Simply put, creative and colorful ceremony spaces rock my world.

image via Green Wedding Shoes / photo by Ashley Rose Photography

Some of you may have seen this arch made by the bride using paper flowers and pinwheels. I would have loved to be there to see this.

image via Ruffled / photo by Katherine O’Brien

This bride’s brother made an entire wedding stage from upcycled fence boards for her wedding. Don’t you just want to dive into that photo and prance across the stage? I certainly do!

But don’t get me wrong, there are some very pretty altar spaces that take a more minimalistic approach. Even a simple banner or garland adds a delicately romantic touch to the space.

image via Ruffled / photo by Jamie Delaine

I just keep going back to the color, though!

image via Offbeat Bride / photo by xatomicbettiex

image via Style Me Pretty / design by Bash, Please / photo by Raya Carlisle

I’ve talked about my love for suspended things, so it’s no wonder that I love the colorful hanging tissue poms at the altar like in this last photo. We won’t be having tissue poms lining the aisle, but we will most definitely have them hanging from the trellis at our park. Now if only I could transplant a great tree to hang multiple window panes and buntings from…

The exception to altar decor is, of course, if your ceremony location is so amazingly beautiful it speaks for itself. Like this intimate wedding on the bluffs.

image via Once Wed / photo by Allyson Magda

If you can go cliff-diving or step into a waterfall from the altar, you probably don’t need to add anything else except for your gorgeous self. The same goes for locations with epic architecture.

image via Style Me Pretty / photo by Hudson Photography

Oh who am I kidding, every place could use some bunting! Yes, I may be biased.

image via Elizabeth Anne Designs / photo by Our Labor of Love

What are your plans for the altar space? Are you going for simple and delicate or bold and colorful?

image via Elizabeth Anne Designs / Photo by Simply Jessie Photography

Early in my wedding planning, I started searching for sources to buy paper lanterns. This inadvertently led to me finding a plethora of  images from real weddings that had the same idea, which I started collecting gleefully. I’m so glad that I hadn’t settled on colors yet back then (and thus hadn’t made any paper lantern purchases) because I soon discovered bunting flags.

image via Oh Hello Friend / Photo by Christian Cruz Photography

And hanging flower balls.

image via Every Last Detail / photo by Ashley Bee Photography

And string lights.

image via Poppytalk / photo by Kamp Photography

And tissue poms and paper garlands and streamers, Oh my! They were all so colorful and fun and absolutely delightful! I must have them ALL!

Hive, I’ve come to realize I can’t realistically have them all (as much as I’d like to). In addition to very high ceilings, there are strict regulations about not hanging anything from the walls at our reception venue. So that ruled out having buntings at every single turn. (I know, right? Don’t they know who I am?!)  I’d love to add string lights to the reception, too, but unfortunately that’s not possible without having extension cords running all over the place – and consequently people tripping all over the place.

I’ve since made the smart decision of focusing on a few rather than the many: tissue poms with a few fabric and bunting garlands positioned in choice locations.

I knew I wanted to make the tissue poms myself since it’s quite a bit cheaper (and by golly I was convinced I could do it!). After scouring the internet for the best deal on bulk tissue paper, I found that nobody could beat the prices at PaperMart.com. I ordered four colors: light yellow, peach, aqua, and french vanilla. I’m not going to be using the french vanilla after all, so I’ll probably send that one back, but the other three colors were perfect for our color palette. See?

Wait a minute, Miss Bunting. What is that paper lantern doing in that photo? Well, now I’m beginning to consider adding some white paper lanterns back in to the mix but I’m just not sure if we need them or not. Oh, the decisions we brides have to make.

Have you ever had something that you loved, but couldn’t go over-the-top with because of budget or venue regulations? Did you end up going with it anyway? I persuaded myself to cut back because of both reasons, but now I can feel that “must-have” sensation creeping back up.