Backyard Bridal Bash -- Quick Ideas for Homegrown Weddings

With Wedding Season Coming into Full Bloom, Here Are a Few Tips to Accessorize and Personalize Your Special Day

MOORESVILLE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- It's charming, it's approachable, it's whimsical and completely handmade. If you are willing to dive in and get your hands a little dirty with some simple DIY projects, you can get a glamorous, high-style look with minimal effort. Affordable ideas abound with a quick trip to your local Lowe's, a little help and some innovative products that will transform any outdoor venue you choose.

Location

Spring is the perfect time for an outdoor wedding; however "peak season" also involves "peak prices" from many venues. One way to keep down costs is to use a location you already have, such as your house.

    --  Plan landscaping early enough for perennials and annuals to establish
        and fill out. Choose plants and flowers according to the season your
        wedding takes place - spring, summer, fall - for the best presentation
        on your wedding day. Container gardening is also a great way to add
        "mobile" landscaping.
    --  Make sure your lawn can stand up to the traffic of wedding guests -
        proper fertilization, grass height- to make sure your lawn doesn't turn
        into a trampled ruin.
    --  Line the aisle with Shepard's hooks and hang mason jars filled with
        flowers.
    --  If you're worried about the weather, for about half the price of a
        rental, purchase a gazebo or build your own pergola for the ceremony.
        For a more formal event, dress the sides with a voile sheer window panel
        in eggshell (Item #: 11395). Pergola Project
    --  Look for opportunities to add lighting for ambiance and safety. Hang
        lights or lanterns in trees or consider candles or lanterns down a
        walkway.

Decor

A few shabby chic ideas for sprucing up an outdoor wedding without breaking the bank:

    --  Use watering cans as bouquet holders for your bridal party for a country
        garden feel.
    --  Line a round galvanized tub (Item #90007) with a plastic trash bag to
        protect the inside from paint. Use painters tape to design the tub and
        spray-paint the outside of the tub, and allow to dry. Peel off the
        painters tape, remove the liner, and fill with beverages and ice. Use
        the tins as centerpieces, filling some with sand and votives, some with
        filler flowers such as hydrangeas.
    --  Take a 24-inch window box and paint it metallic silver. Fill with an
        arrangement of pink roses, hydrangea or Gerber daisies. Easy Elegance
    --  For less than $10 use a pack of 12-inch-square mirror tiles in place of
        chargers as place mats to add a reflective allure to the table. (Six
        mirror tiles, Item #197427)

Favors

Leave your guests with something to remember your special day with personalized wedding favors such as spring planters, which are decorative, symbolic and functional.

Start with a terra cotta planter and select a design for the labels. Once you have your design stenciled on with pencil, paint over and let dry. Select Chalkboard paint, such as Valspar (Item #203261), makes a remarkable canvas that allows you to label pots with the names of your guests and they can double as table cards. For design template downloads and a step-by-step video visit Chalkboard Pots.

Get free advice and learn more from the experts at Lowe's stores in the United States and Canada, plus how-to videos and more at Lowes.com and LowesCreativeIdeas.com/style, and become a fan at http://www.facebook.com/LowesCreativeIdeas.

About Lowe's:

With fiscal year 2008 sales of $48.2 billion, Lowe's Companies, Inc. is a FORTUNE(R) 50 company that serves approximately 14 million customers a week at more than 1,700 home improvement stores in North America. Founded in 1946 and based in Mooresville, N.C., Lowe's is the second-largest home improvement retailer in the world. For more information, visit Lowes.com.

    Source: Lowe's Companies, Inc.