Wedding Lanterns
Whether your wedding is indoors or outside, glamorous or rustic, the type of lighting you choose plays an important role in establishing an ambience of charm, beauty and romance. Lanterns are a fabulous way of achieving a fairytale look and feel without having to fork out a lot of money for expensive lighting effects.
Hang your lanterns around the venue, in the trees and around the dance floor to complete your fairytale wedding theme.
So, let's quickly consider what lanterns are available or a possibility for your wedding day.
Tin Lanterns
You can make your own, very effective lanterns by collecting tin cans during the months before your big day. Soak these in hot soapy water to get the labels off and then wipe them down with acetone (nail polish remover) to ensure that all the glue is off the outside surface.
Using a screwdriver or similar implement, punch holes in the sides of the cans. These can be randomly distributed or you can punch them to form the outline of an image (e.g. of a heart or your initials). Do not punch the holes too closely to the base of the tin if you are going to be using sand to secure your candles as the sand will simply run out of the holes. Punch two holes on either side of the top of the can. Use gut or wire to make a ‘handle’, using these holes as your anchors. Tie the gut or hook the wire through the holes and allow sufficient length so that the lanterns can be hung on branches, for example, by the wire or gut.
Place one candle in each tin. Use a tea-light candle if you do not need the light for too long (e.g. if it is only for the duration of the ceremony), or cut standard candles into shorter lengths for longer-lasting flames. Secure the candle inside the tin with the use of sea sand or glue.
If you want to add some colour to the lanterns, there are paints that adhere to tin in most arts and crafts stores. Alternatively, visit a hardware shop and request a rusting agent, which will give each lantern an aged look.
Metal Lanterns
There are a variety of styled lanterns these days such as Cathedral style lanterns, Victorian styled lanterns, Vintage lanterns... the list goes on! Each of the styled lanterns work beautifully well as part of a table centre piece, hanging from a tree or even laid alongside the chairs of the wedding aisle.
Paper Lanterns
Then, there's the faithful paper lantern which allows for a variety of styles and colour combos. Popular styles available include Chevron styled colour lanterns, Polka Dot / Dotted lanterns in various colours, lace lanterns and then the standard plain coloured lanterns in your colour choice.
These paper lanterns work well with Pom Poms and when strung together make for lovely ceiling / roof decor.
One thing to consider and check with your supplier about when choosing paper lanterns for your wedding is to whether they are battery operated or not.
Original images and their credits available on Pinterest
