beach wedding or use jeweled snowflake ornaments for a winter wedding. Because there are so many chairs at a wedding reception, paying a little attention to decorating them will pay big dividends in the overall wedding design.