I’ve been thinking a lot about my friend Jinah’s wedding. One thing about decorating for a friend is that you don’t want to disappoint — but at the same time, you don’t want your friend to be a drill sergeant, barking orders about how to do this, or do that that way. Luckily for me, Jinah has given Caroline and I pretty free reign on what to do, mostly just telling us she wants the colors to be silver and gold. Hey, that works for me!

Problem with that approach is now there’s too many possibilities! But when I think about the house where Jinah is going to get married, all I can think of are all the horizontal and vertical lines there are — all the balconies on the second floor, the height of the portico, the top of the portico, not to mention the pool’s fountain. There are so many surfaces to decorate! So I naturally began to think of garlands.

Garlands, of course, can be as thick and lush as the one used in my friend’s wedding from a few years ago, shown above. These, of course, are the most expensive — you wouldn’t think that a garland made of just fresh greens would be so expensive, but they are definitely a lot of work to assemble.

Photo by FlutePrayer

Then there are the thinner garlands that you weave flowers into, like this one above. These are just as expensive as the lush thick garlands, since they’re using fresh flowers in addition to the greenery. Plus, you can bet you’re paying for some of that dangly effect.

Photo by Flickr’s drew313

You can also get a thinner, less flowery garland, and punctuate it with arrangements, like the one here. But honestly, you can use a garland anywhere. And I would advise you get the most bang for your buck on your garland (i.e. don’t use it only for the ceremony!).

Photo by Flickr’s Mitchells Flowers

Like here. I am guessing that this little staircase was where every guest had to pass to get to the reception. How pretty! How simple! How easy! Can you imagine those balconies at that Malibu house swathed in garland like these, gathered at every yard or so with tulle? Sigh.

Photo by Flickr’s Wedding or Party Decorations

I also love this idea, sort of as a simple, easy way to denote the bride and groom’s seats as special. I can’t, for the life of me!, remember the name of the leaf used in these garlands. I could swear it was pepper leaves, but I know that’s not right. Anyway, I would still count these as garlands, even though they’re probably not longer than a foot and a half each. I also love the white ribbon. Very pretty and graceful.

Photo by Flickr’s catchesthelight

I also really like how the decorator used garlands here…or not! I suspect that the “garlands” on the table, may really simply be greens laid together, garland-like. That would be the easier way to get that effect. Of course, the garland on the wall is kind of…random. I think it would have been better off split in half and hung over the windows. But that’s just me.

Photo by Flickr’s OnceWed

Of course, your garland doesn’t have to be made of flowers or greenery at all! That would be a more cost-effective solution if your budget doesn’t allow for a big, lush fresh garland. This cute little garland is made of tulle, strung together. It mimics the effect of carnations nicely.