How to Create a Custom Wedding Arbor

Creating a custom wedding arbor for your special day is a great way to frame you and your loved one during the ceremony. A beautiful custom wedding arbor is easy to create and can add that special touch of elegance and class to your wedding. Most of the supplies for your custom wedding arbor can be found at Home Depot, Lowe’s, Michaels, and almost any garden center. The supplies you will need are:

�· The base arbor
�· Floral wire
�· Fake or Fresh Flowers
�· Fake or Fresh Greenery
�· White Christmas Lights
�· Ribbon
�· Fabric

To get started on your wedding arbor you will need to start by purchasing the actual frame of the arbor. Michael’s Art and Crafts store carries a variety of different styles of arbors. For the most part they will have metal arbors that stand safely by stabbing them into soft ground. If your wedding is not outdoors, or your will not be on grass during your ceremony you can buy two large flowerpots to stab the arbor into. This leaves even more room to customize that we will talk about later. For a wooden arbor you should visit your local home improvement shop. Most Home Depot type stores will carry a selection different kits that allow you to assemble your own arbor. If you are a gardener you can put this out in your yard after your wedding.

Now that you have your basic arbor you have almost unlimited options to create a custom wedding arbor perfect for your wedding ceremony. Here are a few tips and ideas to create different wedding arbors.

You will need to decide if you want to use real or artificial foliage and flowers for this project. Either will work well, but you should keep a few things in mind. First, if you are working on very little time, you may want to use fake flowers so that you can create your wedding arbor in advance and have it completed. On the other hand, if you are already an avid gardener, you can save money by using pieces from your own garden.

The first step to creating a beautiful wedding arbor is filling in with enough greenery to really give substance to the arbor. If you do not use enough greenery you arbor will look incomplete and sparse. Here are some suggestions of green foliage that covers arbors well:

�· Bay leaves
�· Magnolia leaves
�· Citrus leaves

Almost any evergreen type of leaf will do. Take a walk around your neighborhood or yard, you will be surprised at the options you can find and how much money this will save you. If you need to use fake flowers and greenery any arts and craft store should have a nice selection.

Attach the greenery to your custom wedding arbor using floral wire. Floral wire can be found at arts and crafts stores as well as some super center type stores. For the heavier foliage you should choose a thicker wire. You will see there will be varying thickness when you look through the wires. Flowers can usually be held on with almost any floral wire. Carefully cover the arbor using plenty of greenery. Take time to step back and get an over all view so that you evenly space your greenery. When you place the leaves and other greenery on the arbor you will wrap the floral wire securely around it to keep it in place. Floral wire is inexpensive, so use as much as it takes. You will never notice the floral wire once your have finished.

Now that you have a basic covering of greenery on the wedding arbor, it is time to place the flowers. You can match flowers that you are carrying in your bouquet to continue a theme. For a little variation try using similar colored flowers, but in a different variety. To save money you can use less expensive fresh flowers to fill in bigger areas and randomly place more expensive flowers for impact. If you are using fresh flowers you should use the small plastic tubes florists place on the end of roses. These can also be found almost anywhere that sells the floral wire. This water source will ensure the life of your fresh flowers throughout the wedding ceremony. For the most part many of the flowers can be placed directly into the foliage and they should stay in place. For heavier flowers like Magnolia blossoms you might want to secure them with more floral wire. Using a combination of fresh and fake flowers is a great way to save a little money but still give the appearance of being all real flowers.

Here are some great inexpensive flowers to use as fillers whether they are fresh or fake:

Ã?· Baby’s breath
�· Daisies
�· Carnations

Some other additions to your custom wedding arbor are lights, fabric, and ribbon. If you are getting married in the evening you may want to string white lights on the base of the arbor before you start attaching the greenery. Beautiful silk fabric can also substitute in the place of greenery to create a memorable arbor. You can either weave the fabric through the different elements of the arbor or attach it to a wooden arbor using decorative pushpins or upholstery tacks. Ribbons can be used throughout the arbor to give the appearance that the ribbon holds on the greenery and flowers.

Finally, if you need to place the ends of your metal arbor in two large pots to make it stand securely you should definitely take this as an opportunity for more greenery. Large ferns look beautiful here and provide substance as well as beauty. You should definitely place something that really grounds the wedding arbor in the pots. Flowering shrubs might also be an option. Best of all once the wedding is over you can place these potted plants in your new home with your new spouse!