Thrifting Your Wedding Décor
- Rachel Griffin, owner & lead wedding planner
- 6 days ago
- 5 min read
Thrifting your wedding décor has lots of great benefits – it’s cheaper, sustainable,
delightfully unique and is easy to reuse after your wedding. It does come with some
challenges though, like anything else does.
I’m here to share seven simple steps and easy dos and don’ts that will help you be
successful as you create a thrifted masterpiece for your day.
Step one: Give yourself LOTS of time to plan
If you’re already a thrifter, you know what I mean – it’s hit or miss a lot of the time.
Finding items that fit your style and colors will take time, and the more time you have to
hunt and shop the better. Plus, it’s FUN finding those hidden gems and turning over
every container – you don’t want to feel rushed and miss anything amazing.
Step two: Go in with a general plan or idea
Take the time to find some inspiration photos, a color scheme, or even just a plan for
which items are worth thrifting for the wedding. Are you looking for big statement items
like furniture or décor items for your centerpieces? Are you trying to find all your
dishware or lots of books or vases? Knowing what you’re trying to find is half the battle.
Bringing swatches of your colors to use for guidance is awesome too.
Step three: Raid you and your families’ homes
Don’t discount mom’s china cabinet! Take the time to reach out to family members
about items they already have you would be able to borrow and take a look around your
own house too. You’ll probably be surprised that you have a bunch of items you can
work into the mix.
Step four: Take the time to organize your treasures
Most likely all your items will be a mix and match of things -finding the groupings that
you love the most takes a bit of time. Play with it all at home and group your items
together ahead of time. Then, you’ll want to take photos and box them together in those
groups to bring on the big day. This will make it so much faster for anyone handling your
setup to get it all done quickly and efficiently.
Step five: Think through the logistics of what you’re using
For example, if you found all your dinnerware through thrifting, you’ll need to make sure
you have staff hired to buss and scrape these items after dinner. You don’t want a stack
of gross dishware to try to haul home at the end of the evening. Or, if you’re
incorporating special heirloom items, having a plan to keep these items safe during
breakdown is super important. Thinking through the special considerations for the
specific types of items you’re bringing will help things run as smoothly as possible on
your day.
Step six: Delegate!
Trust me, setting up yourself on your wedding day is not truly feasible OR desirable.
Before your ceremony, you’ll need time to get ready with your families and wedding
parties and start taking photos. Often, both of those things happen at a location that’s
different from where your ceremony will be. You can’t be in two places at once. Adding
the stress of having to get everything setup before you can focus on yourselves is going
to make it incredibly difficult to be present and enjoy your day.
This is where wedding planners and coordinators shine – taking these details off your
plate so that you’re able to relax and enjoy every minute. If you’re not planning to hire a
coordinator, find a few trusted non-immediate family members or friends not in the
wedding party to delegate your setup to.
Step seven: Don’t forget about breakdown
All your boxes of décor will need to be re-packed at the end of the festivities and you’ll
need to have a way to get those boxes home as well. If you and your new spouse aren’t
the ones staying to break down, make sure that whoever is has the vehicle space to be
able to load and transport all the items home. Don’t forget too that you’ll probably have
cards, gifts, leftover alcohol and food you’ll need to transport also.
See it in action:
We put all these steps into action recently with Garden and Grace Florals and
Brooklyn Focus Photography at the beautiful Sweetwater Branch Inn.
Ashley and I had the best time spending a day digging for gems at our local thrift stores
and raiding our homes for coordinating items. Then we got to play putting it together in
Sweetwater’s beautiful Mackenzie Hall while Irene captured all the fun and
gorgeousness!
Check out these two YouTube videos where we break it all down for you (including our
budget!). We even recap all the tips, tricks, and best practices in the second video from
all three of our perspectives – florist, planner, and photographer!
Part 1:
Part 2:
Easy Dos and Don’ts:
DO think of using colors schemes and items you’d love in your future home. You’ll be
able to decorate your house with them after the wedding!
DON’T be scared to use different textures, layers, and a range of colors. It adds lots of
interest and makes it easier to find coordinating décor items while thrifting.
DO pre-group your items into sections you already know you like together.
DON’T over bubble-wrap your décor for transportation. It makes it a lot slower for your
setup team to unpack it all. Your local warehouse store probably has tons of great
discarded boxes you can grab for free that work fantastically well for things like this.
DO remember to take off all the little price stickers and tags before the wedding day.
DON’T try to set it all up yourself. Remember to delegate.
DO make thrifting for your wedding an adventure. Have thrifting dates, girls day out thrift
days, or even friendly competitions to bring all the fun you can into the task.
Thrifting for your wedding is one of my favorite things. It’s completely do-able for you too
with these tips! There’s nothing like seeing it all come together and knowing that each
and every piece was arranged and hand selected by you both for the best day ever.
Want some help bringing your thrifted and hand-crafted vision to life? We’ve got a
special collection designed specifically for you! Check out our Crafty Maker Collection for all the details.
Coordination by: MasterPiece Weddings & Events
Photography by: Brooklyn Focus Photography
Florals by: Garden and Grace Florals
YouTube Channel: Garden and Grace Florals
Venue: Sweetwater Branch Inn
Local Floral Farm: Flatwood Flowers
Local Thrift Stores Visited: Haven Hospice Attic and Humane Society
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