Themes, Dreams and Decorations. With Christmas to work around, our theme was obvious, but we still had plenty of opportunities for creativity. The church had a tree with tiny white lights and gold and white decorations and battery-operated candles and greens on every window sill. We added greens and white lights above doorways. In the hall, we had two trees, one blocking a soda machine, the other in front of a trophy case. Smaller table-top trees graced the gift table and a round table with food. I wrote the names of the bride and groom in glitter on gold and silver balls and encouraged family and members of the party to take one home in remembrance. I also framed small pictures of the bride and groom together and hung them on the tree. Other decorations were carefully boxed and taken home by the newlyweds for their first tree.

My daughter loves angels, so we used them liberally in decorating trees and tables. Bulletin boards were covered with white paper table cloths and bows to resemble Christmas packages. Even the soda machine was wrapped with gold foil and a red bow. One of the bride’s maids added a card addressed to the bride and groom and many guests asked if they had received a refrigerator.

With a year to plan, I was able to take advantage of after-season sales to purchase many of the decorations at half-price. I bought candles and candle rings, ornaments, garlands, and silk roses for a fraction of their regular costs. My daughter and her friends gathered throughout the year to make the men’s boutonnieres and women’s corsages, and decorate the candle rings using white silk roses.

The church provided tables and chairs and a “going out of business” sale at a fabric store enabled me to purchase cloth for table cloths. Each table was covered with a different Christmas print. Originally, that sounded like it might clash, or be too busy, however, the tables were spaced to allow movement between them and dancing, so the effect was colorful and charming.