What are some inexpensive ways to decorate guest tables at a wedding?

Daughter is getting married the end of next month. Because of the short notice, we are trying to keep the expensives at a minimum. Do we even need to decorate the guest tables? Any suggestions for the head table? Any suggestions or tips are very welcome.

i was at a wedding where they had white table cloths and pink pot-pouri scattered all over the tables. it was inexpensive but looked gorgeous! and smelled great too...even if it was outside.

baby's breath in a vase, you can spay paint it to match her colors. you get a lot of bang for your buck with this flower. you could even add a butterfly pick or something to each one and put a few candles around the base.

candles are good for the head table, go to the dollar store and buy a bounch of pillar candles, cluster these along the front of the head table, maybe add some rose petals or greens and babies breath. this could also work for the other tables.

My fiance and I have decided to keep the expenses for our wedding to a minimum in order to invest in a house and our future kids (fingers crossed!), so I've managed to find lots of little ways to cut costs.

For the centerpieces for our reception I'm going to the dollar store or to Michael's and getting three-tiered candle holders and wrapping ivy garland around them. It's quick, painless and looks great. Best of all, considerably cheaper than renting centerpieces!

You can use real flowers. Go to the grocery store or Sam's Club/Costco and you can get some beautiful bouquets for very cheap. Sprinkle the petals on the tables. You can also go to Wal-mart and get their glass bowls in their arts and craft section for like a buck. fill with water and add food coloring in the wedding colors then add a tea-light candle floating on top. This will give a very elegant look for very cheap. We did a football themed wedding and I found foam footballs on eBay for really cheap. Then we drilled a hole in them and had balloons coming up through them. Good luck.

Lolly trees, hot glue lollies on a foam ball and hold up with a stick or something like that and then hold in a pot of some sort i don't know if that makes sense but i went to a wedding with one of them on each guest table,
bridal table sometimes just a lot of little tea light candles across the front is nice and a vase with flowers maybe,
balloons are always affective too for guest tables

It really all depends how fancy you want the tables. if you want to minimize the expense, keep it simple. I planned my own wedding in 3 weeks. I didn't fuss over little stuff. a nice table cover, and maybe some after dinner mints tied with a ribbon in circles or squares of Tulle looks really nice. or you can use a couple pretty dishes on each end of the tables. you can easily match the color scheme like that. balloons are a great option for the head table, attached to the corners, I think most dollar stores will fill them.

Depending on how many tables there will be it would be nice to have something made for them by you and or 'your little helpers'. Get a group of friends and family together that have been giving you 'if you need anything just let me know' response and put them to work. Come up with an easy design like origami or some sort of flower arrangement.

Origami is easy to do and can be very cool with some nice papers that match your table settings. Check out this link:
http://dev.origami.com/diagram.cfm

You can do a few different designs. Maybe a bird, a boat and a man and a woman resembling you and your finance. Plus it will make for a memorable fun night for everyone.

Good luck and congratulations.

we went to a thrift shop (Goodwill) and purchased a clear vase for each table ($1.00 each) we then put some colored stones and each one had a small inexpensive fish in the vase; they were a big hit! the guest who wanted them took them home, so no clean up!

Round glass mirrors with a mini glass bowl on it filled with those glass beads/marbles and a candle sticking out of them. Mirrors = $2-3 (depending on size) and you can find the vase/bowls for as low as a dollar! Candles...go to walmart or make them yourself...and the glass gems come in bulk! Use your colors as far as the gems and candle!

Go to an arts and crafts store. I suggest Michaels but I dont know if that's in your area. That have wonderful inexpensive items to decorate guest tables. From linens to candles and flowers and everything in between.

well, you should be resourceful and go dig your closet and find some old cloth that can be useful for the tables..
go sew it, decorate it, and feel like your a professional..
its simple yet useful..

Get some terra cotta flower pots. Turn it over so it looks like a bird bath. Paint, decorate, beads, lace, doves, flowers. You can fill the top with your candies and such.

You can always do mirrors with candles on them and sprinkle flower petals around - this is a great look, easy to do and very cost efficient!!

you can put simple but nice decoration on the table & it docent need to be expensive
you could just put on nice big flower in the center of the table or 2 at the sides/....

At my wedding we had empty glass vases with black stones in the bottom that we put our bouquets in when we sat down. That is one way to cut decoration costs at the head table.

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Use photos of bride and groom at various stages of their lives. Place small, framed photos amid greenery.

large bowls filled with candies to matcht he wedding colors

silk flower arragements

glass bowls with floaring candles

Used silk flowers...

Candles...

Confetti - the TASTEFUL kind.

Confetti!