How to have an alter that is both beautiful and inexpensive

I loved how my arbor and the alter area looked.  It was simple and elegant, better yet, it was created with love.  The most expensive thing is the backdrop that we created.  I did a review for a company on my mom blog not to long ago that had given me a great idea. Why not create a Saying Board?  I went online and found a large saying that expressed Love in a beautiful way.


Next, I sent it up to family.  I had them buy a piece of board from the local hardware store.  I suggest getting a thick board so you can prop it up in your home when you are done.  It makes a beautiful wall length hanging in your house after the wedding, either in a family room, dining room talking piece  or bedroom hanging for added romance.  Given my colors and birdy theme we didn't add any framing to the wood.  If you want to do this you can just measure the length of the board your buying and using a nail gun, tack on some wall trim, a little wood Spackle over the nail holes dried then sanded down to blend in and your ready to paint or stain your wall hanging.  For mine, we just used a natural stain and once dried we were ready to apply the saying decal.

Making sure the entire board was completely dried we applied the Vinyl saying as we would to a wall.  Making sure it was smooth of air-bubbles  it was ready for the wedding.  At the wedding it was propped up using a ladder behind the alter, but you can also rest it against a wall or tree if you are outside.
The arbor was a great savings, for starters my aunt and uncle made it from tree branches off the tree's in their back yard.  Nailed and roped together they formed a great arbor for us to stand under.  The bottoms where placed in buckets that you can either fill with sand or cement.  Cement is more sturdy and has less likelihood of making a mess if it falls over.  Next, I hit up ebay for the tulle and other decorations to put on the arbor.  Some burlap wrapped around the buckets camouflages them nicely and gives an organic elegant look to the arbor. My aunts and cousins styled it while I got ready on the wedding day and it turned out beautiful.

I love the ease of this setting for a wedding.  It isn't just cost effective, it's also beautiful.  If you are like me and can't take your saying board with you, it makes the perfect thank you gift to someone who helped out at your wedding.  We gave ours to our photographer!  It made for some amazingly cute shots!